As the zombie apocalypse spreads across the earth, a group of people hole up in a local shopping mall in order to survive. This basic premise is really all that connects Dawn of the Dead (2004) with the superior George Romero film that it "reinvents." I remember first seeing this and being really impressed with how intense the pre-credits opening of this film was. Few zombie films start with the outbreak just taking place. Most of them already have civilization essentially collapsed by the time the story starts. Unfortunately, all of that tension dissipates by the time the characters get to the mall and never really comes back.
In the mall, the characters don't really have to go through the process of clearing out the undead and shoring it up as a safe house. Here, the mall is essentially empty except for a trio of redneck security guards, who don't take long to stop being a threat themselves. This whole crew goes through the rest of the movie almost completely safe from the zombies until they decide to leave and head for a boat and then an island. With many of these films, it's really a commentary on how humans are their own worst enemies, especially in times of crisis. I've seen that movie before and this Dawn of the Dead remake, while being fairly entertaining, doesn't bring anything new to the subgenre.
No comments:
Post a Comment