“It’s nice to see that you’ve all bonded through this disaster”
Dawn of the Dead 2004—I really do not like this movie. I know that maybe I am a bit biased by growing up with films that are all against the type of zombies in this film. The order of the first few zombie films I saw is as follows: Night of the Living Dead, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Shaun of the Dead, Undead, Resident Evil, Dawn of the Dead, and then Dawn of the Dead 2004.
My opinion on Running Zombies:
The zombies in this movie are fast. I do not just mean they can jog or sprint, they are like marathon runner fast! They can also fight better than they could when they were alive because they seem more agile. Watch the trailer and see how the little girl jumps to her feet like a tribal hunter. In truth, these zombies seem more like the infected from 28 Days Later, which are not zombies. The only different is the things in Dawn 04 are actually dead. There is only one time a zombie can be really fast and by really fast I mean catch an out-of-shape overweight person: after rigor mortis has loosened and before decay sets in. no zombie should ever be faster than Bill Hinzman in Night of the Living Dead 1968. Romero himself protested against the movie. I am not sure how Universal Studios got the rights. Maybe Romero sold them though that does not seem like something he would do. If anyone out there knows how Universal was able to make this movie please let me know and give me your sources, thank you. Romero has said repeatedly that dead things do not run. Just look at the old mummy and zombie movies pre-Romero. Now I can understand somewhat how these zombies can run: they come back like less than a minute after they die so rigor does not have a chance to set in, and infect exercising the muscles, like running, would in fact stave off atrophy to an extent but not like this. Even if they physically could run, I am not sure they would have the mental functions to run. Speaking of them coming back so quickly I have a huge problem with this. True, this happens in 28 Days Later as well but my problem with it there is less. An infection should not be able to kill you that quick and then bring you back to life as a zombie right after. I know it is a sci-fi movie but I like movies that are at least somewhat convincing so I like movies where at least most of the laws of physics apply—unless there is magic involved. I do not have a problem with all running zombies, for example the few that do run in Resident Evil, I am ok with. I explained in my RE review that the T-virus reanimates dead cells and mutates DNS, therefore it makes sense that dead things could run if their cells don’t rot as much and if their biology is changed. Dawn of the Dead 2004 never explains why they run. Another problem Romero and Romero fans had with it was that since they ran we barely saw any detail in the zombies. No close ups or lingering shots. The director, Zack Snyder explained that he didn’t want to linger on the faces because he felt that it made the zombies seem more human—like it gave back a bit of their humanity. First of all, they are fucking dead and gross looking. How could someone look at that and think, “That’s someone I want to invite to dinner”. Secondly, this misses the point of zombies. Sure, on the surface fast zombies theoretically seem scarier because it only takes one but the point is there is never one and then they eat you slowly most times while you are still alive. I’m about to repeat myself because I am going to do a blog defending zombies as scary but, the reason they are scary is that they are/were us. Think about it: your close loved ones die—then they wake up—then they eat you slowly. That is fucking terrifying, disturbing, and sad. Furthermore, the zombies in zombie movies are almost never the true enemies or villains. They are hungry animals who do not know any better, they are not evil, cruel, or sinister. You are supposed to feel bad for the zombies and at the same time feel terror. Walking Dead season 1 even has a scene about this, reminding the characters that these were once people like you or me; had jobs, lives, families, worries, etc.
Now that I have that out of my system on to the review!
Aside from the fact I hate these zombies, there are other flaws in this movie. The title Dawn of the Dead is really misleading. The only similarities between the movies is that there is a mall, some trucks that say BP on them (not British Petroleum but some trucking company), a pregnant woman, and cameos from a few of the original actors. The great Tom Savini (which I do not know why he was in this, I guess for the fun of it) plays the sheriff that tells people to shoot the zombies in the head. Ken Foree (Peter) plays an entirely different role as a TV evangelist who quotes his own line from the original: “When there’s no more room in Hell, the dead shall walk the earth”. The Last person is Scott Reiniger (Roger) who plays a General telling people to stay indoors. There is also a reference to Gaylen Ross who played Fran. Other than that, there is nothing about the two films that are related…well there is still a gun shop but this time it is across the street rather than in the mall.
The plot also lost any reference to capitalism or consumerism and focuses only on survival with no underlying messages.
I guess I should give some sort of a summary. The film starts out with the main girl who is not named Fran, as a nurse who is getting home from a long shift after people keep pouring in with bites. Now, I already told you that people bitten come back to life in less than five minutes, some only take seconds, so I am wondering why no one at the hospital noticed this. When she gets home the neighbors kid who shows off to Anna (the nurse) that she can roller-skate backwards and Anna tells her to be safe...foreshadowing?
Yep. The next morning the girl come in and rather than like a zombie that has no real predator instincts like going for the jugular so your prey cannot escape, goes right for the jugular of Anna’s husband. He dies then attacks her, she gets in her car, drives away, abandons her car, meets up with a black cop which is sort of symbolic of Peter is a way…I guess, and a couple who is pregnant. They all make it to the Crossroads Mall. Get it? Crossroads, you know, like the place where Satan meets people. It turns out the head of mall security is like a Rhodes character from Day of the Dead sort of except this guy isn’t as crazy, he is just a bit of a jerk. Then a bunch more people show up and they all talk about leaving. They talk to a guy across the street who owns the gun shop and he is running out of food. They find a dog in the parking garage and decide to use him to send food over because zombies do not chase the dog. WHY!? In the original trilogy, we see zombies eating bugs and in the Night of the Living Dead remake, a zombie eats a mouse. Whatever, zombies end up getting in and kill the gun shop guy. There are a few comedic moments that I think symbolize that zombies were people but then that contradicts the director’s statement so...I do not know. They armor up some vans to escape. Some people die graphically actually and we find out Steve is as big a prick we always knew him to be. No not Steven as in Fran’s fiancé but Steve the asshole. They make it to shore to get a boat to an island, which is kind of a reference to the original Dawn when the other group of cops asks Roger where they are headed; the cop says his group is heading for an island. Turns out the islands are also infested with zombies and everyone you thought lived dies during the end credit sequence.
So what do I think of this movie? Well you know my person feelings on it—I’m fairly certain I made those clear. However, it isn’t that bad of a film, I’m just a loyal Romero-ian. The movie did have a huge budget and it is a very pretty film, I mean it looks like and the effects are well done. Is it watchable? I’ll give it this much: it’s certainly better than Night of the Living Dead 3D. It is a fun film overall and despite it being an atrocity to Romero, it is not that bad. I give it 2 ¼ out of 5 stars.
No comments:
Post a Comment