DVD
REVIEW: FIDO
10/17/07
Zombie movies have changed
some what since the 1968 classic George Romero’s Night of
the Living Dead. Even the new blockbuster movies such as
Resident Evil and 28 Days Later follow the same plot as
Romero’s; a group of people running from an outnumbered ,
slow and human flesh hungry zombies. This has caused a new
genre to emerge, Zom-Com (zombie comedy). Movies like Shaun
of the Dead is the most known representative of this genre.
But even this one, kind of follows the same story line as
this 68 classic. Well, if you thought that there was not
going to be any improvement in this kind of movies, you were
wrong. A new approach to the zombie movies was introduced at
the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival, the 2007
Sundance Film Festival and it passed through America in June
2007 with out being noticed. This movie is called FIDO, and
it will make its DVD day view on October 23 2007.
Fido begins where all the others Zombie movies ends. It kind
of answer the What Happens after the zombies are contained.
It takes place in 1950 retro future American town called
Willard. Here a company named ZomCon has learned how to
control the zombies and now they are productive in the
actual recovering world. They are the new trend in town,
everybody has one. They have multiple uses from gardeners,
mail mans to butlers and pets. The movie takes off when the
Robinsons, the classic unconventional family, that seems to
be from an old TV show, acquires their first zombie. Timmy
the family’s only child, who has no friends and is
constantly bullied at school, has a rough start with the
zombie. Soon their relationship begins to develop until they
grow a true friendship, and Timmy decides to treat the
zombie as a pet and named him Fido. Everything goes fine
until a misfortunate event happens; Fido eats Timmy’s
Neighbor. After that, Timmy will do anything to protect his
beloved friend causing a whole change in the neighborhood
and more important in his family.
Director and Co-Writer Andrew Currie surprises old fans and
strangers of this genre with his new vision. He does an
excellent job depicting the 1950s society, and with his
camera makes the audience think that they are watching an
old TV show, kind of what Quentin Tarantino did with Death
Proof. He also gives an introduction at the beginning so the
audience gets familiar with the story. Also each character
have unique characteristics that represent the human
condition making them appealing to the audience. IThe make
up on the zombies is nothing out of this world, I guess
there has not been much improvement in this aspect since
Michael Jackson’s Thriller video .Yet, comedian Billy
Connolly makes a good job representing Fido, and the whole
cast also did an above average performance.
If you watch carefully, you will see that this movie also
ridicules some important issues going on today. Such issues
include the national security, the tobacco industry, gun
control, family values, religion, power, cheap labor, greed,
and interracial relationships. I wonder if Andrew was aiming
for all these.
Nonetheless, Fido turns out to have a predictable plot with
some boring parts. The jokes are some how hard to catch,
making it more of a visual comedy. Also the situations
presented seem too cliché. It is hard to guess what kind of
audience this movie is aimed for. But one thing is for sure,
Fido is a mixture between Beethoven and Rise of the Dead.
This movie should be seen for its ingenuity and critics to
society, in that I applaud Currie. But if you are planning
to watch it as an entertainment it will not blow your mind
away.
VIDEO:
Widescreen
AUDIO:
Dolby
Digital 5.1 Surround - English
Subtitles - English Spanish - Optional
BONUS FEATURES:
Fido Family portrait: By far
the best feature in the DVD.
Conceptual art
Gallery: Drawing of the set and intended scenarios.
(3:45)
Billy Conollis
Transformation: Pictures of how Bylly was transform
to Fido (3:16)
Fido’s Storybook:
A feel good zombie movie written by Andrew Corruir . the
best special feature an alternate story that in my opinion
it would look better than its original. (4:23)
ZonCon “Zombie Me”
creator DVD ROM feature: Make your self a zombie
importing a picture to your computer.
The making of Fido
: explanation of the movie, the characters, and how
it was made. (4:41)
Blooper Reef:
bloopers from the movie (1:47)
RATING BREAK DOWN:
| FILM REVIEW |
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VIDEO |
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AUDIO |
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| BONUS
FEATURES |
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Review
By Milo
milo@smartcine.com
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