Dawn Of The Dead, 2004 remake

In this review I’ll start with a new way of doing so, and I hope you all like it.



(IMDB)
Zack Snyder
2004


Plot: A group of people take up refuge in a supermall after the world has turned to a post apocalyptic zombie infested freak show.

Did you say zombie?
Shit, you know I did, and that’s not all! These fuckers aint slow like yo momma. They run, climb scream and gleam like woman at the Bijenkorf’s 3 dolle dwaze dagen.
And they’re coming for you!

This movie starts out like any other z-flick. Things are nice and dandy. Some woman is portrayed as being happily in love with her husband. Living in a nice suburban setting, kids playing on the streets. Life is good. And then, the shit hits the fan! The neighbors kid (I think it’s the neighbor, not really sure) is standing in the hallway in the middle of the night. I hear you thinking, that isn’t that bad, but she’s missing her lips. The guy sees this and rushes over, only to get bitten in the neck, blood gushing out of the bite-wound. Needles to say this is a good start to any movie, regardless.

Why does this movie rock?
1. Overall feeling.

Three words. Zombies zombies zombies. As you may or may not know, I’m a big fan of the whole zombie end of the world shit we’re going to die o shit it’s coming for us shoot it in the head SHOOT IT IN THE FUCKING HEAD!!-genre.
Other than that, it’s a rather good adaptation of the original Dawn of the Dead by G.A. Romero. A lot of the original concept has been kept, just updated to suit today’s fast pace lifestyle and the technological progress we had since 1978. The make-up has had a lot of thought that went in to it, for example, the longer the survivors are held up in their make shift castle, the zombies go from looking “Hi, I just died, but if it’s not too bothersome I’d like to nibble on your leg for a bit”-dead to “holy fuck that mofo is decomposing as we speak”-dead. As time progresses the skin looks tighter, they’ve got green patches everywhere and, well, use your imagination.



The original * of the Dead series has a lot of tension build in, as well as humor. It’s not just the zombies in a movie that make the movie stand out. Sure, the prospect of being eaten alive by a zombie, with an extra bonus that you get to roam the earth looking for warm flesh to feed on, is kind of scary all by itself, but that’s only half the formula.
What makes a zombie flick go from average to great is the tension, the humor. The unexpected plot twists. The underlying social problems. It’s not just the flashy special effects and the blood/gore. It’s what makes a zombie movie (any movie, really) stand out amongst it’s competitors. And it’s what a lot of directors don’t really get.
That being said, Zack Snyder is not one of those directors.

DotD is funny, witty, action packed and refreshing. As I mentioned before the original Dawn of the Dead had all this, and it’s great to see Zack Sneyder understood what made that movie great. Even though he changed a lot, the basic story remains the same.

2. Acting

What can I say? It’s the best acting I’ve seen in a horror movie for a long time.
Sarah Polley (Ana) plays admirable and Ving Rhames (Kenneth) is very convincing as a bad ass nothing to loose cop. The love interest in the movie between Ana and Michael (Jake Weber) feels genuine.
Even though (or because) it’s not an all star cast, the acting is great. The actors just put in the extra effort.

3. Camera work.



Sure, it’s not ground breaking cinema. It does the job, and then some.

4. Soundtrack

Richard Cheese. ‘Nuff said.


What makes this movie suck?

Well, I’ve given this some long hard thought. So far I’ve come up with the following.
1. It’s been done. (then again, it’s a great remake)
2. The zombies run. (although this mostly sucks for the survivors, and really a plus for the movie itself)
3. The dialogue gets corny from time to time. (again, not really a bad thing in a zombie flick)
4. Predictable now and then. (I’m really nit picking here)

So, final verdict.

Acting: 7
Camera work: 7.5
Soundtrack: 8
Refreshing: 6 for being a remake, 9.5 for the running zombies = 7.abovethepoint5=8
Overall feeling: 9.5

8.2/10

Thus earning my

Now I really want to see it!

Hail to Zeehond!

Very nice review and I couldn't agree more!

Thanks!

If you have any feedback on how to improve, let me know!
Maybe we could come to a general standard or something. It's a lot more informative then: "I really liked this movie: 7/10"

That's true, but not all movies are worth the trouble

It's not mandatory to make an elaborate review, but something more than "Hated it, 3/10" would be nice. I'd like to see some argumentation on why it sucked, but that's just my two cents

8/10

Very nice review indeed
And very complete, this is great

but remember zeehond! It takes a lot of time to write a review like this!

I think everybody should do it as they feel
I would be also more in favor of more elaborated reviews and not only I liked it or hated it. But indeed it takes some times, and also depending on the movies, sometimes I want to elaborate, sometimes not
So I leave that to each of you
But I really liked the way you did you review Zeehond

zeehond wrote:

It's not mandatory to make an elaborate review, but something more than "Hated it, 3/10" would be nice. I'd like to see some argumentation on why it sucked, but that's just my two cents

I never write reviews like that, my reasons are the same as yours...

Are there so many bad reviews on here then?

Watched it last weekend! I loved it!

I was totally amazed, the zombies are really nicely done! Oh and the zombie-baby...braaah so gross! I love the part when Andy and Kenneth start playing chess and shoot the celebrity zombies! The overall acting was really great! Both of the living and the undead. It isn't scary it's tense! You can't stop watching.

There was however one thing I kinda missed! Where's the whole 'rip-the-people-apart' thingy! I mean I think every zombie movie needs a ripping-apart-people scene! Am I wrong?

I say watch it!

9/10

not bad
Some things are quite interesting and it is entertaining
But then again, nothing that we haven't seen before (even the zombies running: this was already in 28 days later...)
the original is better but I had fun watching this one

hmmm... I seem to be the only one who didn't really like it!

1st of all, it's a remake... and I resent, detest, loathe remakes in general! A remake has to be very fucking genius to interrest me, it has to completely differ from the original and not just "update" that original! this one doesn't differ all that much from the original, hence is nothing more then an update... made for cashing in on it once again!

that said, I found the acting not campy enough for a zombieflick... the running zombies are an innovation, but they also deminish the camp-factor of the whole!

the camerawork, effects and humour are very good in this remake, lifting it above the level of most remakes, but still... it misses something!

still... 6,5/10, wich is one of the highest scores I ever gave a remake/update!

mixed feelings, that's what this one gives me!

labrat wrote:

the running zombies are an innovation

I dont think so!
28 days later already had this and it was made before this one!

But was it out before they started writing the remake?

Yes I dont know
But 28 days later was out 2 years earlier. So there is quite a high chance that it was already out when they wrote it!
But I can be wrong of course...

+ the all thing with the virus, also the same in 28 days later

But it is maybe just a coincidence

And originality is not the most important thing about zombie films anyway

Chrisy wrote:

+ the all thing with the virus, also the same in 28 days later

pornologic wrote:

And originality is not the most important thing about zombie films anyway

Exactly. The virus thing is such a cliche, you can't really call it stealing anymore.

Chrisy wrote:

labrat wrote:

the running zombies are an innovation

I dont think so!
28 days later already had this and it was made before this one!

yeah, but I ment an innovation as opposed to the original DotD!!!

I've never seen "28 days later" btw...