Dawn of the Dead (’04)
When it was released in 1978, George Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead” was seen as a scathing social commentary about consumerism; when I saw it many years later, it’s impact had dulled for me, but it was definitely entertaining. Ten years ago, Universal released a remake that really worked for me. Same setting, same basic story, but the characters were more interesting, the story has more tension, and the action was more visceral. Coming out a year after “28 Days Later,” it made an impact on viewers who now preferred their zombies fast instead of slow, although to be fair, Edgar Wright’s wicked “Shaun of the Dead” overshadowed it with genre fans over the years.
More than any impact on the genre, though, the new “Dawn of the Dead” marked the feature debut of director Zack Snyder. He’s become a polarizing figure among film fans, making his biggest splash with his stylized 2007 epic, “300,” and following it up with “Watchmen,” “Legends of the Guardians,” “Sucker Punch,” and “Man on Steel.” Like I said, divisive. I do think he’s done some great films among those, with “Watchmen” and “Man of Steel” standing out the most, but it wouldn’t be out of the question to include “Dawn of the Dead” among those highlights. The over-the-top slow motion and visual flourishes that would define his work after “300” are missing, in charge of straight-forward cinematic storytelling, which is fitting for the nature of the script. That script, by the way, comes courtesy of James Gunn, who made his name with genre offerings before hitting it big this summer with his own superhero epic, “Guardians of the Galaxy.” It’s amazing to watch this movie now with that knowledge, and realize how unsurprising it is that this flick turned out as well as it did.
The story is pretty standard issue zombie stuff. Seen through the eyes of Anna (a nurse played well by Sarah Polley), the film begins with a few infected before, not long after, turning into an apocalyptic warzone, with a band of people struggling for survival. In addition to Anna, there is Michael (Jake Weber); Kenneth (Ving Rhames); Andre and his pregnant wife, Luda (Mekhi Phifer and Inna Korobkina), and others that show up later (including a hilariously snooty Ty Burrell). They find safe haven in a mall, but as anyone who saw the original knows, it’s hardly safe, and though the create some semblance of a normal routine, the danger is still outside, and sometimes, within.
As genre fair goes, Snyder’s “Dawn of the Dead” is a pretty great horror thriller, hitting a lot of the pressure points of the genre without really presenting a lot that’s original. What really makes it work is the intelligence and commitment to the story Gunn, Snyder, and their cast bring to the film. All the main actors do strong work playing different perspectives on the story: Polley stands out as a strong presence in the film, being able to go toe-to-toe with someone like Rhames or Burrell or Phifer, but also develop tender relationships with someone like Weber, who has great ideas, but not the natural leader Rhames is. Will Snyder’s film stand the test of time the way Romero’s has for many people? I doubt it; the social commentary Romero always injected in his films is missing from this one, but Snyder does a great job of using the basic skeleton of the story, and the setting, to create a modern zombie classic that helped set the tone for what was to come in the genre.
