Gore galore, with witty humor and an interesting soundtrack

Rating: 10/10 (21 March 2004)

(Warning, some spoilers ahead) Starting off, I have not seen the original "Dawn of the Dead", but i have read about it. I must say that after watching this version it makes me wanna see the original. Let me say this, however, i think this movie should be judged on it's own, not compared to the original in every detail. The movie starts off with no credits, the first ten minutes show the main character(Sarah Polley) going through her normal routine of being a nurse, getting home late from work and chatting with a little neighbor girl, and the going inside and talking with her husband. Let me just say they get a little romantic in the shower. The next morning the husband wakes up and sees the same little neighbor girl at the bedroom door. The boy approaches the little girl and gets bitten on the neck and goes after his wife, who narrowly escapes through the bathroom window and drives away through the neighborhood seeing all the chaos and gore going on. Then the credits start playing with Johnny Cash's The Man Comes Around Playing in the background.
The rest of the movie deals with the nurse meeting up with several other survivors who seek refuge in a shopping mall and then eventually make a plan to make it to the marina and get a boat to escape to an island. I won't mention anything about the escape, except that it involves armored buses and chainsaws.
This movie is not really scary, it is however very gory. The zombies are really terrified looking (especially the little girl). The special effects are solid, mainly because they are not overused and nothing in this movie is too over-the-top or fake.
The acting in this movie is about average, but you don't need Jack Nicholson or Russell Crowe playing main points for this movie to be a success. The actors do their job in this movie, which is to move the story along and not overact and screw everything up. The best acting in this movie belongs to Jake Webber, who plays an everyday guy named Michael who is just trying to help as many people as he can while still saving his own skin. He is the only character that you care about and you want him to live.
The most intriguing thing about this movie is the soundtrack. The Johnny Cash song during the credits, the Air Supply song, "I'm All Out of Love" playing in the elevator as they make their escape. The best part of the movie for me was the montage showing what all the character's in the mall were doing to pass the time. During this, the song "Down with the Sickness" is being sang and played with an acoustic guitar, which, to anybody who knows who the band Disturbed is, it will make you laugh or at least smile.
The way to sum up this movie is to say, it's very enjoyable and very interesting. It really doesn't fit into any movie category, except maybe future classic. "Dawn of the Dead" has just as many humorous moments as it does terrifying, but that is what makes it enjoyable. The only problem i had with the movie is the sudden ending, but that works well, i just didn't want it to end. Director Zack Snyder has done something special, and i look forward to his future productions.
I give this movie 9.5/10