THE WASHINGTON POST • FRIDAY, MAY 28, 2010

34

SURVIVAL OF THE DEAD

Lifeless, by any measure

by Michael O’Sullivan

It has been six days since the dead began to walk, and a powerful emotion is grip- ping the land. Boredom. As the sun rises on the heroes of “Surviv- al of the Dead” — the sixth installment in the zombie franchise begun by filmmaker George A. Romero in 1968 — it is not terror but tedium that is felt by Sarge (Alan Van Sprang) and his military cleanup crew. By now, everybody knows that a bullet to the head is the only way to stop a zombie. So Sarge and his squad of three crack marks- men (Athena Karkanis, Eric Woolfe and Stefano Di Matteo) spend their time dis- patching those who have been inadequate- ly killed with a series of carefully aimed

shots. Splat, splat, splat.

It’s about as exciting as watching a shooting gallery. Every once in a while, someone comes up with a creative alternative: a hot dog skewer through the eye, a fire extinguisher in the mouth. That last one, which sends

MAGNET RELEASING

With “Survival of the Dead,” George A. Romero’s zombie series is showing its age.

eyeballs and other bits of cranial matter flying like a burst party balloon, is a tri- umph of special effects. But it’s getting old, so Sarge and com-

pany decide to retire to an island that they’ve heard about on the Internet, whose patriarchal ruler, Patrick O’Flynn, a.k.a. Captain Courageous (Kenneth Welsh), has a zero-tolerance policy toward undead im- migrants. The problem is that not everyone on the island agrees with the good captain. A rival clan, led by Seamus Muldoon (Richard Fitzpatrick), still holds out hope for a solu-

tion that doesn’t involve violence. The Mul- doons keep their zombies penned up — like livestock, only dead — in an effort to teach them to eat something other than people, until a cure can be found. It’s kind of sweet, really. Naive, but

sweet. It’s also not why people go to zombie movies. We go for the cannibalism and the car-

nage. Also the occasional comedy, as when a fisherman reels in an underwater zombie from his perch on a dock, and then shoots him in the face. Good stuff. But 42 years after “Night of the Living

Dead,” Romero seems as bored with zom- bies as Sarge is. It’s hard to know which is more monotonous: killing zombies or keeping them alive. Maybe the entire “Dead” series is overdue for a bullet to the brain.

osullivanm@washpost.com

R. At Landmark’s E Street Cinema. Contains obscenity, smoking, brief sensuality and lots of blood and gore. 90 minutes.

B½

prince from 33

underground is a giant glass vessel filled with the right kind. Only the dagger can break the glass. Once broken, the sand in- side will flow through the knife’s handle, giving its user virtually unlimited ability to travel backward in time. One more thing: If all the sand is used up, the world will end. The other problem is that Dastan’s not the only one who knows about it. Someone else wants it — most likely Dastan’s brother Tus (Richard Coyle) or his uncle Nizam (Ben Kingsley) — and has set Dastan up for the murder of his adoptive father, King Sharaman (Ronald Pickup). Dastan, you see, is not of royal blood, so he makes a log- ical suspect. (It might also explain the low- class accent and his aversion to shampoo.) Whoever really killed Sharaman wants Dastan out of the way so that he can find the source of the charmed sand himself and, you know, exert dominion over the

Also Playing

Capsule reviews of recent releases playing in area theaters. Movies not reviewed by The Post will be marked "NR" for not rated. For older movies, see the Movie Directory.

BBBALICE IN WONDERLAND

Tim Burton has wisely avoided producing a mere pop- up illustration of Lewis Carroll’s books, instead find- ing inspiration in Alice (Mia Wasikowska), the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp), the Red Queen (Helena Bon- ham Carter) and other familiar characters and put- ting them into a brand-new story. His most nervy de- cision — making Alice a 19-year-old young woman on the verge of a tiresome marriage — also proves to be his best. Burton’s signature gnarled, gothic aes- thetic runs throughout, and it’s worth the price of ad-

blah, blah, blah. With the assistance of the dagger’s offi-

cial custodian, Princess Tamina (Gemma Arterton), Dastan must stop that from hap- pening. Along the way, he and Tamina — a spirited, tart-tongued women’s libber in a country not known for gender equality — engage in predictable verbal sparring even as they dodge arrows, flying knives, snakes and hired assassins (called, preposterously, Hassansins). As in a video game, each obstacle or level of challenge they encounter is progres- sively more difficult. But this is a movie we’re watching here. Although “Prince of Persia” stimulates the circulatory and ner- vous systems, it engages none of the higher faculties of game play. Like, say, hand-eye coordination and map-reading skills. It’s a frenetic yet passive experience. There are, however, a few distinct pleas-

ures. The stunt work is consistently excit- ing and well filmed, by director Mike New-

mission if only to hear Depp give sonorous voice to Carroll’s slithy toves and borogoves, but it’s the women who steal the show, from the somber, self- possessed Wasikowska to Bonham Carter’s scenery- chewing tantrums, to Anne Hathaway’s very funny turn as the White Queen. Most important, Burton honors the more tender subtexts of the Alice stories, having to do with isolation and loss. (PG, 109 minutes)

Contains fantasy action/violence involving scary imag- es and situations, and a smoking caterpillar. At Univer- sity Mall Theatres.

BBBBABIES

A portrait of four infants, “Babies” invites viewers simply to revel in babies being babies while chroni- cling childhood throughout the world. Two affluent couples raise their daughters with no expenses spared. In Tokyo, Mari’s father talks on a cellphone while fiddling with a mobile over her crib; in Califor-

ell. And the character of Seso (Steve Tous- saint) — a Sudanese knife thrower with almost no dialogue who at first appears to be a very bad guy and then turns out to be a very good one — makes a welcome pres- ence.

I wish I could say the same about Seso’s boss, Sheik Amar, a bandit who befriends Dastan and Tamina, and aids them in their quest. Played with the broadest of broad humor by Alfred Molina, he’s clearly meant as comic relief. But from what? Does a movie this silly really need two clowns? Every sly wink and gymnastic tumble from Gyllenhaal’s Dastan, who already looks and acts like a refugee from Cirque du Soleil, seems to suggest otherwise.

osullivanm@washpost.com

PG-13. At area theaters. Contains sword and arrow violence and risque dialogue. 103 minutes.

BB

— Ann Hornaday

nia, Hattie’s mother responds to bad behavior with parenting books. Far away, a Mongolian boy who shares bath water with a goat is tied to a bedpost when left alone; a girl in a Africa pounds red clay from dirt. Through these sequences, “Babies” sug- gests privilege and deprivation are relative and high- lights the grand universals of growing up. “Babies” shows every child reaches the same milestones of learning to walk and talk with feelings of triumph and hope, all while telling the most high-stakes story of all: the drama of bonding and letting go. (PG, 79 min-

utes) In English and Japanese with English subtitles. Contains maternal nudity throughout. Area theaters.

BB1

⁄2 THE BACK-UP PLAN

Jennifer Lopez has always pursued stardom with shameless abandon, and one of the pleasures of her new movie is watching J-Lo abase herself in the serv- ice of her art. In this not-as-bad-as-you-think-it-is ro-

R. At area theaters. Contains strong sexual content and profanity. 140 minutes.

B

sex and the city 2 from 33

film’s preferred trope, “silencing their voice.” The more strenuously “Sex and the

City 2” tries to become a parable of trans-national sisterhood, the more pa- tronizing and self-important the movie becomes, and the more its protagonists come to resemble shrill female imper- sonators. When Carrie expresses disbe- lief that a woman in full abaya can still enjoy a french fry, the veiled woman in question would be forgiven for taking in Carrie’s own insane get-up and wonder- ing who’s the more sartorially op- pressed.

Casting aside the filmmakers’ breath- taking cultural insensitivity, their as- tonishing tone-deaf ear for dialogue and pacing, and their demented, self- serving idea of female empowerment, the biggest sin of “Sex and the City 2” is its lack of beauty. It’s garish when it should be sumptuous, tacky when it should be luxe, wafer-thin when it should be whip-smart and sophisti- cated. This movie makes a mockery of the

surface pleasures that the original se- ries could always be counted on to pro- vide. The fans most likely will still flock to “Sex and the City 2,” but they may feel as if they’re being punished for their de- votion.

— A.H.

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