Yet More Zombies!

Rating: 7/10 (9 April 2012)

By now (2012) I've grown pretty weary of flesh-eating zombie types. They've become a whole genre to themselves. From the endless 'Resident Evil' to Big-Ears' 'I am Legend' on to the no less eternal 'Walking Dead' TV serial-thon. Why do they have to eat flesh all the time anyway? It's clear that they don't actually need it because they can go for weeks without so much as a nibble. Why can't they have a positive fixation like painting & decorating or flower arrangement?
Well, this 2004 remake takes Romero's original and gives the cadaverous ones an Olympian turn of speed. The result is much more dramatic. Chases are truly hectic and confrontations are more in keeping with werewolves or Aliens.
The movie takes a pretty dystopian view about the consequences of social breakdown. There's very little heroic stiff-upper-lip stuff and a lot more looking out for number one. Against such dire consequences, it's probably much nearer the mark. It's one thing to go to the guillotine for someone, but quite another to be eaten alive or changed into one of them yourself. Methinks Sidney Carton would take a raincheck here.
Most of the takes are pretty solidly put together. Looks like the directors hired a genuine shopping-mall for the weekend. There's lots of believable conflict between the survivors and plenty of extremely tense action sequences when zombies turn up, fast, furious and very ravenous. Editing is sharp and well observed. Lighting & sound do the business. There's no happy ending.
Character development is more detailed than the usual slash & gnash offerings. Most of the dumb things people do are plausible, even though I often found myself saying 'oh-no; you don't want to do that' or 'why don't you try this?' At least I was drawn into their dilemma. But having said as much; I wasn't particularly inclined to empathise with any of them either, which left the story with a shallow texture.
Altogether it's a decent watch. Certainly I would recommend a viewing. It's at the top end of the zombie market, for what that's worth.