Dawn of the Dead (2004)

"Dawn of the Dead"

In 1979 George Romero followed up his classic horror flick "Night of the Living Dead" with his tongue-in-cheek gore fest sequel about zombies invading a shopping mall. Now, a quarter century later, first time helmer Zack Snyder retells the supernatural survival story and puts his own spin on "Dawn of the Dead."

This new millennium update to Romero's classic sequel (and it is a classic in its own right) doesn't have the benefit of originality but it does pay its predecessor due homage. The satirical fun of its canny observations of our mall-oriented society - "It's some kind of instinct" one character intones of the zombies' attraction to our new Mecca (reprising the line from the '79 movie) - is crossed with action, humor and, like the original, lots of groovy gore.

The pre-credit prologue introduces Ana (Sarah Polley), an ER nurse, who questions why a patient with a bite wound on his hand would be given a brain scan. This thoughtful reflection is soon replaced by reality when her husband is attacked by a badly mutilate neighbor child, ripping his throat out. The child rushes at Ana only to be stopped by a slammed door. Just when she thinks she is safe her now dead husband comes suddenly to life and attacks Ana. She escapes with just a heartbeat to spare only to face a crazed world where the undead are slaughtering the human race. This opener runs a full eight minutes before the starting credits come up and sets the tone of the film.

"Dawn of the Dead" doesn't attempt to remake the Romero film. Instead, it caters to the tastes and style of its new millennium audience. With so much time intervening between films a whole new set of schlock horror fans, well versed in the zombie genre, has been spawned. We are used to the mall metaphor and the filmmakers don't dwell on the satire. Instead, Snyder and his capable cast and crew, go balls-to-the-wall with a rousing survival adventure.

Ana soon teams up with surly cop Kenneth (Ving Rhames) as they search for a safe haven. They are joined by an electronics salesman, Michael (Jake Webber), and a young tough, Andre (Mekhi Phifer) and his very pregnant Russian wife (Inna Korobkina). Together, they battle the zombies as they head to the one place they can feel secure - the Crossroads Mall. Once there, they are accosted by three security guards, led by CJ (Michael Kelly), who are ready to kill to protect their shopping center turf. A battle of wills and turning of tables puts the more sensibly, humanitarian minds in charge

Once bonded, with their numbers increased by additional living arrivals, the oasis of surviving humanity make plans to escape to a, hopefully, zombie free island. It's a group effort, with some of the survivors reluctant, that is supplemented by the distant help of another stranded soul, Andy (Bruce Bohne), a gun store owner barricaded - heavily armed but with little food - on the roof of his shop. He uses his sniping skills to thin the throng of undead mall-goers and entertain his still-alive neighbors. A rescue mission is tried, with the use of the obligatory cute and cuddly dog, Chips (thankfully, at a time in filmdom when cuddly pets are demised, he is a survivor). All of this culminates in the final, Herculean effort to overcome the enormous odds - oh, yeah, this time around, the bite of a zombie (not just plain old death) earns instant conversion to membership in the undead shortly after one, inevitably, dies from their bite.

The ensemble cast of "Dawn of the Dead" is well assembled with ingenue Sarah Polley giving credence to her role as tough and capable nurse Ana, rising above the usual gore splattered helpless female. She is a formidable foe to the mindless undead and keeps a cool head under the worst of circumstance. Ving Rhames is stalwart as the taciturn leader, and enforcer, of the rag tag group. Jake Webber shows good chops as Michael, the thoughtful, concerned member of the survivors. Ty Burrell is drolly amusing as the uncooperative Steve. The rest of the cast fits the bill - see if you can figure out which ones will join the undead.

The screenplay, by James Gunn, is full of action and humor. He reverses the trend of the usual, slow shuffling undead by giving them real speed, making the threat of getting a zombie bite more plausible.

Techs are first rate all around. The ghoulish makeup, designed by David Anderson, for the countless zombies is well done and akin to the work that Tom Savini put into the original "Dawn of the Dead". Lensing, by Matthew F. Leonetti, is crisply handled and looks good.

"Dawn of the Dead" is a fast paced actioner that will please the fans of Romero's work and attract a whole new gang of gore hounds. I give it a B+.

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X-RT-RatingText: B+