DAWN OF THE DEAD (2004) 2 stars out of 4. Starring Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly, Kevin Zegers and Lindy Booth. Edited by Niven Howie. Photographed by Matthew F. Leonetti. Based on the
movie by George A. Romero. Screenplay by James Gunn. Directed by Zach Snyder. Rated R. Running time: Approx. 100 mins.
Why, except for the obvious reason of cashing in on a known commodity, remake
a movie with such a big cult following as George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead,
and not do it justice?
This new Dawn of the Dead improves upon the original in a few technological aspects.
What screenwriter James Gunn and director Zach Snyder have ignored was the subversive, satirical touches Romero infused among all the gross carnage. Gunn and Snyder's Dawn owes more to Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later than it does to
Romero's vision.
Unlike Romero's lumbering, robotlike zombies, Gunn and Snyder, along with cinematographer Matthew F. Leonetti and editor Niven Howie, have aped the grainy documentary-style photography and kinetic, quick-cutting editing technique Boyle utilized so successfully in 28 Days Later.
The biggest setback, however, with Dawn deals with history. Setting the 1978 version in a then-rather new landscape, an indoor shopping mall, added to the underlying criticisms about consumerism and commercialism that peppered Romero's story.
Today, a shopping mall is as common as cable TV, so Snyder's remake forfeits the impact of locale.
Also in this movie more means less. In the original a makeshift family of four
domesticated the mall, transformed it into a home, a safe haven from the outside world.
In Snyder's version, about a dozen people crash the place. And in this case the more certainly is not merrier; it only distracts as you try to figure out in what order the cast members will become zombie snacks.
The blood is more realistic in 2004, but it's just as gruesome as in 1978.
Yet these contemporary zombies are just a crazed herd; they lack the individuality, such as the Hare Krishna zombie, Romero utilized.
The cast, because of its heft, fails to make any connection with the audience. Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell, Michael Kelly,
Kevin Zegers or Linda Booth are not people; they are types, props manipulated by the whims of the script.
This Dawn of the Dead, though, does have a kicker ending that you need to sit
through the end credits to appreciate.
Come the dawn, though, this version will never see the sun. It will forever bask in the shadow of its original.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He
can be reached by e-mail at bbloom@journalandcourier.com or at bob@bloomink.com. Bloom's reviews also can be found at the Journal and Courier
Web site: www.jconline.com Other reviews by Bloom can be found at the Rottentomatoes Web site: www.rottentomatoes.com or at the Internet Movie Database Web site: www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom
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