A Worthy Remake

Rating: Null/10 (6 November 2004)

Though geared toward action far more than its predecessor, this version of Dawn of the Dead packs a wallop. It is fast-paced, has interesting characters(though far more could have been done in "fleshing" them out), retains the spirit of the first film, and keeps the tone very serious throughout. Ving Rhames plays a policeman guiding a small group of people into a nearby mall not far from Milwaukee after the NIGHT when the living dead rise. Once there various other people find their way there as well, and much of the film deals with characters having conflicts in the face of adversity, reinforcing the mall, finding life boring after awhile as death waits for them outside the mall, and slowly discovering through trial and error what the new "disease" is and how it spreads. The group is a pretty eclectic lot: a cop, a jack of all trades guy who was working at Best Buy, three security guards, a punk thief and his pregnant Russian girl, assorted other people that arrive later, and a nurse who is really the film's lead. Much of what we see is through her perspective to a degree. Though the film has a great deal of gore, I didn't find it as bad as the original, nor was the film going for sick laughs as much either as in Romero's film. What it does have that makes it VERY different from Romero's film is the zombies run like Jesse Owens and the disease spreads quickly. Only seconds are needed for a dead corpse to become animated once infected. The fast zombies are nothing new to film having first been done quite successfully in 28 days Later. This film is directed with flair, has more than competent acting(Rhames really excels as a cop coping with loss), and a pace that just doesn't stop. In many ways it is a better film than Romero's, but Romero's film explored the depths of human nature and needs in his film amidst hyperbolic splatter and undead guffaws. His film was in many ways a character study. The original is ultimately the better film, but it has some welcomed competition here. Besides, what greater homage could be bestowed to a film like Romero's Dawn of the Dead than having a remake that is as well-crafted and scary as this film. Personal Preference: I like the slow-moving zombies more. If something like that should ever happen I might see it to another day - for what purpose only God would know!