Country: United States
Genre: Horror/Action
Director: Zack Snyder
Year: 2004
Rating: 
CLASSICS THAT I HATE
Whether he knows it or not, director Zack Snyder’s remake of Dawn of the Dead is about the end of the world. I think Snyder believes he just made a really cool zombie flick.
The opening stretch of Dawn of the Dead is the strongest, in terms of filmmaking. It’s practically wordless, with Ana (Sarah Polley) waking up in a suburban home to find zombies crawling out of the woodwork. Ana is our audience POV character, so at least in the beginning, we know what she knows when she knows it. That storytelling choice cranks up the suspense and urgency of the first scenes, as Ana flees some very energetic zombies and makes for the open road.
Soon enough, she hooks up with a ragtag group of survivors (Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, Mekhi Phifer, Ty Burrell, and Kim Roberts among them), and they decide to hole up in a shopping mall.
This is where the screenplay by James Gunn gets a little sketchy. The dialog starts to sound like it came off a show on the WB network, which is not a huge surprise for a writer whose major credits are either TV or such gems as Scooby-Doo and Tromeo and Juliet. No actor could say these words and sound real, but the cast of Dawn of the Dead, with the exception of Sarah Polley, aren’t at the top of their craft. Not that they’re terrible, but the strain shows.
When the survivors get to the mall and meet up with some other survivors, screenwriter James Gunn’s lack of craft becomes even more apparent, as the actors are forced to vamp over dead space.
As the movie proceeds, it becomes apparent that Dawn of the Dead will largely center around this impromptu community of survivors and their interrelationships. In doing so, it becomes (unconsciously, I think), a reflection of Bush-era America. Paranoia, fear of the other, the impulse to curtail civil liberties in the name of safety, lack of compassion for others — it’s all there.
There are plot elements, involving a new family, which are genuinely horrifying. Another character, trapped in a gun store across the street, communicates by means of homemade signs. His story also inspires horror and pity. In addition, much of the carnage inflicted on the survivors comes courtesy of internecine feuds, cowardice, selfishness and garden variety incompetence.
The troubling aspect to all of this is that the filmmakers seem to be unaware of the import of these plot elements. They exist merely to frighten or appall the audience. When you add in the bargain basement acting and dialog, you end up with something rather queasy, although I would be remiss in my responsibility as a critic if I didn’t tell you that Zach Snyder directs the action sequences with energy and verve.
In the end, there’s a frantic attempt to escape to the waterfront in two armored vehicles to provide the modern audiences with the requisite gore and action. Despite my misgivings, by this time I had become somewhat invested in Ana and Michael’s (Jake Weber) fate.
I won’t reveal if the survivors make it to the waterfront or not, but I will tell you that the coda, as delivered on a consumer grade video camera, is about as nihilistic as it gets, accompanied by the tune “People Who Died” by the Jim Carroll Band.
That’s probably the best soundtrack choice for the film as conceived by Zack Snyder, but they could just as well have gone with “It’s The End Of The World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)”.
Dawn of the Dead inspires pity. Even if this ragtag community survives, is it even worth it if human society has degraded to the extent that’s depicted in the film? Zach Snyder seems blithely unaware of these implications. His attitude toward the horrors, human and otherwise, is “Ain’t it cool?” I find that depressing.
The public embraced Dawn of the Dead in it’s theatrical and video releases, and it is widely considered a minor classic on the basis of it’s slambang visuals and no holds barred horror.
I don’t know what that says about the current social mores of the United States, but it can’t be good.
