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Dawn of the
Dead
(2004)
Starring:
Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber
Director:
Zack Snyder
Rating: R
Studio:
Universal Pictures
Release Date:
03.19.04
Review
Posted: 03.19.04
Spoilers:
None
By
Jon Bjorling
Attack of the
Post-Modern Zombies
When I first heard of
this remake I groaned. How dare Universal remake a classic flick like
Dawn of the Dead. Then I heard who was writing it: James Gunn,
the guy who brought us Scooby-Doo and Scooby-Doo 2. To
be fair though, he did write The Specials, which I think is a
total delight. I had no faith in the project.
Then I saw the trailer
and I was floored. Maybe, just maybe, they could pull
it off.
They did.
The story of this
Dawn of the Dead is similar to the original. A group of survivors
barricade themselves inside a shopping mall, hoping that someone will
arrive soon to save them from the living dead. But when they learn
that no one is going to save them, they decide to save themselves.
The survivors are a nurse (Polly), a cop (Rhames), a salesman (Weber),
a thug (Mekhi Phifer) and his pregnant girlfriend, and the three
remaining security guards of the mall. As more and more survivors
find their way to the mall, the need to escape begins to take a more
drastic turn.
This is not really a
remake, but more of a modern re-imagining. This may have been the
film Romero would have done today, given the finances to do so. The
story is in no way original. Aside from the original Dawn, this
version takes inspiration from 28 Days Later, the 1990 remake
of Night of the Living Dead, called Day of the Dead, and even
Dead Alive (or Brain Dead for those who want to be
picky.) These elements are brought together and used well. I never
found myself groaning when I picked out a reference. In fact, I actually felt
glad to have seen this film. This film pays homage to its predecessor rather
than try to one-up it.
Sure there are leaps of
logic in the film, such as the sudden turn in the attitude of the lead
security guard, CJ (Michael Kelly.) I could complain about his switch
from a power-mad dictator to a willing participant in escape, which is simply
based on the needs of the plot. But why should I complain? These changes are
expected in zombie films, as is the fact that anyone, and I do mean
anyone!, can die in a zombie film. We, as an audience, feel that
certain character types should be immune from harm, such as young
children, but this is not necessarily true in a zombie film. Anyone can and
most likely will die.
The zombies in this
version are similar to the infected in 28 Days Later, they are
fast and more intelligent than those of the original Dawn. This gives the
film more sense of danger, something that many zombie films of
late have ignored. The zombies of Resident Evil and House of
the Dead were laughable and no serious threat. I'm glad the
zombies were shown as more aggressive in this version, because it helped add a
sense of urgency to the film, basically since there was no Savini-lead
motorcycle gang to add a level of danger.
Overall, this is a fun
ride. Stay tuned through the credits to see how the story truly ends.
Film Rating:
κκκ (out of
4)
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