Gangsters, Guns, and Zombies (2012)

   What better distraction for a bank heist than the zombie apocalypse? At least that was the plan for London bank robbers Tony, Q, Pat Muscles and Crazy Steve before things awry.

   Starting in the middle of the action allows G,G,& Z to kick off with a bang and keeps going strong. The use of chapters and occasional narration of one of the main stars assists the flow of the story. And of course, that old chestnut vehicle of T.V. and radio news reports helps to explain the situation outside of the immediate action.

   Also provided to create a fuller picture of the outbreak are plenty of ‘cut-to’ scenes, showing a goodly amount of zombie gore and attacks, which, although grisly in nature keep most of the real gore just outside the frame. Many of these asides display a very sick sense of humor that certain twisted zombie film fans, (like myself,) can appreciate: A bride and her maids attacking her groom, the attack of an undead horde of clowns, a casual debate about if a particular zombie is eating a cat or a fox. Y’know. Stuff like that.

   Okay, true. The zombies’ make-up consisted mostly of pale skin with blood stains, but since there weren't that many real zombie close-ups, this minimalist approach works well enough. Also, the zombies ran, (well, most of them,) so this also kept the need for undead details to a low dose. Now, I am not a major fan of running undead in a strictly ‘animated recently-deceased’ scenario, but in the less populated scenes later in the movie, the speed of the dead helps to keep the threat level up, where shamblers could have been simply avoided.

   But it's the characters themselves that carry this movie. They are likable, and engaging, and fun-to-watch, (although, hardly “gangsters.”) Yes, criminals, but still, worth rooting for. Most importantly, none of the characters are cartoony or stupid. In fact, to call this a typical “zom-com” would be doing it a disservice. I mean, it IS funny. But, the undead threat is real and lethal and the characters are serious and have a straightforward mission. Where the humor comes in is a very organic manipulation of perspective. I really enjoyed it. Think of Reservoir Dogs meets 28 Days Later with just a splash Shaun of the Dead. Only a little more light-hearted.

   My Zombie Movie Rubric scored Gangsters, Guns, and Zombies as a solid 3.0, making it a respectable entry into the genre and a really enjoyable movie night selection.

   The full-length film is available of the Mighty Tubes of You, but I am only including a trailer to whet your appetite: GANGSTERS, GUNS, AND ZOMBIES

Cheerio!