Everyone's heard of it. Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, and Edgar Wright's zombie flick from the early 2000's. A comedic take on the then upcoming zombie genre that gave us remakes, reboots, and fresh content that was soon forgotten. But Shaun of the Dead has remained, significantly longer than the more serious entries within the genre.
While it's known for its comedic performances by Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, as well as the excellent filmmaking by the director Edgar Wright, the trilogy known as the 'Cornetto Trilogy' which features the two additional films Hot Fuzz and The World's End have very important narratives that are overlooked.
Shaun of the Dead is more than a comedy/zombie film. It's one that takes a character with a zombie-like lifestyle in a zombie-like society and forces him into finally taking responsibility for his actions. For once, Shaun is placed into situations in which he has to stand up and actually do something, to consider the lives of others in addition. We take a character with no meaning to life and endless immaturity and place him in a world where life is all that's left, and maturity ensures survival.
Even with the removal of the zombies, Shaun of the Dead can be seen as a film about growing up, one about redemption and finally understanding what matters in life and fighting for it. It's about letting go of the past, but not letting go of the things from the past that matter to you the most. It's easy to miss all of that among the comedic duo's jokes, and that's ultimately fine. The film remains entertaining even without a clear understanding of Shaun's character.
As most will know, the film is about Shaun and his deadbeat friend Ed attempting to survive a sudden outbreak of an infection that brings the dead back and causes them to eat the living; shortly after breaking up with his girlfriend Liz, Shaun aims to win her back and ensure their safety, but not everything goes to plan. Shaun is still a bit of an idiot, and Ed is still being carried by Shaun throughout the film, learning almost nothing.
Nick Frost's performance as Ed serves as nothing but baggage on Shaun. Ed, if anything, is the constant reminder of what Shaun doesn't want to become. The two are great friends, but as the film progresses it becomes evident that there's nothing really keeping the friendship alive. It's Ed relying on Shaun as Shaun struggles to keep his own life together.
All of that said, Shaun of the Dead is a funny film. There's humour in the apocalypse. There's humour in the strange attempts to understand just what is going on as people appear in the garden; are they drunk? Ed better grab his disposable camera and snap a few shots of the obscure incident for future laughs. Shaun, in an excellent long-take, walks to the shop oblivious to his surroundings, even slipping on blood in the shop. It all fits in excellently with Edgar Wright's directing.
Using quick sequences to display not only setting, events, but also the progression of time, Edgar Wright keeps the pace of the film moving forward enough to ensure that the film's slower moments in fact don't feel very slow at all. It's something very rare for the genres of the film, refusing to throw in pointless exposition that bores or perhaps doesn't feel necessary, much like any additional information added to this piece.