Dawn of the Dead (2004)
reviewed by Brian "the Naked Gun" Felts
& Benn "Where's the Humanity?" Farrell
"Dawn of the Dead" is about a group of people trapped in a mall, as the world is being overrun by the undead.
The main characters are Ana, a nurse, played by Sarah Polley (No Sure Thing),
and Kenneth, a cop, played by Ving Rhames (Con Air). The story opens with
actually one of the more interesting scenes in the movie. Ana comes home from the hospital and falls
to sleep with her husband--I guess--unaware of the events unfolding in the world.
She is awoken by her
husband, who is holding there daughter--I guess--who looks like death worn over, as she has a really bad
wound on her face. As Ana reaches for her kid, the girl, maybe seven years old, lunges towards her dad, and starts
eating at his neck. Ana grabs the girl and throws her out of the room. That is when she gets a close
look at her daughter and realizes she is dead, but not. Meanwhile, her husband is bleeding to death from
the wound his daughter left. As Ana calls the hospital, her husband dies and comes back to
life seconds later only to try and do the same thing to her.
The reason why I like this scene is, in horror movies, rarely do filmmakers show a scene which involves a
child. There are a few, including "The Exorcist," "The Omen," etc. I have seen none recently anyway. It was
refreshing to see a little girl be the introduction of evil. There is a later scene involving the
birthing of a baby, which again does not often happen in Hollywood movies.
The acting isn't too bad, as horror movies go. Other then Ving and Sarah, the only other actors of
note are Mekhi Phifer (TV's ER) as Andre, trapped with his wife--I think--who
is nine months pregnant, and Michael Kelly (Man on the Moon), playing mall security guard CJ. There
are many others, but none are worth noting.
My problems with the movie is, director Zack Snyder and writer James Gunn--I know Romero did the first
one--couldn't make up their minds if they wanted an action movie or
a horror movie, so the story gets a little lost. The fact I couldn't tell who was married
and who wasn't, tells me the story wasn't too well developed. Sure, it's a horror movie, but still,
really good ones explain relationships between characters. This is why I gave the movie the second best
rating instead of the best.
If you saw the movie in theaters, then rent the DVD and watch the bonus cuts. There are
some interesting tidbits about the film. I liked this movie. It could have been better, but not bad
overall.
Brian - the Naked Gun
Director Jack Snyder made a fairly decent remake with this version of "Dawn of the Dead."
I really enjoyed seeing the new changes to how the zombie move and hunt in this version. Instead of the clichéd stumbling around, moaning type zombie we're used to, Snyder has HIS zombie able to run inhumanly fast and strong, making them so much more unnerving to watch.
A couple scenes really didn't seem to be necessary in the version I saw. However, I think I watched a director's cut, so it may have included what were originally deleted scenes.
The DVD of this picture has a bunch of cool extras, including Andy's video diary, taped during the course of the story, and the TV news broadcast of the event. The broadcast is produced as if the undead outbreak was happening with OUR days' brand of news coverage; very amusing.
Overall, I think this version of "Dawn of the Dead" is worth viewing. The DVD has a few goodies, and the film is a little more original than most zombie pics of the 1970's and 1980's, included it's namesake from director George A. Romero.
Benn - Where's the Humanity?
Yet another remake of a classic horror film, this time of George A. Romero's 1978 movie with the same
name. The latest "Dawn of the Dead" movie is enjoyable, although at times, it is a little slow. Since I have only seen parts
of the original, I can not compare the two. However, this movie carries itself and is worthy of renting. I have
a few problems with it, but they are nothing to keep you from watching it.