If it's possible, the remake of Dawn of the Dead projects
a far nihilistic view of the world's end than even George
Romero's 1979 classic. First time director Zack Snyder's
vision paints a gory and uncomproming end for the thinking
man, a species replaced by its own people, in a rabid state,
lacking any soul. But it's the quality performances from
stars that refuse to perform as if they're in a schlock film
that raises this remake to the level of modern horror classic.
Unlike the original which began moments after the events
of Night of the Living Dead concluded, this remake starts
in a tranquil modern world with no sign of the horrible
things to come. Mild-mannered Nurse Ana (Indie star Sarah
Polley,
Go, Sweet Hereafter) returns to her cookie cutter home
after an exhausting day at work. She chats with a local
child,
makes love with her husband and peacefully passes out.
The two awake to the neighbor girl at their bedroom door
covered
in blood. Ana's husband attends to the girl only to have
the rugrat chomp into his neck with her incisors. Ana attempts
to save her husband gushing throat to no avail. She would
normally mourn, make funeral arrangements and go on; however,
her husband chose to move on first. The dead man re-awakens
and attacks his stunned wife with the ferocity of a caged
lion.
Ana escapes only to discover the entire city in disarray.
She finds refuge along with a cop (Ving Rhames, Pulp
Fiction), a pregnant woman and her husband (Mekhi Phifer
TV's ER)
and an electronics salesman (Jake Weber, Meet Joe Black)
at a
local mall. But apparently, even without a sale at Macy's,
the zombies gravitate to the shopping fortress and the
survivors. Vicious and out for blood, the zombies attack
our heroes
with no remorse, turning on loved ones. Ana and her clan
though aren't through living. Armed and ready, the amateur
team of everymen wage war with the creatures.
George Romero's film was a revelation in 1979. It came
during the summer of gore, sandwiched between Alien,
Prophecy, Phantasm,
Amityville Horror, Frank Langella's Dracula, Klaus
Kinski's Nosferatu and several other horror films. Dawn
contained
more gore than any of the above flicks, but Romero
fused cartoonish violence with riotous humor and stinging
satire.
Though this remake contains the light edge of the original,
the humor's more self-aware than the original and the
satire has been removed. Though the survivors still
hide in a
mall, malls in America have a different meaning today.
Visit your
gallerias on any month other than December. It can
be a ghost town at times. Stores close quickly, galley-ways
are empty.
There's ripe material for satire that was avoided.
The
movie doesn't falter without it but it would have been
an interesting
angle. Another missed opportunity would have been to
set
the film in the nation's largest mall, Mall of America
in Minnesota. Instead Snyder relies on tried and true
methods of his schooling in music videos and television
commercials,
bringing camera tricks and a punchy soundtrack to the
mix. His style makes for an enjoyable horror film but
weighing
the context of our generation in the film's themes,
it may
lack the resonance to be remembered 25 years from now,
as the Romero film is today.
Snyder has serious aces up his sleeve however. By casting
solid actors, not rejects from the WB network (who
usually populate these films), he assembles a powerful
energy
that seeps through the material.
Sarah Polley's one
of our best
young actresses. A multiple critic award winner,
she brings depth to all her roles. As opposed to slumming
in a trash
pic, she believes in Ana and portrays her in this
unrealistic
situation in a truthful way. You empathize with this
tiny warrior. Polley and her cohorts make this shocker
a winner.
It may be the end of the world, but this crew will
make you revel in it. Grade: B+ |
