Dawn of the Dead

DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004)

First I want you to check out my review on page 2, now I want you to question what kind of crack I was smoking back then. Every film I reviewed back then was like 5 popcorns. Yes this film is enjoyable, but no where near close to perfection.

I'll say that the worst kind of movie is a horror movie without scares, that's why I dislike some slasher movies. There's always that option of running away and possibly getting out and being safe. That being said, I think the scariest type of horror is zombies. First, it's death personified, pretty much one of my worst fears, you can't stop it, try as you might, it'll come. Second, they all used to be living breathing people, they used to live life just as we all do, I probably wouldn't have the heart to shoot them. Third, and probably the scariest is, it just can't be stopped. You can shoot as many as you can, as fast as you can, but there are about 6 billion people in the world, sooner or later one will catch you when you slip up, then you become one of them. There's no escape.

Yes, this is a remake, I've never bothered to see the original, so I won't compare, which even if I had, I think comparing originals and remakes is a stupid idea. A film should be graded on it's own merits, not how similar it is to another movie. I think this movie stands on it;s own merits just fine.

The effects were pretty eye-popping (see above.) They come early and often to, about 5 minutes in the zombie outbreak occurs, with little letting up, which is a good thing a bad thing. Good thing is that we get to see zombies, zombies feasting, zombies running, and even a zombie giving birth.

The bad thing is that this leaves little room for character development, like I said, 5 minutes in a women's husband becomes zombie food. I'd like to actually care if someone got eaten. We don't learn much about the people, we don't even know their freakin' last name! Ana, all we know is that she was married, husband becomes zombie food and is a nurse. Kenneth's a cop, Michael used to sell TVs and is divorced. Andre's a street thug that cares for his family. CJ's a security officer/******* who grows more humane towards the end. and Steve's just an *******. There, I summed up the main crew in about 5 sentences.

The acting doesn't help this much. Sarah Polley seems exhausted most of the time, which I can kind of get seeing as this would be an exhausting situation, but come on girl, I don't want the feeling that every time you talk you're going to pass out. Ving Rhames is just a badass. Jake Weber is a poor man's Tim Roth.Mekhi Phifer can't act, you can definitely tell that he's reading. Michael Kelly does turn in a strong performance. Ty Burrell comes off as a natural guy that I would hate, but I loved the performance.

The editing is great, most notably in the montages. The beginning one is the best, set to 'When the Man Comes Around' by Johnny Cash (play HERE. You get the full feeling of anarchy around the country in about 2 minutes so you don't feel like this is just happening in Milwaukee. The end also plays off brilliantly, I loved combining Steve's old camera footage and Terry filming, almost reminding us of how life used to be, and how things will never be the same.

Zach Snyder does get a lot of guff, for his slow motion (thank god, none of that.) And I'll admit some of it's pretty clunky, even if he does come up with some great ideas. I especially loved the dead birth, and the escape is very exciting even if he does horrible filming it. Throughout the whole thing I was unsure of who was in what car. I do think that with a little more experience (DOTD is his 1st theatrical movie) he can be a really good blockbuster director.

All in all DOTD is an enjoyable Saturday night movie. Not a surefire Oscar winner, but I liked it and think you will too.