Zom 100: Bucket List of the Dead

Didn't know about this until the animated series and this movie were recommended to me on Netflix.

Watched the few episodes of the animated series and really liked it, so I followed up by watching this movie in the original Japanese with English subtitles.

The live action movie was not as good as the animated version, but still decent. I enjoyed how the overworked Japanese culture was the driving force for our hero's transformation. The journey for our hero and his companions were pretty good. But once the trio reached the aquarium, it just felt like the story ran out of steam or budget to more fully execute the vision.

6 out of 10. Glad I watched it, but I am looking forward to more episodes for the animated series.

Plot

Surviving a zombie apocalypse beats being a wage slave any day. After spending years slaving away for a soul-crushing company, Akira's life has lost its luster. He lives in a trash-filled apartment, his pay is abysmal, and he can't even muster up the nerve to confess his love to his beautiful co-worker. But when a zombie apocalypse ravages his town, it gives him the push he needs to live for himself. Now Akira's on a mission to complete all 100 items on his bucket list before he...well, kicks the bucket.

Cast

Unfamiliar with anyone involved, however most of the cast were great here.

Verdict

Straight out of the gate let me say I've not seen the anime this is based on yet and have to say I'm very surprised there is a live action movie released in the same year as the anime!

I love zombie movies, I love zombie everything in fact so was excited for this one. Japanese, zombies, comedy, a great trailer, my expectations were high but maybe I pushed them a smidge too high.

Zom 100 is less zany than the trailer suggests, it's still comedic but also quite melancholy so be prepared for that. It's also however endearing, sweet and full of positive messages even the best of us could pay attention to.

It has its flaws this is true, it's not made fantastically in places and the final act is a smidge eyebrow raising! My other half despised one of the later elements of the movie, a bit Scyfy channel-ish for her liking.

Regardless I found this an endearing fun zombie film well worth your time.

Rants

Is the sub-genre oversaturated? I mean zombies are everywhere, Walking Dead made them "Cool" again apparently which is a double edged blade. For me they never stopped and now I get more content but on the flipside the influx of zombie related material has me a tad burned out and the material is being made by people who perhaps shouldn't but are simply because there is money to be made. I love zombies, so bring it on.

Breakdown

• Great characters
• Solid performances
• Great vibe
• Poorly made in places
• Low on humour for a comedy film.

I am 100% certain that this movie is a plain and loyal adaption from a Japanese anime. With respect, there could be no one on Earth, other than the Japanese, that could have such a culture and write such a story. Consider it as a compliment, guys. Everything is so original and yet so foreign. So here is my 5 cents: If someone is not into Japanese culture, then that a movie could be skipped for sure. Otherwise give it a greenlight as it is really exotic.

Nothing makes sense in the movie. I know zoms don't make any good sense neither. But if you compare it with other zom movies or series like Army of the Dead, La Revolution or Kingdom on Netflix, then your can easily see that the whole plot fell flat from most aspects. What is worse, the acting really forced me to roll my eyes up. Many times i squeezed my eyebrows and asked myself: What'a hell is that??? The dialogues are so cliche that I really wonder if the Japanese would say that in real life? Really, talk about philosophy in a fierce argument? I switched to Eng dub coz I really can't tolerate their dialogue tone. The Japanese dub has such an exaggerated tone!

I gave it 5 stars coz it is so original and so different from the other zom movies. It's fun to watch. Its very exotic. However, to be honest it's no way a superb contender in the zombie genre.

The movie is not a zombie in the common sense that we always see. The Z's in this movie responses to sound and sometime human. Sometimes they don't even follow this group at all. They walked silently and the zombies ignored them. What logic do they have in the movie. If they are hungry for human flesh, they should follow human scent, blood or brains. I think the movie has some good part regarding spirit and that is the main point for the movie. Zombie is the smoke screen, they put it on just to be one of main condition among others that gel the group together. If you just want to see the Japanese zombie version. This is it. They are not exactly the same as you might want. One funny thing is that, you won't see they used knives or guns to fight zombies. Just their bare hands which is too foolish. You might thought, didn't your guys watch any zombie movies at all? If you are streaming it and really want to skim through it, I recommend 1.5X speed and you miss nothing, really!

Opens strong but slows down after 45 minutes. Gets to be quite boring unlike dawn of the dead. It's suppose to be funny but it isn't. Zombies seem to suddenly stop running and get stupider as the days go by. It's ok if you have a couple of hours on your hand but not worth a rewatch. Acting was ok but nothing great. I never felt a connection to any of the main characters. Make up of the zombies was top notch however. Ending was also very predictable. There are far more better zombie films out there. And the bucket list probably wouldn't be on the top ones list if they were in the middle of zombie apocalypse. Just saying.