Life After Death feels like a slightly below average TV episode than a movie. It lacks Dead Like Me’s clever writing and dark sarcasm. In the original episodes, the reapers were always breaking the rules and suffering the effects. Rube would threaten to drop the sky on them if they tempted the law of unintended consequences. Here, their slip-ups feel like retreads of funnier storylines. The plot feels forced and lacking in explanations. For instance, It’s suspicious that Kane picks the reapers up in a limo so quickly after seeing Der Waffle Haus burn down. Yet, the reapers are sucked into Kane’s trap only because that’s what the plot needs.
I do like the natural growth of George, Reggie and Joy. At Happy Time, George handles more of Delores’s duties and shows more responsibility. Joy is a grief counselor and author. She uses her work to repress her fears of being a bad mother which is still a problem. Reggie no longer thinks about death and her sister all day, but is a loner in school. More scenes of her school and home life would deepen her character. A handful of dialogue divided between her mother and George is barely enough. New fans could mistake Reggie for a Gilmore Girl or a Disney Channel-style teenager. At least George’s mission allows her to admit she loves Reggie and give her mature “Rube”-like advice to help her get past the death of her first love.
The movie really misfires on the introduction of Cameron Kane. The idea of a bad boss or Satan-like antagonist is intriguing, but tricky to add in since reaping on Dead Like Me was usually more Office Space than Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Suave and sociable, Kane is a very complex man. Nevertheless, the plot plays it safe by never letting the viewer learn much about him. That’s odd, since he’s not the trusty type that “upper management” would consider to lead a reaper team.
Most of the TV series cast return in their original roles. The acting quality is as good as before. Of the new additions, Henry Ian Cusick is a truly oily Kane. Sarah Wynter is miscast as Daisy, replacing Laura Harris. While it’s true they played sisters on 24, Wynter acts more melodramatic. Harris’s Daisy used perkiness to mask her sadness. To be fair, it’s consistent with how her character is written in the movie.
Fans of the show will notice a new visual style. Warm colors like red dominate scenes rather than cold blues. There are less fast-motion effects and more sweeping camera shots. Filming moved from Vancouver to Montreal. Ostensibly this adds to the impression that life is changing. Really it doesn’t add much to the movie. In one scene the new dynamic approach is distracting. George and Delores hold a job interview rehearsal in a room with a long table. The pressure felt by the interviewee is over amplified by wide angle camera lensing which stretches the table’s length.
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