Passable zombie fare

Rating: 6/10 (8 November 2004)

Passable zombie fare. Abandoning the overt political statement of the original doesn't really hurt the film much--to be honest, Romero's 'Dawn' was somewhat overdone in its anti-consumerist message, a 'Night of the Living Dead' writ too large. Zack Snyder's new version touches on politics only in passing, and concentrates instead on its action. It's not a perfect film by any standard--it's at least half an hour too long, and many of the characters are poorly defined (star players Sarah Polley and Ving Rhames are pretty much wasted in their ostensible lead roles). Worst of all is the tired familiarity of the material--its one real innovation is having the living dead move quickly, and even that was done before in the messy '28 Days Later . . . .' But it's basically likable, with well-managed scare setpieces, and occasional witty touches (of which Johnny Cash's end-of-the-world anthem 'The Man Comes Around' is a particularly nice one). In the end, 'Dawn of the Dead' is a basically entertaining, if not terribly memorable, horror film. 6.5 out of 10.