Roush Review: NYC Is Zombieland in Tired ‘Walking Dead: Dead City’

Maybe it comes from being a New Yorker for 20-plus years, but I was much more creeped out by the undying rats and roaches littering the streets of an abandoned Manhattan than the ever-present zombies who populate The Walking Dead: Dead City, a been-there, screamed-at-that spinoff of the horror franchise that has seen better days.

It’s obviously scary any time characters descend into infested subway or sewer tunnels, and transforming an iconic arena into a staging ground for post-apocalyptic mayhem is an inspired touch. (If you haven’t seen Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome.) What Dead City lacks is a compelling human element.

Even though I suppose I’d follow the ferocious warrior Maggie (Lauren Cohan) anywhere, her conflict with Negan (Jeffrey Dean Morgan), the reformed — or is he? — villain who slaughtered her beloved husband Glenn back in the day, has grown awfully tired. And yet that reprise is at the core of this contrived sequel, the first to air since the flagship series ended last November. The story opens some years later, with Maggie tracking down the fugitive Negan as her only hope in rescuing her son Hershel, who’s been kidnapped and used as leverage by the latest Big Bad, known only as “the Croat” (Željko Ivanek, typecast).

They encounter a tribe of survivors who rally to rebel against “the Croat,” but don’t worry about learning their names. The entire supporting cast might as well be wearing red shirts.

I wish I could get worked up about another human ogre who darkens the lives of our heroes, and antiheroes, with their megalomaniacal greed. But my tolerance for this device ended with Negan, who appears to be going on a redemption tour in this latest chapter. Being pursued by a single-minded law officer (Gaius Charles, all scowls) who recklessly follows the rescue team into the isolated metropolis, Negan plays surrogate father to an orphan rendered mute by tragedy.

He tries to convince anyone who’ll listen, “I was only a monster when I absolutely had to be, when I had to put on a show to protect my people.” If you buy that, there’s a bridge into Manhattan I’d like to sell you.

The Walking Dead: Dead City, Series Premiere, Sunday, June 18, 9/8c, AMC