A true zombie flick

Rating: 8/10 (23 December 2006)

The 2004 "re-imagining" of "Dawn of the Dead" is an impressive zombie movie. There will be zero comparing to the original George A. Romero movie because this reviewer had only see bits and pieces (lame pun) of that one. There will be no comparisons between the unrated edition and the theatrical cut because this reviewer never saw the theatrical version. If you decide to watch this version of "Dawn of the Dead," expect lots of gore, and action, mixed in with plenty of suspense. If you expect those, you should be very pleased.
A young female nurse, named Anna, is caught in the middle of a worldwide chaos as flesh-eating zombies begin taking over the world by attacking the living. She escapes into the streets and is rescued by a police officer named Kenneth. Together they find shelter in a mall, along with a group of other survivors. For a while everything is OK, but then they start running out of food, the power goes out, and the dead keep finding ways to break through their defenses. Realizing this, they must make a plan for escape. Will they find a way to survive or is the human race doomed?
The first 15 minutes of this movie was one of the best introductions this reviewer had seen, not only for a horror movie but also for any type. The idea of putting a Johnny Cash song, "The Man Comes Around," in the opening credits, may seem strange in a horror movie, but because of the songs post-apocalyptic feel, it fits well. It was a bold move, but it worked well. After watching the movie, you discover that putting that the addition of that Johnny Cash song was pure genius.
From beginning to end, this movie grabs you by the throat and never lets you go. It starts with a creepy introduction and continues that pace throughout. This is a zombie movie, so you should expect gore and plenty of it. While this movie is advertised as a pure horror movie, it should be considered more of an action movie with elements of suspense and horror. Another great factor was that they never took this movie too seriously by adding some dark comedy to it. You also need to watch the end credits to see what happens to the remaining survivors.
Throughout this movie, the main stars are the zombies. These zombies are different then the normal zombies seen in video games, movies, books, and television shows. These zombies are more realistic looking, which made them scarier. The make up was amazing and a huge improvement over the zombies in the original "Dawn of the Dead." Zombies could not get very much more realistic then what is shown in the 2004 version of "Dawn of the Dead." Another difference is the speed of the zombies. These zombies can run and will be able to catch you if you do not run fast enough. That made it scarier simply because you do not think the human race has a chance of survival.
The actors do a decent job in making you care for their survival, even though majority of the movie was focused on the action and suspense. None of the actors did an award winning performance, but it did their jobs. Sarah Polley played Anna, the main woman who was given the most time and development. Ving Rhames plays Kenneth, a cop fighting for his survival. Mekhi Phifer plays Andre, a man having a tough time realizing that his wife, Luda (played by Inna Korobkina), may be turning into a zombie. Jake Webber plays Michael, a person you do not like at first but by the end you end up liking him.
The only real defect to this version of "Dawn of the Dead" is the writing. This is not very surprising since this is not only an action/horror movie, but also a zombie movie. There were plot holes and some things were not explained well. Some of the characters could have been expanded a little bit. Some people may complain about that, but this reviewer did not seem to mind it at all. After all, the unrated cut is 110 minutes long, which is almost two hours; no zombie movie needs to be over two hours long.
Overall, this is an entertaining movie. With a $28 million budget, you should expect lots of blood and gore, realistic zombie make up, explosions with great action scenes involving: guns, saws, and other weapons. The results make this an entertaining popcorn movie you can turn your brain off to. With action, horror, and some comedy mixed in, there was everything you should expect in a zombie movie. The 2004 version of "Dawn of the Dead" is very recommend!