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Humans helled-up in mall.
My initial thoughts after seeing Dawn of the
Dead on opening weekend (20-Mar-2004):
Dawn of the Dead is a fantastic retelling and a fine
tribute to the 1978 original (which I saw again last week when the
DVD came out to prepare for this remake). I'm a huge fan of the
original Dead
trilogy, as well as, the 1990 remake of Night of the Living Dead
(so much fun watching Patricia Tallman & Tony Todd kickin'
ass!). This new Dawn is very different from the original
and shouldn't be considered a strict remake. It takes the same basic
premise of a group of strangers finding refuge in a shopping mall
from a world being inundated by blood thirsty zombies, but this new
film focuses on different aspects of survival and takes a different
course.
At first, I was disappointed seeing the commercials featuring
fast-moving, agile zombies (similar to the rage-infected ones in 28
Days Later...) that were completely opposite of the slow,
lumbering oafs of Romero's classics. But it has been over 25 years
since the original (and 35 years since the original NotLD)
and these new zombies are certainly effective at upping the fear
factor. Not only are these zombies fast (they could all be track
stars), but they are also strong and absolutely ravenous.
Fortunately they are still mindless and have the same primary
weakness.
There's a lot of blood and gore in this new Dawn. Some
scenes are very graphic (in my opinion, the more shown and the more
realistic, the better). There are also several scenes that provide a
good chuckle, but without turning campy and losing focus on the
danger lurking just outside. The aerial, panoramic shots show
convincingly the complete and utter destruction of civilization and
really hit home the feeling of isolation and desperation. This
version is definitely slicker and faster paced, and perhaps not as
"cerebral" as the original, but it stands on its own as a
great all-around zombie gorefest.
Official site: dawnofthedeadmovie.net
Learn more: IMDb
DVD version to get: Get the unrated version for the extra
footage: Dawn of the Dead
(Widescreen Unrated Director's Cut) (Universal, UPC 025192581922)
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