An incredibly average zombie film with the same name as a classic

Rating: 4/10 (25 August 2016)

It is impossible to evaluate the success of this movie without comparing it to the original. The fantasy element of living in the mall which drove the classic film, of having all the creature comforts of civilization amid the apocalypse, is missing entirely. The social commentary of the original, that consumerism has become so instinctive that even zombies would gravitate towards the mall, is missing entirely. This isn't "Dawn of the Dead"; this is just a movie that has a mall in it.
Also absent are any compelling characters. While the original focused on no more than four survivors, the number is more than tripled in the remake to diminished effect. There are no nuanced portrayals here; the cast never transcends flat character descriptions like "the tough nurse", "the pregnant woman", or "the jerk security guard". As we see them dispatched with the indifference we might reserve for reality show contestants, none of these characters make much of an impression. Original film actor Ken Foret has a brief cameo as a fundamentalist preacher, and in his less than two minutes of screen time he provides a more powerful performance than any of the main cast.
The fast zombies are more comedic than scary. Whether they're sprinting after cars like cartoon dogs, bashing their heads through doors, or squealing like pigs as they are picked off by gunfire, the undead never seem to present a credible threat.
For all its enhanced budget and updated special effects, this "Dawn of the Dead" does not offer anything that cannot be found in the previous four decades of zombie horror. Once again we have to sit through the usual bickering between survivors over who will lead, the standard "bit by a zombie and waiting to turn" play for our sympathies, the predictable ill- advised trip to the basement. All this and more has been done before, and executed more effectively.
Zack Snyder has always been an amazing visualist, and this is one way in which the film redeems itself. The full scope of a neighborhood descending into chaos is revealed through a camera mounted on an escaping vehicle. Two characters saying a tearful goodbye is broken into multiple cuts from several perspectives, distorting time and drawing us into the moment. The daylight scenes appear overexposed, amplifying the idea that this catastrophe is happening in our real world. Sadly, no amount of skillful cinematography can help this mashup of worn out horror movie banalities.