Cockneys Vs Zombies Movie Review

It's impossible for this film to escape comparisons with Shaun of the Dead, another witty zombie comedy set in London. Although this one transfers the action from North London to the East End, where the undead prowl around the neighbourhood that has just hosted the Olympic Games. Which also lets the filmmakers play with that no-nonsense Cockney grit. The script has some very funny moments, and the cast is terrific, but the film is too inconsistent to be a classic.

The craziness starts when a construction crew opens a 500-year-old plague pit, unleashing flesh-chomping zombies. Oblivious to this, brothers Terry and Andy (Hardiker and Treadaway) are planning to rob a bank to get the cash to save their grandfather's nursing home, which is under threat from a property developer. Their team includes a safecracker (Ryan), a gun nut (Thomas) and a loyal idiot (Doolan), but their badly planned heist is derailed when they run into the undead. Now their goal is to rescue Granddad (Ford) and his pals (including Blackman, Briers and Sutton).

Much of the fun here is in watching these seasoned veterans have a ball chasing and being chased by zombies. And the filmmakers fill scenes with witty dialog and sight gags to keep us chuckling, plus of course buckets of grisly gore.

Meanwhile, Hardiker and Treadaway maintain lively banter that keeps the film afloat even in the most awkwardly assembled scenes. And Ryan adds sexy energy to the movie in a sparky role that refuses to be a simple female lead.

So it's rather frustrating that the whole isn't nearly as much fun as its parts. The plot continually stalls for repetitive attack sequences, and there are several transitions that simply make no sense at all. Why would they choose an open-backed Routemaster bus to escape in, when a door would protect them from marauding zombies? (Answer: Routemasters are cool.) And there isn't nearly enough specific East London humour, although the one reference to rhyming slang is amusing. Go on, what would you rhyme with zombie?

Rich Cline