JBoc924Zombies aren’t anything new in the entertainment world. They’ve been done to death, no pun intended, and some genre fans may feel as if they’ve been overexposed to these long-lasting ghouls. The thing is, a good amount of movies and games feature zombies almost under the same light, thus leading to a sense of repetition in terms of actual content whenever a new zombie themed project comes along.
So in comes AMC with their undead contribution to an already overpopulated sub-genre: The Walking Dead. Based on an ongoing Image-published comic book series of the same name, created by writer Robert Kirkman and artist Tony Moore, The Walking Dead provides a strong, much needed, dose of originality not just to the zombie sub-genre, but to its overall parent genre of horror as well.
Fans of the highly-acclaimed comic book series will be glad to know that this TV series adaptation stays faithful to the source material. There are some changes here and there, which I won’t spoil here, but overall, The Walking Dead’s narrative is a beautiful adaptation of the first volume, “Days Gone Bye”, of the on-going comic book series.
The series’ pilot introduced viewers to Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln, and showed them firsthand the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse that has occurred. Right away we see a minor alteration to the comic book in the opening scenes. With the introduction of a young zombie girl–and the display of her getting killed–to an extended version of the first comic book’s opening where Rick gets shot thus leading to his awakening, after a lengthy coma, at the hospital; the pilot just shines with character development right from the beginning.
We then get to see many scenarios pitting Rick in complete isolation, as he was in the first comic book while going through the hospital after waking up from being shot. Here we get to see the superb directorial prowess with some really good shots that really show off all the death and destruction that has happened. The shots of Rick against vast and empty backdrops–most prominent in the pilot– are quite stunning and really do a good job of getting the idea of a zombie apocalypse across to the viewer. But, moving away from the pilot, the rest of the episodes that followed were just as equally engaging.
One gripe people may have had with this series was the amount of episodes ordered by AMC for its first season; there are six episodes in total. First off, it’s worth noting that this was due to AMC’s inability to predict the amount of success the show ended up being met with — and now, 13 episodes have been confirmed for season 2. Regardless of the fact, this series’ first season brought forth many compelling scenarios and characters that each represent one facet of the zombie apocalypse’s impact on society.
You have former sheriff’s deputy Rick Grimes(Andrew Lincoln) who is seen desperately looking for his wife and kid in the early episodes; Shane(Jon Bernthal) who is Rick’s best friend and is tasked with watching over his family upon his “death”, treating them as his own as well as being the main enforcer in the camp of survivors we meet up with. Then you have Lori(Sarah Wayne Callies), the grieving wife who was led to believe that her husband (Rick) was killed at the commencement of this whole mess. This is just a small look at the show’s many interesting characters; you’re better off getting to know them for yourselves and see how much work went into the character development in this show; it’s truly astounding. Which leads to another complaint people may have had: lack of action (for the most part).
The Walking Dead isn’t exactly a story about zombies, conversely, it’s a story centering on the survivors in a torn-down apocalyptic society in which the undead serve as the direct catalysts. The living, breathing, human characters are the center of attention here; but the way that the zombies are actually incorporated makes this zombie property unique: this is true survival-horror showing viewers how a group of people are forced to live and thus go on about daily life amidst what is practically conceived as the end of the world, albeit not in the truly (literal) earth-shattering manner some would picture such a catastrophic event as being.
Don’t get me wrong, there are some action-packed moments within this first season, with the most notable one being the attack on camp by the “walkers” — as they’re referred to by the characters in the show. The thing is, this show is more focused on showing us interactions between characters and how they go on about surviving, as opposed to all-out zombie-blasting scenes. And what more, the show actually gives us intimate moments involving the zombies themselves with the most exceptional example of this being when Rick confronts a crawling zombie (detached from the waist down) and after some hesitation, contemplation and dialogue, puts the suffering soul to rest.
Final Opinion
With all that being said, The Walking Dead provides viewers a nice breath of fresh air in regards to the over-populated zombie sub-genre. This first season is full of many surprises and great character moments that will appeal to both comic book fans and the casual crowd just looking for a solid TV serial to tune into. It may be lacking in the action-department but it makes up for all that with a very focused screenplay translated superbly on-screen that truly shows us what ‘survival horror’ means. You owe it to yourself, especially if you’re a horror fan, to go out right now and buy this on DVD or Blu-ray, if you haven’t already.
(9.5 / 10)
Amazing
(9.5 / 10)
