I'm Not A Zombie Fan, But I Liked This.

Rating: 8/10 (23 March 2005)

The "Dawn of the Dead" remake is one good zombie flick, I'm the first to admit it. I'm not a huge fan of zombie movies, I prefer slashers and supernatural horror, but this movie stuck in my mind for a while and was an excellent remake of the zombie classic. It basically is the same plot line as George Romero's original version- people hiding out in a shopping mall after zombies began to walk the earth and mankind begins to die off. The group of people who wind up in the mall begin to bond and form friendships, while the dead are outside taking over the world. They think they are safe, but little do they know, one of the women staying with them was bitten by a zombie, and is now giving birth to a zombie infant. As time goes on and they begin to run out of natural necessities, they face the fact that they can only stay in the mall for so long, before they run out of food and water. They decide it's best to break out of the mall and fight against the zombies in a mad dash for survival.
The performances in this film were great, Sarah Polley was excellent as the leading heroine in the film. The characters here kick some serious zombie ass, but sadly they fail in the end, and the zombies win (you have to watch the entire credits to actually see this). The interactions with the characters were genuine and well acted, it was interesting to watch them as they go through such a drastic and bad situation. Can you imagine zombies taking over the world? The gore and zombie makeup effects looked great, and there were plenty of action sequences that were enjoyable and entertaining to watch. I especially enjoyed the scene where the characters actually break out of the mall, armed with a load of weapons, in their zombie-proof buses.
The ending was abrupt and harsh, but I think it fit the brutality of the film very well. Bottom line is - good acting + good story + lots of gore = very good zombie film. All in all, this is an above average zombie movie, and horror fans should enjoy it. Not to mention, it's excellent for a remake. 8/10.