Starring: Ving
Rhames, Sarah Polley, Mekhi Phifer, Michael Barry, Lindy Booth,
Ty Burrell Based on a Screenplay by George A. Romero, Written
by James Gunn, Directed by Zack Snyder.
Rated R for zombie
violence/gore and language
The horror genre
enjoyed a good year last year both creatively and commercially.
Many horror films were released, which was a positive for the
genre but then again there was “Gothika” and “House
of the Dead”. Overall any hardcore horror fan such as myself
would hope that the trend of horror films having a substantial
presence is Hollywood will continue through 2004. If the new “Dawn
of the Dead” is any indication, I can guarantee that this
year will see the horror industry at the top of its game.
Aside
from living up to 2003’s banner year for horror films, there
is a whole lot of pressure on this film’s shoulders. The
two most notable things putting pressure on “Dawn’s”
success is not only is it being distributed by a bigger Hollywood
studio (Universal, which means it is expected to make a considerable
amount of noise at the box office) but that’s its also being
compared to last year’s critical darling “28 Days
Later” before its even made it into theaters. Then there’s
the title; a direct nod to a series whose fans are more deadest
against watching a “Dawn” remake than Harry Knowles
is on admitting that the second and third “Matrix’
films were actually good. The bottom line is many fans are already
have their teeth bared and are waiting shred this film apart before
they even see it. Add the current situation between Romero and
the slim possibility of him ever finishing the series and all
you have is one underdog of a zombie film. To be honest even I
doubted the idea behind a “Dawn” remake; why mess
with something that seems so indicative of its time and was so
close to perfection?
Well,
this remake could quite possibly be one of the best zombie films
I have ever seen. And that’s a pretty bold statement, but
I have seen my fair share of zombie films in the past. This movie
is a rare case of everything being right. This update really only
shares the basic plot of the original along with the title of
the original film. This isn’t the Gus Van Sant remake of
“Psycho”, a lackluster shot by shot remake of Dawn.
The filmmaker took the original story and upped the ante by injecting
it with more characters, more action, and of course a heavy dose
of post apocalyptic mayhem that leaves the audience completely
satisfied.
In the opening sequence we are introduced
to a nurse named Ana (Sarah Polley). After a long day at work
where the emergency room was unusually busy, she goes home to
her husband. I’m sure most of you have seen the trailer
and know what happens. But you really don’t know how good
this scene play’s out from watching the trailer. After an
attack on her husband Ana is confused and scared and is suddenly
fighting to stay alive. She escapes her home and flees in her
car, and all this happens before the opening credits even roll.
And that’s how this remake of “Dawn of the Dead”
is. Things hit the fan early on and the film continues at that
breakneck pace. Zombies are everywhere. They are attacking the
living and destroying neighborhoods that looked as if they were
nice quiet places to live before the nightmare began. Everything
us as humans know and take for granted about our lifestyle is
flipped and turned into hell with raging hungry zombies running
around.
Since
the film will be compared to “28 Day’s Later”
anyway, let me just say that the grittiness and brutality of the
zombies in this film are way scarier than anything in “28
Day’s Later”. Just the aerial shots alone of all the
bad things happening across the city at the same time, the explosions,
the car accidents, and the people fleeing in terror, make the
rage infected zombies in “28 Days Later” look like
extra’s from the Michael Jackson “Thriller”
video.
Ana gets into a car accident and crashes
her car in a ditch in a scene that reminded me of how Barbara’s
car crashed in the beginning of “Night of the Living Dead”.
She awakens to find a cop named Kenneth (Ving Rhames). Kenneth
is a no nonsense cop who is in top shape and walks around with
a shot gun. His character looks like a character straight out
of a video game that is ready to kick tail. And that’s good
for Ving because I never quite looked at him the same after “Holiday
Heart”. They quickly meet up with other survivors, Michael
(Jake Webber), Andre (Mekhi Phifer), and his pregnant wife Luda
(Inna Korobkina) and seek refuge at a nearby mall that is would
have been prepping to open for the day’s business had the
chaos not happened.
That is all you should really know going
into the film. I don’t like to give away plot points, so
I will just say that tension inevitably arises between the survivors.
There are good scare scenes in the mall. Good action sequences.
And there is also great character development. I rarely watch
a horror film where the characters are developed as nicely as
they are in “Dawn”. You learn a great deal about each
of them. And more and more as the film progressed I forgave screenwriter
James Gunn for “Scooby Doo”.
I
also enjoyed the cool side story involving the owner of a gun
shop across the mall parking lot who managed to survive. He talks
to Ving Rhames from the roof of the gun shop with a dry erase
board and binoculars. The relationship he eventually develops
with all the mall survivors just shows the human side of the film.
And the target practice scene with him and Ving was really funny.
The movie has a lot of small human touches that makes this horror
film different from a lot of horror movies, and that is a welcome
change.
After being in the mall for weeks, the
group decides to try and flee. Here is where the film goes into
action movie mode. The escape scenes are really good, with great
explosions and plenty of zombie mayhem. And there is a scene involving
a chainsaw that had the audience squirming in their seats. As
a horror movie fan I was on a horror film high. I’m glad
this isn’t a weak and goreless zombie film. It delivers
the way a horror film with an R rating should deliver.
Now let me address the controversial topic
of the running zombies. The zombies in this film are a major improvement
from the slow moving and not really scary zombies we’ve
seen before. There is a real sense dread as you see these new
and improved zombies running after innocent people. Now I know
the prospect of the running zombies initially sounds silly. But
it works and actually makes the film better. Had the zombies just
been the slow moving ones we all know and laugh at, the fully
armed characters in this film could get away easily. But because
the zombies run, having a gun doesn’t guarantee that the
character will live to see the end.
As
for the acting in the film, I think Sarah Polley does a great
job. She looks like a real person and that also helps her character
seem more believable. I liked Jake Webber in his role as well
and am looking forward to seeing more of him in the future. The
relationship that develops between him and Sarah was nice. Screenwriter
James Gunn does a great job with all the characters. Had they
all been horror movie clichés, the film would have fallen
on its face. I like how as an audience watching the film, you
think some characters are a certain way initially, but in the
end they turn out to be completely different. And I also like
how the characters are not all scared and are not quick to flee.
These characters fight back, and that’s believable. They
all come off as real people, and even the secondary characters
are not there to simply advance the plot and get picked off by
zombies. Everyone fights back. After all it’s the end of
the world and that’s how it should be.
I also liked all the cameo appearances
in this film. Tom Savini is funny as a sheriff explaining to a
reporter how to kill the zombies. And Ken Foree, survivor from
the original “Dawn” is good in his cameo as well.
I don’t want to ruin how he’s put into the movie,
but his scene is good. And also look out for Max Headroom; he’s
in the film and not in a computer thankfully.
I
have a love-hate relationship with the music in this film. How
could this movie not have the infamous Mall Music from the original?
You know, the music that sounds like a zombie playing a Xylophone?
How could they leave it out? I was a bit disappointed that it
wasn’t in the film since the mall music from the original
is so memorable. I guess Zack Snyder putting in Muzak versions
of “All By Myself”, “You Light Up My Life”,
and “Don’t Worry Be Happy” is a nod to the mall
music from the original. But I would have been happier if the
old mall music were in the remake. I did like the other music
in the film though. The original score was good. And the Johnny
Cash song used for the title sequence was great. I also liked
the simplified version of “Down With The Sickness”
that played midway through the film. But I could have done without
the cliché rock music that plays during the end credits.
I think what happens during the end credits would have looked
scarier had the Sparklehorse “It’s A Wonderful Life”
song from the original trailer had been playing.
I
won’t even get into what version was better because that
isn’t fair to the original. The original holds a special
place in my heart as it is the best in Romero’s original
trilogy. The direction by Zack Snyder in the remake is great.
It’s hard to believe that this is Zack’s first film.
Why couldn’t have he directed “Resident Evil”?
I also liked the camera techniques he used. The mounted camera
on Ana’s car as it drove through the chaos in the beginning
of the film worked well. I also like how the camera shakes a bit
during the zombie scenes. It’s not the crazy camera shaking
of “The Blair Witch Project”, it’s a slight
shake that makes it seem like you are watching an actual event
at times. I can’t wait to see how Zack will follow this
film up.
This
new remake of “Dawn” is a well acted and directed
film that raises the bar for the zombie horror genre. It’s
not revolutionary or has any hidden meanings, the plot is refreshingly
simple. Zombies attack the living, the living fight back, and
the people that are unsuccessful in their fight get to join the
living dead. Keeping the plot simple and leaving out silly messages
about capitalism and class structure that shouldn’t be in
a horror film about the end of the world, makes “Dawn of
the Dead” a great zombie film. It’s a worthy companion
to Romero’s “Dead” trilogy. When it’s
the end of the world, it’s your animal instinct to survive
and take out anything in your path that will prevail.
The film will satisfy even the most uptight
zombie film purists. It appeals to all audiences and does so without
selling out the core horror fan base. I am thankful that Hollywood
is slowly realizing that there is an audience for a well made
and smart horror film. Too bad we have to suffer through countless
bad ones to see one good one.
Aside
from living up to 2003’s banner year for horror films, there
is a whole lot of pressure on this film’s shoulders. The
two most notable things putting pressure on “Dawn’s”
success is not only is it being distributed by a bigger Hollywood
studio (Universal, which means it is expected to make a considerable
amount of noise at the box office) but that’s its also being
compared to last year’s critical darling “28 Days
Later” before its even made it into theaters. Then there’s
the title; a direct nod to a series whose fans are more deadest
against watching a “Dawn” remake than Harry Knowles
is on admitting that the second and third “Matrix’
films were actually good. The bottom line is many fans are already
have their teeth bared and are waiting shred this film apart before
they even see it. Add the current situation between Romero and
the slim possibility of him ever finishing the series and all
you have is one underdog of a zombie film. To be honest even I
doubted the idea behind a “Dawn” remake; why mess
with something that seems so indicative of its time and was so
close to perfection?
Well,
this remake could quite possibly be one of the best zombie films
I have ever seen. And that’s a pretty bold statement, but
I have seen my fair share of zombie films in the past. This movie
is a rare case of everything being right. This update really only
shares the basic plot of the original along with the title of
the original film. This isn’t the Gus Van Sant remake of
“Psycho”, a lackluster shot by shot remake of Dawn.
The filmmaker took the original story and upped the ante by injecting
it with more characters, more action, and of course a heavy dose
of post apocalyptic mayhem that leaves the audience completely
satisfied. 
Since
the film will be compared to “28 Day’s Later”
anyway, let me just say that the grittiness and brutality of the
zombies in this film are way scarier than anything in “28
Day’s Later”. Just the aerial shots alone of all the
bad things happening across the city at the same time, the explosions,
the car accidents, and the people fleeing in terror, make the
rage infected zombies in “28 Days Later” look like
extra’s from the Michael Jackson “Thriller”
video. 
I
also enjoyed the cool side story involving the owner of a gun
shop across the mall parking lot who managed to survive. He talks
to Ving Rhames from the roof of the gun shop with a dry erase
board and binoculars. The relationship he eventually develops
with all the mall survivors just shows the human side of the film.
And the target practice scene with him and Ving was really funny.
The movie has a lot of small human touches that makes this horror
film different from a lot of horror movies, and that is a welcome
change.
As
for the acting in the film, I think Sarah Polley does a great
job. She looks like a real person and that also helps her character
seem more believable. I liked Jake Webber in his role as well
and am looking forward to seeing more of him in the future. The
relationship that develops between him and Sarah was nice. Screenwriter
James Gunn does a great job with all the characters. Had they
all been horror movie clichés, the film would have fallen
on its face. I like how as an audience watching the film, you
think some characters are a certain way initially, but in the
end they turn out to be completely different. And I also like
how the characters are not all scared and are not quick to flee.
These characters fight back, and that’s believable. They
all come off as real people, and even the secondary characters
are not there to simply advance the plot and get picked off by
zombies. Everyone fights back. After all it’s the end of
the world and that’s how it should be.
I
have a love-hate relationship with the music in this film. How
could this movie not have the infamous Mall Music from the original?
You know, the music that sounds like a zombie playing a Xylophone?
How could they leave it out? I was a bit disappointed that it
wasn’t in the film since the mall music from the original
is so memorable. I guess Zack Snyder putting in Muzak versions
of “All By Myself”, “You Light Up My Life”,
and “Don’t Worry Be Happy” is a nod to the mall
music from the original. But I would have been happier if the
old mall music were in the remake. I did like the other music
in the film though. The original score was good. And the Johnny
Cash song used for the title sequence was great. I also liked
the simplified version of “Down With The Sickness”
that played midway through the film. But I could have done without
the cliché rock music that plays during the end credits.
I think what happens during the end credits would have looked
scarier had the Sparklehorse “It’s A Wonderful Life”
song from the original trailer had been playing. 
I
won’t even get into what version was better because that
isn’t fair to the original. The original holds a special
place in my heart as it is the best in Romero’s original
trilogy. The direction by Zack Snyder in the remake is great.
It’s hard to believe that this is Zack’s first film.
Why couldn’t have he directed “Resident Evil”?
I also liked the camera techniques he used. The mounted camera
on Ana’s car as it drove through the chaos in the beginning
of the film worked well. I also like how the camera shakes a bit
during the zombie scenes. It’s not the crazy camera shaking
of “The Blair Witch Project”, it’s a slight
shake that makes it seem like you are watching an actual event
at times. I can’t wait to see how Zack will follow this
film up. 
This
new remake of “Dawn” is a well acted and directed
film that raises the bar for the zombie horror genre. It’s
not revolutionary or has any hidden meanings, the plot is refreshingly
simple. Zombies attack the living, the living fight back, and
the people that are unsuccessful in their fight get to join the
living dead. Keeping the plot simple and leaving out silly messages
about capitalism and class structure that shouldn’t be in
a horror film about the end of the world, makes “Dawn of
the Dead” a great zombie film. It’s a worthy companion
to Romero’s “Dead” trilogy. When it’s
the end of the world, it’s your animal instinct to survive
and take out anything in your path that will prevail.