Amazingly good movie

Rating: 8/10 (22 March 2004)

I went to both _Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind_ and _Dawn of the Dead_ yesterday, and while I was expecting the former to be a great movie, I really didn't know what to expect from the latter. Surprisingly, of the two, the one that sticks in my mind is _Dawn of the Dead_. As others have noted, this really is a superior remake, in many ways better than the original--better acting, better effects, etc. Now I know the original is a classic, but this remake was just outright horrifying from beginning to end. It is doom-laden and edge-of-your-seat scary. I haven't had so much fun at a movie in a long, long time and when it was done, I wanted to see it again right away. Sarah Polley and Jake Webber are great and Ving Rhames lends able support. Mekhi Phifer is good as the young father slowly losing his mind in the aftermath of the breakdown of society. The movie is gruesome and very convincing in depicting an absolute breakdown--the first 30 minutes or so are just unrelenting in setting the scene and getting the audience in the mood--cars run over pedestrians, houses are on fire, you can't really tell who's friendly or who's a foe. I'll admit I didn't expect a whole lot from this movie, but it was just out and out fantastic! Highly recommended, if you've got the stomach for it.