Better than expected, but not the original

Rating: 9/10 (23 April 2004)

`Dawn of the Dead' remake is a great horror film, but it is not all that great as a zombie film.
**SPOILERS**
During a grueling hospital shift, Nurse Ana (Sarah Polley) returns home to her husband. In the morning, she awakes to discover her neighbor has a horrible rash on her face. The neighbor immediately attacks her husband, forcing Ana to restrain her. In the confrontation, her husband dies. As Ana tries to contact medical authorities, her husband comes back to life and attackers Ana as well, fleeing her neighborhood, Ana realizes her whole city is being ravaged by an unknown source. On the run, she meets up with cop Kenneth (Ving Rhames) who tries to get her to safety. While searching for safety, they meet another cop, Andre (Mekhi Phifer) who is transporting his wife to safety. They find another man, Michael (Jake Weber) and together they find shelter in Monroeville Mall. Knowing of the sanctuary it provides, and the three guards trusted to maintain its security, Bart (Michael Barry), CJ (Michael Kelley) and Terry (Kevin Zegers), they reluctantly accept the group inside. After a few nights together, they earn each other's trust and begin to formulate escape plans. All are shot down by the unknown enemy that lurks outside the mall. Finally realizing it is a zombie threat, they begin to realize they are all that is left of society. Then comes a strange delivery truck which drops off several people at the mall. At first, Bart and CJ don't trust them and order them away. Terry disagrees, and switches sides to help the wounded. They realize too late that those bitten become zombies, as several of the people were bitten. After ridding, the problems, they try a last chance to escape. Steve (Ty Burrell) one of the people from the delivery truck, has a boat that could get them out of the mall. Figuring it's worth a shot, they rig buses from the storage lot from downstairs into almost impenetrable masses of destruction, and set out to the dock where it's kept. Along the way, several more meet grisly ends at the hands of the zombies. Ana reveals she too is infected and will become a zombie, so she stays behind as Kenneth, Michael, Terry, and his girlfriend escape from civilization.
The Good News: This film has an unbelievable opening and closing. The opening is perhaps one of the best scenes filmed in years. It is pretty close to the original, with its intense atmosphere, unreal images, and heart-stopping pace. It grabs you and never lets go, giving you almost no chance to rest in between. The ending is also a great scene, with complete irony toward the entire movie, while leaving a sequel in the works. The rest of the movie does have its fair share of good scenes. The zombie attack on the garage is tense and gripping, leaving the mall and entering a teeming zombie mass and still escaping is a breath-taking highlight, and the part with the sharpshooter picking off zombies is pretty funny. All in all, there are plenty of parts to give it a wonderful tone. The number of scares is small compared to, say, `The Texas Chainsaw Massacre,' but those it provides are especially powerful. The opening is very nerve-wracking, but it still plays perfectly with the rest of the film. The performances are quite good, with the three leads Rhames, Polley, and Weber turning in solid outings. As expected, a ton of gore is found, but only in the beginning and end of the movie. The end is pretty gruesome, with its escape from the mall, not the escape from society/ closing credit sequence. The middle of the film does have some good gore scenes, but it seems awfully watered down. A pack of zombies drag a man down and swarm over him, but then nothing is seen. A gripe I'll mention in the next part.
The Bad News: I don't know if it was played for comedy or what, but the stupidity of several characters was irritating. After knowing that zombies can't talk, Bart refuses to let Kenneth and gang stay because he suspects they may be zombies. A small part where from one side, Kenneth and group peer out into the zombie mass and pick out zombies that look like celebrities. The sharpshooter across the street picks them off, and they mention one that looks like Rosie O'Donnell. After knowing that zombies won't attack a dog, they release it into the mass to go across the street to deliver food to the starving person. When he gets bitten, one of them rushes across the street, teeming with zombies, to rescue the dog. Also, why was there a scene where the characters have a long, civilized dinner? This happens in the middle of the movie, and I was confused why it was shown. Stupidity than rationality was common in this movie. Again, no explanation is offered for the zombies appearance, which is particularly annoying know. I don't care if they give an illogical reason for them to be there, as the Italians do. Any reason is better than no reason. Also, despite the high gore opening and ending, almost nothing in the middle of the film. I don't know if it was censored or what, but I expected a movie about flesh-eating zombies to be teeming with gore. Speaking of flesh-eating zombies, they were given little screen time. A few scattered scenes in the middle are all we see of them after the opening and ending. I expected more zombies, despite the fact that they were now the fast-moving kind. Since it was in a mall, the mall didn't seem that big or expansive, and it lacked an all-out zombie-vs.-Man encounter.
The Final Verdict: See this only if you love zombie movies or modern horror movies. It will not disappoint anyone.
Rated R Graphic Violence, Graphic Language, Brief Nudity, a short sex scene, and animals in peril.