Apocalypse Yesterday

Adams (Ember) misfires with this satirical thriller in which a disease has transformed people into the walking dead. Rip, a customer service representative for an online retailer, fights the zombie menace with the help of a machete he’s named Santana, but his battles for survival are dull. Adams doesn’t make buy-in easy with silly scenes featuring celebrities, such as the one in which Jack Nicholson arrives at the Oscars to receive “the Academy Honorary Award” and tears out Ryan Seacrest’s throat. The on-screen death-by-zombie of CNN host Anderson Cooper, who continues to speak as his limbs are torn off, adds to the book’s cartoonish flavor. And the portrayal of President Donald Trump’s response to the crisis (“The people working on this, you wouldn’t believe. Just the best people”), paralleling his administration’s response to Covid-19, comes across as heavy-handed. The gory violence becomes tedious, and none of the carnage, such as the destruction of the zombie-infested island of Jamaica by nuclear weapons, makes an emotional impact. No doubt there will be a good zombie parody that effectively satirizes the current moment, but this isn’t it. Agent: Paul Lucas, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Oct.)