Whitney (Natalie Portman) battles zombie mall cops physically indistinguishable from regular mall cops.
The plot runs parallel to the first movie, telling the tale of a different group of still-human survivors. With the film’s expanded budget comes big talent. Natalie Portman stars alongside Benicio Del Toro and Matthew Broderick. Though zombie films traditionally cast lesser-known actors to enhance the “realness” of the apocalypse, somehow, in P-Zed2, it works.
A survivalist couple who live “off the grid” (including Portman) have their lives shaken to the core when a philosophical zombie of the apocalypse wanders onto its property. At first, they are not overly suspicious of the zombie (as, true to the series, it is behaviorally indistinguishable from uninfected humans). Soon, though, they begin to suspect that the visitor only “thinks” it “is,” without actually therefore-I-am’ing. Too late they realize the truth, and the husband is infected by the zombie “thinking” “about” him, turning him into a “him” who is otherwise completely indistinguishable from how he once was, a shuddering mockery of consciousness that is without being.
As Portman flees for her life, she runs across a band of survivors (led by Del Toro). Together, they have to fight for survival and come to terms with the end of conscious society (where the new one is physically indistinguishable from regular society). They decide to barricade themselves in a local shopping mall, but all is not well as they are constantly harassed by philosophical zombies trying to get into the GAP and Cinnabon. Blood and gore are bountiful as the survivors tear through hordes of the Walking Unconscious, who are eerily physically identical to the normal men, women, children, and eventually SWAT teams they once were.
The famous teaser poster for Philosophical Zombie 2
Honestly, after viewing the film in its entirety, my initial reaction was that it actually wasn’t very different from many other zombie movies in recent memory. It shares the same basic plot from everything from Dawn of the Dead to Left 4 Dead zombie outbreak, and a few survivors facing the fall of human society. Whatever additional plot there may have been, I don’t think it could possibly be detected. But I feel like it still influences the film.
The acting was top-notch and appropriately horrified, from stars and new faces alike. Especially noteworthy was Natalie Portman’s first foray into full-frontal nudity, albeit mostly obscured by sprays of zombie blood. The zombies were also fantastic – all played by Matthew Broderick. With the flawless philosophical zombie makeup, you could really believe that he was physically and behaviorally indistinguishable from a regular human being. It really draws one into the film.
CGI techniques used to create huge crowds of zombies turned Broderick into a horde of the Walking Unconscious unto himself. And fans of the series will appreciate the numerous Easter Eggs and callbacks, like the reappearance of the fan-favorite movie chain Cartesian Theater.
And if all this isn’t enough for you, 20th Century Fox confirmed a second sequel, Philosophical Zombie 3, is already in the works. However, despite promises of a resolution to the story, the series seems poised to merely retread the same ground over and over again.
Philosophical Zombie 2 opens this Friday. It’s rated R, and it means it, so don’t take the kids. Not recommended for philosophers over the age of Daniel Dennett.
