Fido (2007)

Don't listen to the negative reviews

Best movie of this year hands down!

A Brilliant Conflict

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

This 2006 zombie comedy is really one of a kind, and it is also the type of movie that you can watch again and again.The story in "Fido" is very enjoyable, and there are some very impressive names on the cast list, such as Billy Connolly and Carrie-Anne Moss, to pinpoint but two of these.The characters in "Fido" are very nicely fleshed out, pardon the pun, and they are characters that you take a liking to right away.For a zombie movie, then special effects and make-up is a thing that must be working on the screen. And I will say that the special effects in the movie were good, despite the fact that this is not a gory type of zombie movie.The atmosphere throughout the entire movie was great, and they really captured that 1950s essence.If you enjoy the lighter zombie comedies that make their way into the zombie genre, then "Fido" will definitely be something for you. Take a bite at it before it bites at you...

There certainly is no shortage of zom coms these days, but this film in question, Fido is a good one and should satisfy most viewers. Radioactive dust from outer space has caused the dead to rise causing a zombie outbreak and war for survival of the human race. The Zom Con corporation has now found a means to control the zombies with a collar and are now commonly used as household pets and menial workers. This is set in a very tongue in cheek 50's like setting and as such works as a nice blend of horror, comedy and satire. This all works together nicely with a very ambitious plot, good performances and gore. This centers around a family that just got a zombie as a household pet(named Fido)and what that would be like as well as a look into that society. Some have compared this to Shaun Of The Dead. I have found this to have more in common in tone to the video game Fallout, but with less action and a suburban 1950's Leave It To Beaver like setting. On the surface this is a very wholesome movie, but in this ultra superficial society things are much more sinister once you scratch the surface. The only actors I am familiar with are the mother(Carrie Anne Moss via The Matrix) and the father(Dylan Baker via Happiness)and they performed well here as well as the rest of the cast. I would not place Fido alongside classics like The Evil Dead series, Re Animator or Dead Alive. But Fido is a cool little film and a very imaginative and well executed splatter comedy that delivers the goods and is good campy entertainment.

Plot : ******* 7/10The film opens with a mock up of the old 1950s style public service announcements, similar to those dealing with topics such as surviving a nuclear war, proper gender roles, or bicycle safety. This particular P.S.A. deals with zombies, giving the viewer details about this post- apocalyptic world, the rules and laws that govern the roles of the zombies within this fantastical society and facts about the primary dealer of zombies, Zomcon. As the viewer leaves this black and white narration, the film opens onto a beautifully colored world and viewers are introduced to the Robinson family. It's revealed that the Robinson's are the only family in the town of Willard without any domesticated zombies and this fact seems to be a bone of contention between Bill (Dylan Baker) and Helen (Carrie-Anne Moss) Robinson, parents to young Timmy (Kesun Loder). The story is driven forward, when Jonathan Bottoms (Henry Czerny), Zomcon's new head of security, moves into the neighborhood, leaving Helen Robinson feeling compelled to buy a zombie in an effort to impress their new neighbor. To the dismay of his father, Young Timmy quickly befriends this new addition, naming him Fido, and treats this zombie much like a pet. Events spin out of control, when Fido (Billy Connolly) is accused of zombie attacks, resulting in a small band of re-animated zombies wreaking havoc on the town. The insurgence of zombies are ultimately hunted down by Zomcon forces, but, unfortunately, this is only the beginning of the trouble for Timmy and Fido. The incident provides Mr. Bottoms with the perfect opportunity to confiscate the lovable Fido and Timmy soon learns that, while his family had been told Fido had been destroyed for his apparent crimes, he was, in truth, being held at Zomcon with plans to reassign him with another family. This leads to a final confrontation between Bill Robinson and Jonathan Bottoms with Timmy caught in the middle. Themes : ******** 8/10Although Fido deals with two of life's most serious issues, it manages to do so in a fun and entertaining way. First, and most obviously, we are confronted with the issue of slavery, servitude and exploitation. We see these zombies domesticated and largely treated as pets, or, as in the case of the neighborhood playboy Mr. Theopolis (Tim Blake Nelson), as love slaves. Most of the people of Willard, however, treat the enslaved zombies as property, looking down upon them with disgust, ridicule, and contempt. Secondly, somewhat more subtly, we see a society obsessed with death, possibly mirroring the fear that has plagued our own society in recent years. When we hear Bill Robinson remark that he is saving up for his son's funeral fund, as opposed to the college funds most of us establish for our children, we begin to see just how preoccupied they have become with the subject of death and the undead. We see the internal struggle of the characters with their own mortality, as the decision of whether or not to allow their bodies final rest is debated and contemplated. Finally, this theme of a death obsessed culture is driven home when we see Bill Robinson reading a magazine, which has a cover resembling Life magazine but, instead, is entitled Death.Conflict: ****** 6/10Fido presents the viewer with several points of conflict throughout the film. First, we are faced with the internal conflict of the characters, each of them trying to determine whether it is better to pursue a funeral, which will guarantee a final rest, or to return as a zombie, so that their loved ones can continue to have them in their lives. Is this conflict ever resolved? No, but, by the time the end credits roll, the viewer feels that the Robinsons at least have learned better how to deal with death and with the living. The primary conflict grows out of a combination of Mr. Bottoms intrusive presence in the neighborhood and the bond Timmy has formed with his beloved Fido. The relationship between Fido and Timmy alarms the officious Mr. Bottoms and, as situations spiral out of control, he sees an opportunity to be rid of Timmy, as well as Fido. It is finally in this final confrontation that we see another conflict resolved, a struggle between an often absent father and his approval-seeking son, as Bill Robinson comes to Timmy's rescue.Overall: ******* 7.5/10Fido is a fun, enjoyable film with minimal gore, an easily followed story, and a likable cast. From the very moment of the opening sequence, throughout the entire film and until the end credits roll, director Andrew Currie succeeds in transporting the audience to a simpler time when zombies knew their place was in the service of the living. In Fido, we can escape to a time (and even an alternate reality) where the living have trained the undead to perform our most menial tasks for us with few accommodations. It is only when Timmy, feeling bullied and alone, befriends the family's first zombie servant that we begin to see the flaws in this system and it is this upsetting of the status quo that propels the story into a humorous jaunt of suburban life and zombies.

Fido is by no means a bad film, but it has a few basic problems that make it hard to me to give it a rating higher than 6.One problem is that this film doesn't fit in any genre. While for this works to the advantage of some films as it makes them unique, it is a disadvantage for "Fido". The concept is too goofy to be considered a serious movie, the humor is too mild to generate actual laughter (at least in my case) and the gore is too mild and the whole "Pleasantville" setting is too bright and shiny to appeal to zombie movie fans while the gore and zombies themselves will upset many art house film fans. etc. Basically, the film deviates too far from any genre it is inspired by and it's not good enough in either of its deviations for this to actually work in its advantage.As a satire of suburban sensibilities and the way people treat creatures of a different species, ethnic group or class, Fido never really succeeds in making a point. Unlike satires like "How to Get Rid of the Others", "Idiocracy" or "Dr Stranglove" the message is too subtle to really have an impact on the viewer and many people probably won't even understand what message this film actually holds.Being too shallow for a satire and not goofy enough for a story a la "Monty Python", "Brain dead", "Shaun of the Dead" or "Hot Fuzz" the humor in Fido never really worked for me and considering this is supposed to be a funny movie that's a major drawback.So why does it still deserve a 6? The visuals are more than decent and the concept is one of the most original concepts I've seen in a film for quite a while. That made it still a film far more worth watching than any Michael Bay crap. It's just too bad they didn't get more out of the concept than they did.