Dawn of the Dead (2004)

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Of this week's three wide releases, two decided to air their first 10 or so minutes on cable television with the aim of introducing potential viewers to wares that, honestly, shouldn't be attracting much of anyone's attention (the third - Michel Gondry's brilliant Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind - might actually HURT its box office take if its first scenes were shown on TV). For Taking Lives, the proposition makes sense, because these 10 minutes are the best the film has to offer. For Dawn of the Dead, however, this "advance preview" is more of a way to say, "Hey, this isn't some stupid Resident Evil/House of the Dead zombie sequel/remake bullshit here."

Not that Dead's first scene isn't worth showing up on time to see (it's still better than Lives', and it paints a much more accurate picture of what to expect for the next 100 minutes). Young mother and nurse Ana (Sarah Polley, My Life Without Me) wakes up for work, only to find her daughter gnawing on her husband's jugular. Survival instinct kicks in, and Ana gets the hell out of Dodge, which is portrayed here by Milwaukee. Running outside, Ana begins to realize this whole zombie thing is affecting way more than just her household. It looks like Armageddon, only without Affleck and his ridiculous animal crackers.

Also kicking in is Ana's need to shop, so she heads to the mall, meeting up with an angry cop (Ving Rhames, Undisputed), a sad sack (Jake Weber, The Mind of the Married Man), and a couple about to have a baby (Mekhi Phifer and Inna Korobkina). At the mall they find more people, forming a kind of Survivor: Food Court with challenge "losers" ending up as appetizers for the thousands of zombies massing in the mall's parking lot. More people, including a disturbingly gaunt Max Headroom (Matt Frewer) and that guy who looks like Bruce Campbell (Ty Burrell), show up to get in on the fun. An ad-hoc society is formed, but it sure is hard to pick a leader, isn't it?

Dead is a remake of the second film in George A. Romero's zombie trilogy, following the once groundbreaking but now laughable Night of the Living Dead, and preceding that third film that nobody remembers, let alone talks about. It's also an extremely rare example of a remake being better than its original, even though it lacks the tasty digs at consumerism. Dead excels, at least when it doesn't flirt with becoming a Mad Max spin-off, when it comes to a great, dark sense of humor. I never would have expected it from the screenwriter who penned Scooby-Doo, but stranger things have happened.

More than just a collage of set pieces, Dead is at its best when showing the bickering among the survivors, as well as the very interesting thread involving communicating with a gun store owner stranded on the roof of his shop across the street from the mall. Fans of the original will get a kick out of cameos from Tom Savini and Ken Foree, and fans of The Basketball Diaries will dig the brilliant use of a certain song from The Jim Carroll Band over the closing credits (stick around for them - it's worth it). My only major complaint focuses on the inconsistent speed and aggression of the zombies. Hey, you either want my chewy, gooey brain, or you don't, pal.

1:33 - R for pervasive strong horror violence and gore, language and sexuality

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X-RAMR-ID: 37407
X-Language: en
X-RT-ReviewID: 1264107
X-RT-TitleID: 1130898
X-RT-SourceID: 595
X-RT-AuthorID: 1146
X-RT-RatingText: 7/10