Will the real zombies please stand up?

TRICIA BEHLE

“Shaun of the Dead” is an enjoyable mix of three things that wouldn’t

seem to go together -- relationships, comedy and zombies.

“Shaun” takes place in a working-class neighborhood in London.

Shaun (Simon Pegg) is a decent guy at heart, but he’s let himself

fall into a serious rut. At 29, he’s working as a salesman at an

electronics store. He spends his evenings drinking at his local pub,

the Winchester, with his best friend Ed (Nick Frost). He shares a

filthy flat with Ed and another friend, Pete. He has no ambition to

improve his fate. His girlfriend, Liz (Kate Ashfield), can’t stand

the idea of being stuck in this trap forever and dumps Shaun to move

on with her life.

When zombies start appearing in the neighborhood, Shaun and Ed

don’t even notice, at first. The working-class folks, including Shaun

himself, are almost indistinguishable from zombies. They spend their

days at soul-killing jobs and their nights drinking themselves brain

dead at the local pub.

Shaun and Ed finally figure out they are in the midst of a zombie

invasion and try to formulate a plan. Shaun wants to go rescue both

his Mom and Liz and get them somewhere safe. Ed wants to go somewhere

where they can have a smoke and a beer, like the Winchester.

During his rescue mission, Shaun has to deal with the problems in

all the relationships in his life: his failing relationship with Liz,

his friendship with Ed and his dysfunctional interactions with his

step dad. Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright, who wrote the script, manage

all this with large doses of humor and a fair amount of zombie gore.

“Shaun of the Dead” successfully pulls off creating a

working-class British comedy, while also paying tribute to the

classic zombie films of the past.

* TRICIA BEHLE lives in Newport Beach and works as a software

validator.

‘Shark Tale’ is worth

a few fins for family

In “Shark Tale,” director Vicky Jenson and her cohorts are

definitely trying to duplicate the success of her previous work in

the excellent movie “Shrek.” That film broke new ground in the

animation genre. It offered a screenplay and dialogue that made

children laugh at one thing, while their parents were chuckling at

something completely different.

The two “Shrek” films earned blockbuster money by satisfying both

generations. “Shark Tale” is a game effort aimed at the same

audience. References to many classic films abound. “The Godfather”

and “Jaws” are only the two most obvious. The digital cartoon

characters are drawn to look like their famous celebrity voices. Will

Smith, Robert De Niro and Renee Zellweger clearly have a lot of fun

voicing these characters.

De Niro’s gang of great white sharks terrorize and control all the

fish that live in the local reef. Will Smith’s colorful Little Fish

becomes the unlikely enemy of the gang when he is involved in the

accidental death of a mobster shark. He befriends a strange

vegetarian shark, while juggling relationships with two very

different potential girlfriends. In the end, many lessons of

tolerance, loyalty and true friendship are revealed. It’s not quite

up to the highest level of the previous films. But if you and your

kids enjoyed the “Shrek” movies, you’ll definitely have some fun

watching “Shark Tale.”

* JOHN DEPKO is a Costa Mesa resident and a senior investigator

for the Orange County public defender’s office.