Sunday 31 March 2013

Cockneys vs Zombies - lovely jubbly innit.

Unlikely lad siblings with some help rob a bank only to find that London has been overrun by flesh eating zombies. As things go awry the brothers and their cousin set about to rescue their Grandfather trapped in an O.A.P's home.

For those familiar with the sub-genre there's some nice touches including the removed jaws of the dead stuck in a mans arm, a metal plate in a head preventing the undead being shot which cheekily play on the 'rules'. Although some CGI effects and gags falling short of the mark on occasion Cockneys vs Zombies is a fun ride from director/writer Matthias Hoene.

The Michelle Ryan's Katy has some of the best quips, Ryan has a good presence and steals the action scenes with Terry played by Rasmus Hardiker giving a memorable quirky Mickey Pearce-like (of Only Fools and Horses) performance. Ageing Alan Ford as Ray, Georgina Hale and Dudley Sutton are spot on while delightful veteran's Honor Blackman and Richard Briers (who has since passed away) don't seem to be as having as much fun on screen as the aforementioned. The supporting cast are great with a few familiar UK faces showing up.

When Cockney' is on form it's highly amusing. Sutton's Eric announcing "Those things are Vampires!" With a title that includes 'versus' you know what you're in for and to Hoene's credit it meets expectations- it's well made for the budget, in vain of Shaun of the Dead rather than a cheap rip off 'versus' film. Time, effort and thought went in to this and is on the screen to see.

James Moran and Lucas Roche's screenplay has some laugh-out memorable dialogue. Debatably some of the soundtrack songs seem misplaced but other than that and small faults aside it does what it says on the tin - and you can't say fairer than that.