has none, even though it's trying
to retell an already fully
developed Romero story. “Day of
the Dead” (the film Bloodline re-
imagines) wasn't Romero's best
work, but it still had a number of
iconic moments and tried to tell
a very different sort of story,
with it's focus on the military and
scientists trapped underground.
The biggest problem with that,
and with that of "Day Of The
Dead: Bloodline" is that the
characters are pretty bland and
one note.
"Day Of The Dead: Bloodline"
starts with a surge of adrenaline,
but outside of seeing the early
stage of the zombie outbreak in
some random city, it's cut off
with a flashback before the
audience has a chance to catch
their bearing. We get to see very
speedy zombies that have some
impressive coordination, going
as far as breaking through a
display window to snatch a
woman off a bicycle, but nothing
of importance to the plot.
The flashback we get pulls the
film back only four hours and
shows us Zoe (Sophie Skelton
doing a very poor American
sccent), the films lead that was
the girl running in the opening,
working in a hospital as an
doctor in training. And again, the
film makes some strange
choices in other wise fine
scenes. Case in point: Zoe has to
take blood from a patient, but he
makes her feel uncomfortable,
so when she asks her professor
if she could have some help it
makes perfect sense.
The problem is that the
professor completely ignores
her request. I'm not meaning
that she blows Zoe off, rather,
she answers what feels like is a
completely different question
that Zoe never asked. Chalk it up
to bad editing, or a weak script
that needs to get from point A to
point B quickly, but it's a baffling
scene. I'll reenact what it felt like
below:
Professor: Zoe, your patient is
here for his weekly blood
drawing.
goes to the morgue to get
another keg, because apparently
this facility has no security and
people have no sense. Maybe
with this scene Romero, or a
better writer, would have used it
to highlight campus abuse
and/or the rape culture debate
that has come to the forefront
over the last several years, but it
doesn't. The attempted rape is
simply a means to get the plot
from point A to point B with
regards to Zoe and Max.
This leads to the opening scene
we saw before the film then
Zoe: He makes me really
again jumps forward, this time
uncomfortable. Can Abby help
five years. We know this because
me with it?
Zoe is now apparently the films
narrator, and she's somehow
Professor: I know he's strange
more bland and lifeless than
but did you know carrots weren't ever. Fun fact: If you need a
always orange and that
narrator to provide an
elephants only sleep for two
exposition dump to whats going
hours a day?
one after the movies been
rolling for nearly twenty
--Professor smiles and slowly
minutes, you've really messed
exits scene--
something up. Why this entire
thing couldn't be told in one long
We then meet Max, who turns
section is baffling. The only
out to be a massive creep and
reason for the four hour jump-
becomes the films antagonist,
cut was to simply kick off the
because if "Day Of The Dead:
movie with some action. String
Bloodline" is anything, it surely
the scenes in sequential order
isn't subtle. Max is played by
and you actually have an already
Jonathan Schaech probably best better paced opening.
known for playing Johan Hex on
the CW show Legends of
We now see Zoe is a researcher
Tomorrow. He's clearly the most having survived the outbreak
talented actor in this production, and making it to a secure facility
something highlighted when any built into a mountain. Here the
secondary or tertiary characters parallels to “Day of the Dead”
read their lines.
become more clear, but I can't
help to think that the story of
Max then attempts to rape Zoe
Zoe making it there would make
during a hospital party when she for a far more interesting film.