Dead on Target
Dawn of the Dead has everything you could want in a horror/action movie—loads of violence, loud explosions, car crashes, a bit of sex and, most importantly, legions of zombies. That these elements are assembled expertly by first time director Zack Snyder is one of the most pleasant surprises in what has already been a flat year for action and horror flicks.
A "re-imagining" of the George A. Romero cult classic of the same name, Dawn of the Dead inhabits the same territory as last year's 28 Days Later with a fast spreading contagion literally wiping out most of humanity in a single night. The last humans in Milwaukee, Wisconsin make their final stand in that icon of American culture—the shopping mall.
The movie begins normally enough, nurse Ana (Sarah Polley), finishing her shift which included caring for a patient with a strange bite, goes home to her husband and wakes up to find that the world she knows has ceased to exist. Forced to flee, she eventually meets policeman Kenneth (Ving Rhames), Michael (Jake Weber), Andre (Mekhi Phifer) and his pregnant wife Luda (Inna Korobkina), who are making their way to the local shopping mall, fighting zombies all the way. In the mall, the group must not only fight zombies but desperate security guards, while trying to determine a way to survive this mess.
Dawn of the Dead could have been handled as a straightforward bloodbath, but Snyder takes this familiar territory and turns the mall into both a haven and a pressure cooker for the last vestige of humanity. Each character has lost everyone they have loved and deals with it in a completely different way. Ana has a brief, intense crying jag, Michael quietly remembers his family, and Kenneth defiantly vows to join his in another part of the city. In the process, they create a new society—a kind of an end of the world Survivor—where all the rules that once applied now don't.
When the small band is increased late in the movie by the arrival of another group of survivors, tensions rise both because of the ever increasing hordes of zombies outside and because of the potentially dangerous threat of physical and spiritual corruption brought by the outsiders.
The screenplay by James Gunn (Scooby-Doo), which is based on Romero's original, is a nice blend of action, drama and even comedy. Instead of having numerous unrelenting, loud attacks by the zombies, Gunn gives us several strong set pieces, including a horrifying and literally nail-biting rescue mission that has a grim inevitability that even these desperate survivors find hard to stomach. More importantly, the dramatic bits are handled deftly by Snyder and his talented cast giving the ludicrous premise cinematic veracity. Phifer as the expectant father is a real standout, and his story is one of the best among the ensemble. And the comedy isn't over the top, but acts as a pressure valve with characters blowing off steam and allowing the audience to catch its breath.
Polley, Rhames and Weber do an outstanding job carrying the picture. These are more than one-note action performances. There's depth to these characters teetering on the edge that Snyder only hints at. The rest of the cast including Ty Burrell as sleazy playboy Steve, Michael Kelly as CJ the head of mall security, Kevin Zegers as security guard trainee Terry and Lindy Booth as Nicole are all equally as good. This is an action movie, so there are few big speeches or long minutes of exposition—we're not even really sure what's going on until about 30 minutes into the movie—but Snyder does such a good job throwing us into the mix that fleshing out the characters or even the situation is unnecessary.
Special kudos should be given to editor Niven Howie. Not only is the pacing of the movie excellent, but the way in which individual scenes are assembled create a tension and power that you don't see much in horror or action movies any longer. The opening sequence is a textbook example of how to edit together a movie and should be required viewing in film programs once the flick is out on DVD.
Though Dawn of the Dead is similar to 28 Days Later, it is different in one key respect: it's pessimistic about the fate of mankind in the face of the zombie threat. That said, seeing these human beings live, love and fight for their lives in the face of certain doom is sort of inspiring in a grim way.
One word of advice, make sure you stay through all of the credits. The movie isn't literally over until the last frame.
A "re-imagining" of the George A. Romero cult classic of the same name, Dawn of the Dead inhabits the same territory as last year's 28 Days Later with a fast spreading contagion literally wiping out most of humanity in a single night. The last humans in Milwaukee, Wisconsin make their final stand in that icon of American culture—the shopping mall.
The movie begins normally enough, nurse Ana (Sarah Polley), finishing her shift which included caring for a patient with a strange bite, goes home to her husband and wakes up to find that the world she knows has ceased to exist. Forced to flee, she eventually meets policeman Kenneth (Ving Rhames), Michael (Jake Weber), Andre (Mekhi Phifer) and his pregnant wife Luda (Inna Korobkina), who are making their way to the local shopping mall, fighting zombies all the way. In the mall, the group must not only fight zombies but desperate security guards, while trying to determine a way to survive this mess.
Dawn of the Dead could have been handled as a straightforward bloodbath, but Snyder takes this familiar territory and turns the mall into both a haven and a pressure cooker for the last vestige of humanity. Each character has lost everyone they have loved and deals with it in a completely different way. Ana has a brief, intense crying jag, Michael quietly remembers his family, and Kenneth defiantly vows to join his in another part of the city. In the process, they create a new society—a kind of an end of the world Survivor—where all the rules that once applied now don't.
When the small band is increased late in the movie by the arrival of another group of survivors, tensions rise both because of the ever increasing hordes of zombies outside and because of the potentially dangerous threat of physical and spiritual corruption brought by the outsiders.
The screenplay by James Gunn (Scooby-Doo), which is based on Romero's original, is a nice blend of action, drama and even comedy. Instead of having numerous unrelenting, loud attacks by the zombies, Gunn gives us several strong set pieces, including a horrifying and literally nail-biting rescue mission that has a grim inevitability that even these desperate survivors find hard to stomach. More importantly, the dramatic bits are handled deftly by Snyder and his talented cast giving the ludicrous premise cinematic veracity. Phifer as the expectant father is a real standout, and his story is one of the best among the ensemble. And the comedy isn't over the top, but acts as a pressure valve with characters blowing off steam and allowing the audience to catch its breath.
Polley, Rhames and Weber do an outstanding job carrying the picture. These are more than one-note action performances. There's depth to these characters teetering on the edge that Snyder only hints at. The rest of the cast including Ty Burrell as sleazy playboy Steve, Michael Kelly as CJ the head of mall security, Kevin Zegers as security guard trainee Terry and Lindy Booth as Nicole are all equally as good. This is an action movie, so there are few big speeches or long minutes of exposition—we're not even really sure what's going on until about 30 minutes into the movie—but Snyder does such a good job throwing us into the mix that fleshing out the characters or even the situation is unnecessary.
Special kudos should be given to editor Niven Howie. Not only is the pacing of the movie excellent, but the way in which individual scenes are assembled create a tension and power that you don't see much in horror or action movies any longer. The opening sequence is a textbook example of how to edit together a movie and should be required viewing in film programs once the flick is out on DVD.
Though Dawn of the Dead is similar to 28 Days Later, it is different in one key respect: it's pessimistic about the fate of mankind in the face of the zombie threat. That said, seeing these human beings live, love and fight for their lives in the face of certain doom is sort of inspiring in a grim way.
One word of advice, make sure you stay through all of the credits. The movie isn't literally over until the last frame.
