AMC's fourth original series premiered Sunday night and I finally watched it. The Walking Dead is a zombie show based on a comic series written by Robert Kirkman that's been running since 2003. I'm not a fan of zombie movies though I have some friends that are. I'm a fan of Kirkman's other work and the comic has gotten lots of praise so I tried it. I've been reading it as it's collected in trade paperbacks (of six issues each) and have gotten very caught up in it. It's suspenseful and puts the characters through some very dramatic situations. Anything can happen and any character can be killed at any time. The TV series did well in casting unknowns (at least to me) in the roles. I reread the first trade before watching the pilot. The pilot was very faithful while making a few successful changes.
The rest of this review is all spoilers.
I liked the opening scene, with Rick, post-apocalypse wandering through a scene that started looking like a traffic accident and opened up to be a camp near a gas station and leading up to him finding a girl. It played well with the opening of the comic (the car shootout with police shown next) and brought you into a creepy mood. I didn't love the handheld camera, the scene was a deliberate cinematic reveal, not a you-are-there perspective. Also it should have been clearer that the rest was a flashback.
The next scene of the conversation between Rick and Shane in the car and the opening shootout was very well done. I got a distinct Tarantino feel of a character driven scene all leading up to something that you knew was coming and yet still surprised you. Well I knew it was coming because it's how the comic opened.
Then the hospital scene. It was done before in 28 Days Later and the original comic telling of this was simultaneous to that. Still it worked. There were some details I really liked. There was a gurney in front of his door which might explain how he was left in there. I'm not sure about the big "Don't Open Dead Inside" sign, where would they have gotten the paint to do that? Most lights and power was out, but in one hallway was a flickering light. Still, it all led up to the descent down a pitch black stairway that really had me on the edge of my seat and compelled to me get up and take notes for this review. I was hooked.
His journey to his house was good. I kept thinking he should have gotten clothes but the point was to show how shocked he was and it accomplished that. The few bodies we saw were probably the most disgusting things ever shown on TV so it was simultaneously bringing us slowly into this world and telling us how far in we were going to go.
I also liked the intro of the father and son. The "walker" down the street catching Rick's eye and then the son appearing to us behind him and the surprise of the shovel hitting Rick. The night in the house gave us some explanations while showing us the terror of their current situation, locked in a closed house while a swarm of zombies are outside and might come in at any moment, and worse, could be someone you knew.
Rick was good in his house, realizing his family were alive when they left by the missing photo albums. The father saying his wife took photos too while he was packing survival gear was a nice touch. The bit about people going to Atlanta seemed a bit contrived (though from the source material). Why didn't the father and son go? Also the transition to the police station was too abrupt, I bet there was a short scene cut out. Still the joy of a hot shower in the station said a lot about their condition. Then we get an explanation for why the father and son (Duane) didn't go to Atlanta and Rick and they load up on weapons. Rick and the father both try to put someone out of their misery and only Rick succeeds. The scene struck me as a bit overdone but still reasonably effective.
That was the one hour mark and was a practical episode break, the next half hour was bonus. The opening bit with the radio call and seeing the camp wasn't in the comic but did okay as foreshadowing. The lack of names was conspicuous but we recognized Shane. I knew it was Lori and Carl from the comic but someone new had to pick it up from the quickly photo that Rick had. Nice visual storytelling.
Rick starts walking and from the gas can he's carrying I think we're supposed to assume the opening scene fits here. He comes across a farm house and gets a horse. I liked that he hadn't rode in years and wasn't good at it. He arrives in Atlanta and I thought it was too empty. Shouldn't there have been some zombies wandering around? Still the swarm he comes across is large and scary. That must have been expensive for a TV show to do, but now we know they are capable of pulling it off.
Rick getting surrounded and trapped under the tank was nicely claustrophobic. I also liked the disorientation from the shot inside the tank. Little things like that keep me surprised and show me the creators are trying to be realistic. They stayed on a closeup of Rick long enough to let the gravity of the situation really set in. Then we hear the voice on the radio and know he'll get out of there with help. It's a perfect way to end the pilot of this series, a slight bit of hope while the camera pans back from an inescapable nightmare.
The Walking Dead isn't the kind of thing I'm normally attracted to, but found the pilot as compelling as the comic, perhaps moreso. I'm definitely looking forward to the next episode, but I'm also bit a repulsed by the thought. I suspect the producers are happy with that reaction.
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