After countless zombie rip-offs, spin-offs and comedy, the man who single-handedly invented the genre returns with the long-awaited fourth 'dead' film. Sadly, LAND OF THE DEAD is separated from Romero's trilogy not just by the long years that have passed since 1985's DAY OF THE DEAD. LAND OF THE DEAD is content to offer a straightforward action-flick and in this instance, it plays a lot like the previous year's DAWN OF THE DEAD remake. Scenes of atmospheric horror are thrown aside in place of gore, and indeed the bloodshed is what this film focuses on; there's more grue and gut-ripping here than in the first three films put together, and Romero positively wallows in the violence and carnage.

The story is wafer-thin, and things haven't really progressed on the planet since DAWN OF THE DEAD happened. Humans are walled up inside a compound, zombies rule the street, and a massive armoured vehicle (just like the one in the DAWN OF THE DEAD remake) figures in the proceedings quite predominantly. Scenes of plot exposition are countered by lots of shooting and subsequent images of zombies being splattered; it's a veritable bloodbath here, and extra gravitas is brought about by Greg Nicotero's special effects; they're more realistic, and bloodier, than ever. The zombie make-up is spot on, with each zombie looking particularly individualised now, although I could have done without some of the CGI effects that ruin the authenticity a little bit.

Romero's casting, however, is spot on, aside from his bizarre choice for lead role; Simon Baker, an Australian unknown, is far too vanilla and clear-cut as the hero, and totally uninteresting as a result (his boring character in the script doesn't help much either). Better are the supporting players, including John Leguizamo in one of the biggest and best acting performances I've seen him give, and the ever-sexy Asia Argento as the kick-ass heroine – Argento does this sort of thing in her sleep, and should have been cast in the RESIDENT EVIL movies in my opinion; she would have been ten times better than that talentless Milla Jovovich. Elsewhere, Dennis Hopper chews the scenery with aplomb, and seems to be having a great time as always; his enthusiasm kind of rubs off. Best of all is Robert Joy as a sniper sporting horrific burns injuries, and subsequently looking even weirder than usual. The big black zombie guy is also great.

It's some time after the zombie apocalypse. Riley Denbo (Simon Baker) leads an well-armed group fighting the zombies. He designed the massive armor vehicle Dead Reckoning to use against the dead defending the city of Pittsburgh. He notices that some of the zombies exhibit some thought. Cholo DeMora (John Leguizamo) is the more rough member of the team. It turns out that it's the last mission for both of them. The zombies led by thinking zombie Big Daddy (Eugene Clark) approach the city ruled by Paul Kaufman (Dennis Hopper). The city is divided into a ruling elite and the poor suffering masses. Cholo is rejected from living in the high class Fiddler's Green and Kaufman tries to kill him to clean up any loose ends. Cholo leads a revolt stealing Dead Reckoning. Kaufman tasks Riley to get Dead Reckoning back from Cholo.

There are some interesting new ideas being used in this film like using fireworks to distract the zombies and that some zombies are beginning to think. Romero has added to his zombie vision. However it doesn't make this a good B-movie. I don't mind the economic disparity theme but it's not very skillfully done. It has some bits of good ideas but it's not pull together into a good vision. I compare this to 'Dawn of the Dead' which came out close together. Zack Snyder (with a somewhat higher budget) is able to bring more excitement and better style to his Romero remake. It's a different level of directing skills.

In a near future, the zombies are all around the world, and the human society is restructured and adapted for the new reality. In a protected city ruled by the powerful Kaufman (Dennis Hopper),the upper class has the usual privileges living in a fancy well-supplied building, while the poor people lives on the streets. Riley (Simon Baker) and Cholo (John Leguizamo) belong to a team that bring supplies (food, medicine etc.) to the city using a heavy truck called Dead Reckoning and designed by Riley. When Cholo is betrayed by Kaufman, he steals the Dead Reckoning and threatens Kaufman, who requests Riley to retrieve the vehicle, with the support of his friend Charlie (Robert Joy) and Slack (Asia Argento). But the dead are smarter and organized under the leadership of Big Daddy (Eugene Clark).

"Land of the Dead" is a great zombie movie. The story is a sort of "Mad Max" with "The Night of the Living Dead", full of the usual clichés, but I liked it a lot. Dennis Hopper performs a character worse than the zombies, and John Leguizamo and Asia Argento are excellent as usual. Simon Baker is a charismatic leader, and there is a hook between Riley and Big Daddy for a possible sequel, that I hope comes true. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Terra dos Mortos" ("Land of the Dead")