Cockneys vs Zombies (2012)

Zombies are the new Vampires. In other news, water is wet & the sky is blue. Now that I've cleared the obvious out of the way, unless you've been living inside a bomb shelter since the Y2K scare, you've been witness to the resurgence of the Zombie genre. I could blame The Walking Dead for this, since that has caught on like wild fire over the past few years, but that show is bloody brilliant. As good as that series might be, I can't give all the credit to it. Films such as Shaun of the Dead & Zombieland certainly play a role in this. Both took a comedic look behind the undead, which is certainly nothing new, but it clearly spoke to a new generation of fans.

Cockneys vs Zombies is the latest in what seems like a never ending cycle of the zombie comedy aka "zom-com" (ugh). What I can tell you is, while it's far from perfect, it does manage to stand on it's own against other recent films of the genre. Two brothers and their gang of cohorts decide that they are going to rob a bank, so they can save their grandfather's retirement home from being torn down by developers. On another site location some works dig up an old tomb, in a scene that seemed vaguely familiar from Return of the Living Dead, and this happens to unleash the undead, leading to a chain reaction of events. After the bank robbery goes awry, our main players must get back to the retirement home to save their grandfather & his elderly friends.

Now it's time to address the elephant in the room. This film borrows heavily from the aforementioned Shaun of the Dead. But honestly, is that such a bad thing? Maybe not. The quick witted British actors and it's overall silly premise add the comedy element. While the blood keeps pumping, limbs are blown off, heads crushed, etc.. throughout the movie. It is predictable and the final act perhaps goes just a tad over the top, but it's an overall fun ride. Nothing groundbreaking here, just some laughs & gore.

Unfortunately, my main problem with Cockneys vs Zombies lies not with the film itself. I'm sorry to say but I'm just a bit burnt out on this sub-genre. I always preferred the more serious zombie films, the original Romero Trilogy, Fulci's Zombie, the list goes on. But I feel as though it's just on overkill now. Too much of one thing is never a good idea. IMO it's only a matter of time before the rest of the country catches up, and finds something new to latch onto.

I do hope years from now, we can look back on this current Zombie invasion of entertainment, as a nation we will stand united and say.. at least it was better than Vampires that sparkle.