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Plot:
A re-envisioning of George Romero's apocalyptic horror classic, "Dawn of the Dead": An unexplained plague has decimated the world's population--and yet, the dead aren't dying. They've become zombies, ...( read more 
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Recent Reviews
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MCT:May 14, 2008Michael: "Truck's not gonna make it to Fort Pastor.
Steve: No, forget the truck. That place is fucked, man. Bloodbath city.
Kenneth: How do you know?
Norma: We just came from there.
Kenneth: Is everyone there dead?
Steve: Well, dead-ish.
Kenneth: Is everyone there dead?
Steve: Yeah, in the sense that they all sort of, uh... fell down... and then got up... and started eating each other."
When first word on a possible remake of Romero's untouchable classic Dawn of the Dead was mentioned, a lot of people shunned the idea and thought it ridiculous. When it was revealed that James Gunn (the man who managed to write two of the most ridiculous screenplays in history, in less than two years) was working on the script, it didn't help matters either. Once the first trailer appeared online, people's minds were changed drastically, because it was actually beginning to look like a pretty decent zombie flick.
I went in watching this four years ago with an open mind, because, although my personal opinion on the concept of 'remake' is widely known, I don't consider Romero's work 'unremakable'. The "Dead" trilogy spanned three decades ('60s, '70s and '80s) and each film was a reflection on the kind of country the U.S. were at those times, as well as the way Americans viewed themselves. Things change. To remake The Exorcist or The Shinning would be preposterous, but Dawn of the Dead... somehow makes sense. I came out of the theatre very satisfied in terms of entertainment (which is what I primarily based my rating for this film on) but it must be said that, no matter how entertaining this may be, it doesn't even begin to approach the original's brilliance and vision.
Above all, Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead is true to itself. Without irony, cheek, or a gentle nudge to the ribs, it manages to exist as a pure experience - watching the dead rise from the earth, begin their flesh-feast, and eventually take over the world. There is no explanation, no resolution, and no political subtext; only a refreshingly straightforward story that attempts thrills and chills without poking fun at its obvious flaws.
There are genuine laughs to be had, but they are real, rather than the result of camp or mockery. In fact, this might be one of the first films in years to be the essence of horror without the Scream-inspired self-awareness. Yes, it's a remake (complete with the shopping mall setting), but it's not trying to comment on the Romero classic. It's not trying to be better than that film by showing it can be more clever and knowing. It is an update in that it has better effects and much more realistic carnage, but I would argue that it is aiming lower than the earlier film. Romero constructed a merciless satire of American consumerism, while Snyder's film would rather we witness the end of the world without comment. That's why the film is so much fun and easy to watch and the reason why I enjoyed it so much.
The ten-minute pre-credits sequence is a showstopper, an adrenaline-fuelled nightmare come to life as downright horrifying as any film opener since Apocalypse Now. Young nurse Ana (Sarah Polley) leaves the hospital she works at and drives to her home in the middle of Milwaukee's idyllic suburbs. She makes love to her husband Luis (Justin Louis) in the shower and goes to bed, missing all of the signs around her, including a news report, that something is seriously wrong. When Ana awakes to find Luis mortally wounded (a neighbour child has ruthlessly bitten him on the neck), only to have him suddenly attack her after his heart has stopped, she narrowly escapes. Pure chaos has rang out on the streets, leaving Ana fearful and perplexed as to what is happening in the world. Cue Johnny Cash's haunting "The Man Comes Around" and a marvellously innovative and atmospheric opening credits scene, and you have a flawlessly rendered set-up to a fine, graphically violent horror flick.
The pulse-pounding pace at the onset slows down soon after so the rest of the premise and characters can fall into place. After totalling her car in an accident, Ana finds herself joining police officer Kenneth (Ving Rhames), Michael (Jake Weber), and Andre (Mekhi Phifer) and his pregnant wife, Luda (Inna Korobkina), to hide out in the Crossroad Mall. From then on it's the discovery of what is really happening: a fast-acting virus spread through bites that will reanimate the carrier once they have died into a bloodthirsty zombie. Soon joined by some more humans, including three security guards and several other refugees, Ana watches as the days tick by and the number of zombies increase at the mall entrances. In lieu of waiting for their own doom, the group devise a plan to escape to the nearby marina and sail to a hopefully deserted island. First, however, they will have to get past the hoards of dangerous, angry zombies clustering the streets.
Romero's bleak vision of humanity learning to cope after a time of war featured sympathetic protagonists waiting out the apocalypse. It also featured terrifying gore effects courtesy of special effects king Tom Savini (who has a cameo here as a badass sheriff), brutal and hard-hitting action sequences, and an unrelenting sense of encroaching dread. Snyder's version can't hope to compare, so it ditches any notion of social statement and goes instead for the balls-out, adrenaline rush of 28 Days Later, minus the grade-Z digital cinematography in favour of the technical splendour of a slick car commercial. Result: it truly looks awesome.
Sarah Polley, a Canadian-born indie staple who rarely ventures into the mainstream, is exceptional as Ana, a young woman devastated by what is happening around her, but who refuses to give up hope. Polley brings to her lead role the stark, honest emotions and no-holds-barred reality that goes along with the situation. In the process, she elevates what could have been a standard-issue horror heroine part to one with three dimensions and worth rooting for. All other performances, namely Ving Rhames (as the little-talk hard-ass cop), Mekhi Phifer (as a street-thug-slash-soon-to-be-daddy, whose wife nurses a zombie bite and a swelled pregnant belly that's a gruesome set piece waiting to happen), and especially Jake Weber (in the Brendan Gleeson role from 28 Days Later, a de-facto dad for the band of survivors), are concentrated and unfailing. Nonetheless, most of the characters could have afforded the depth and care brought to Ana, who is the only one we see with a life before things literally go to Hell.
Amidst the heightened suspense and skilfully created terror, Zack Snyder does make a few key errors that keep the film from being the masterpiece it pays tribute to - 'cause really, that's basically what this is - and flirts with becoming. For one, it is suggested that what is occurring is strictly virus-based, but if this is the case, then it is implausible that the entire town would fall apart overnight. Where did the virus come from to begin with? And if he wants us to believe that the long-since dead have risen from their graves, then the film is missing any such clarification (a brief scene where Ana drives by a cemetery and witnesses the dead rising would have cleared this up, but is nowhere to be found). Any way you look at it, it is an unavoidable and clumsy plot hole. Likewise, a stronger sense of the interior mall setting should have been rendered, instead of the majority happening in front of the same store over and over.
Still, this new Dawn of the Dead is creepy, smart and good filmmaking. It takes no prisoners in its sole goal to scare you silly. And what the viewer is left with by the end is an unshakable sense of both pure despair (at the narrative's amazing outcome) and admiration (at the film's well-made nature). While Romero's Dawn of the Dead remains a classic of zombie and horror cinema, then Zack Snyder's version does it justice and honours it properly. Despite what naysayers and sceptics might have thought, it defies lowered expectations. Well-crafted in every way, Dawn of the Dead is another unforgettable, nerve-tingling ride through the American Dream gone hideously, gruesomely wrong. A very important contributor to the survival of the Zombie sub-genre.
Televangelist: "Hell is overflowing, and Satan is sending his dead to us. Why? Because, you have sex out of wedlock, you kill unborn children, you have man on man relations, same sex marriage. How do you think your God will judge you? Well friends, now we know. When there is no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth." -
MCT:May 10, 2008
yes it's not the original but it stands on it's own as it's own take, and it's also the starting point of Zack Snyder
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MCT:May 10, 2008
En un mundo lleno de 'remakes' habra que decir que en este caso esta pelicula es tan buena y puede que hasta mejor que la original, que es todo un clasico del genero.
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MCT:May 10, 2008better than the original in quality and i like how the zombies can move fast - nothing so scary as a slow dumb zombie
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MCT:May 9, 2008
Some of the best zombie make-up ever. I don't care how controversial it may seem, it was an improvement over the original. At least as far as SFX goes. I hope to see more zombie movies of this caliber in the near future (c'mon World War Z!!!).
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Comments
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njdshkdposted 181 days ago -
Lunatci: uh it has a sequel :) called land of the dead. Nowhere near as good :)
posted 345 days ago -
Even the critics that are hard to please thought the remake was good.The original at times gets boring but not a good job in the make-up dept much better job with the sequel Day of the dead in 1984 the gore effects were more realistic & better make-up effects with the zombies not saying Dawn of the dead is a bad film not better than the remake.
Although he had strong reservations about some elements, George A. Romero professed to be surprisingly impressed with the film.posted 376 days ago -
Back in the 70's maybe the original was the best zombie film that came out but looking at the movie now is not the same feeling for some.I thought it was ok but boring dialogue.This new Dawn is one of the best zombie flicks i seen it delivers.Awesome effects!It needs a sequel.
posted 376 days ago -
I get tired of people saying this is better than the original, due to the special effects and so on. True, it was good, especially in the era of the remake. But it lacked the messages that most people failed to catch in the original(i.e. consumerism, which was the purpose for the mall in the first place, etc.). Plus, the original had a killer music score, composed by the legendary Goblins. All in all though, this was a great movie!!!
posted 379 days ago -
This movie actually had me feeling what it would be to be stuck in an end of the world situation... I love this movie better than most horror because I forgot that it wasn't real... and I can watch it over and over...
posted 379 days ago -
I've Seen the Original Over and Over...and Over. Its Just such a great Movie.
And now i can watch the new one ...well not THAT many times but it gave me what i was lookin for, an "All-OUT Action Zombie Movie.
Most remakes Fail, this one didnt.
but one movie cannot Top the Other.
Whoever watches the new one 1st is gonna think the original is too tame.
and whoever saw the original 1st, will think the new one is not character or story driven.
Nonetheless u will all see a Twilight.posted 400 days ago -
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the old one was good the plot could use a better revision but at the time the special effects could not gewt that much better in the 70's
posted 469 days ago -
i like the movie the part at the end when they reach the island is screwed up though
posted 477 days ago
