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For many people the routine of everyday life is something that is often taken for granted. Today, the demands on a person’s time are at al all time high, as there is often less time to relax and enjoy the many finer things in life.
In the film “Dawn of the Dead” audiences are shown a horrific vision of a world turned upside down where the routines and securities of life are but a distant memory. For Ana (Sarah Polley), her life is a busy but comfortable existence. When Ana is not working as a nurse at a local Hospital, she is a loving wife to her adoring Husband and is very much the model of suburban tranquility as she has a routine and is very happy in it. That all changes one morning when Ana awakens and finds a neighbor attacking her husband who in turn attacks Ana forcing her to flee. Her once peaceful and comfortable suburb has now become a mass of blood and carnage as an army of bloodthirsty crazies has descended upon her town leaving a path of death and destruction in their wake. Ana soon encounters survivors who tell her that the roads and access points to the town are filled with the walking dead who are unstoppable as they are voracious. The survivors are lead by Officer Kenneth (Ving Rhames), who has lost his family in the recent events and wants to locate his brother at a nearby military base. The need for shelter is accelerated by the late term pregnancy of a survivor named Luda (Inna Korobkina), so her husband Andre (Mekhi Phifer), leads the group into a nearby mall where they plan to secure themselves until help can arrive.
Once in the mall, the group encounters three security guards whose leader CJ (Michael Kelly) is less than happy to be including strangers into their sanctuary. The groups eventually combine and suspicions and power struggles soon arise and are exacerbated when more survivors arrive.
The group stays in touch with the happenings in the world around them by watching televisions and soon realizes that help is not coming anytime soon if at all. Thanks to a well-stocked food court, the group is able to stay in the mall for the long term but with more and more of the living dead arriving outside the mall the options are becoming fewer and fewer.
It is soon learned that the bite of the living dead is fatal and that those who die without being consumed by the horde, soon emerge as a member of the horde allowing the zombies to reproduce at an amazing rate. This is not good news for the survivors as they are soon faced to take on the zombies for their very survival and in the process descend into the very depths of hell itself.
Based on a script by James Gunn and directed by first time film director Zack Snyder, “Dawn of the Dead” is a surprisingly entertaining update of the 1975 classic that mixes dark humor and action to create a mostly satisfying film.
Gunn wisely avoided copying the original films events, as the only real similarity is the survivors taking refuge in a mall. Instead the film is an interesting look at consumerism and suburban routine and the madness that ensues when order and society come undone. Like last years “28 Days Later”, the film stresses how quickly society can be disrupted by unforeseen events and how many of us take the comforts and securities we have for granted.
The ensemble cast works well with the script though many are simply in the film as fodder. The story uses the characters to represent a society, as there are examples from all walks of life and backgrounds. Emphasis is not put into developing the characters; it is placed on developing the action and maintaining the story and setting. In this regard the film succeeds well as it is entertaining and action filled. The story does drag towards the middle of the film but concludes with a rousing finale that had the audience cheering loudly at my press screening. I especially liked the cameos from three of the people involved with the original and some of the references to the original. If you are a fan of the original or like horror then “Dawn of the Dead’ is what you have been waiting for.
3.5 stars out of 5
International Association of Film Critics
Rating Scale: 1 Star: Dismal Little to no Entertainment.
2 Stars: Fair Has issues, but does have its moments.
3 Stars: Good Entertaining with some nice moments.
4 Stars: Very Good Solid, well made, and entertaining.
5 Stars: Outstanding Very entertaining, well made, or a classic in the genre.
International Association of Film Critics.