Dawn Of The Dead
Directed by: Zack Snyder
Written by: James Gunn, George A. Romero
Starring: Ving Rhames, Sarah Polley, Mekhi Phifer

I think everyone feels a little uncomfortable with the idea of a remake of a classic film. I guess it’s somewhat subjective judging what is classic and what isn’t, and what deserves a remake. Psycho is definitely worthy of the title of a classic film, but was critically slammed when remade by Gus Van Sant. Even the well respected art film director stepped on holy ground, even though his version was an almost shot by shot recreation of the original. I guess personally I’ve never really understood why someone would want to put so much work and energy into something that isn’t truly your own idea. If you’re going to retell a story, then the audience will assume that you have something to add to make it better. Although Dawn of the Dead may not be considered a classic on the same level as Psycho, it does have a fan base so fanatically dedicated to the original series of “Dead” movies that they’re probably a lot harder to please then even the most knowledgeable Hitchock historian.

Dawn of the Dead shares the same story as the original. An unknown virus quickly spreads, we assume, throughout the world. This unusual disease causes those who are bitten by the infected to rise from the dead and bite others. Quickly, the city (Milwaukee, USA) is overtaken by a swarming heard of undead zombies. Sarah Polley plays Anna, a young nurse who winds up finding shelter in a local shopping mall alongside Ving Rhames (a cop) and a group of confused survivors.

First time director Zack Snyder is the man fans will either blame or praise for a number of changes to the “dead” universe. I would agree that changes are a good idea to remind the audience that although this film shares the same title as the original, it is a retelling and not meant to be the exact same film. Whether or not the changes work is a different story. The slow moving zombie of the sixties and seventies has been replaced by a more athletic running zombie of the new millennium. Although this idea isn’t new, (Return of the Living Dead, 28 Days Later) it’s still a big enough change to cause controversy rivaling Spiderman’s biological web shooters or Norman Bates’ voyeuristic masturbation scene. Although the running zombie adds an energy to the film that maybe the original lacked, it also takes away from the realism. It seems as though the zombies lose their energy as soon as they’re close to a main character, as they attack one by one at an energy much lower then first established.

Although the zombies are the main characters of the film, we find ourselves dealing with the inner workings of a much larger group of survivors co-existing within the shopping mall. A group of mall security guards turned military survivalist bullies steal the story away from the zombies for a little too long for my liking. Luckily the writers must’ve lost interest in this as well seeing as this side story is completely dropped without any real good explanation. You’ve also go the wisecracking asshole, a character who seems conscious of his role as comic relief, as he’s too busy making bad jokes too worry about the swarms of zombies taking over the world. Mekhi Phifer plays an expecting father as he cares for his pregnant girlfriend, who of course has been bit by a zombie. When it’s discovered that the bites are what spread the disease, Phifer takes things into his own hands and hides in a store with his wife for the rest of the movie. I can’t go on without mentioning an unusual cameo by Matt Frewer, best known for his role as the eighties icon Max Hedroom. His screen time rivals that of a Max Hedroom Coca-Cola commercial, and his character is completely pointless. It’s hard to talk about the characters of the film when there were so many, and most of them were so pointless.

The high contrast look of the film was a little distracting for me. Although it worked with some of the zombie attack scenes, the dialogue inside of the shopping mall simply looked muddy and weird. As for the special effects of the film, the zombie make-ups were somewhat toned down and overshadowed by the use of CG helicopters, which for me stole the show. Which brings me to the main complaint I have with the film: Not enough time with the zombies. The original films had us wandering around the mall with the zombies, showing how they react to eachother and their surroundings. In this film, we have virtually no personal time with the zombies. But I guess nowadays seeing a clown zombie or a zombie in a wedding dress would be considered cheesy.

I suppose it’s unfair to compare the two versions of the film seeing as they’re both so different. As a film on it’s own, this version of Dawn of the Dead is entertaining. But it can’t help but fall under the shadow of the original. Perhaps an original zombie movie with new ideas would have been more interesting. I’m not completely disappointed with the film, but I’m not completely satisfied either. As far as remakes though, I think I prefer Tom Savini’s 1990 version of Night of the Living Dead due to it’s lack of CG helicopters and rap metal. — Jay