'Dawn of the Dead' (2004)

I've done a little reading this weekend but I'll be honest, my heart wasn't really in it and I had about a million other more important things that I had to do instead (like teaching my eldest daughter to ride her bike, that beats reading a book no matter what the book is). Yesterday was particularly busy so all I was in the mood for, last night, was watching something familiar before heading to bed; familiar but cool. When I'm in that mood, there's really only one choice of movie and I watched it again last night, the 2004 remake of 'Dawn of the Dead'. I love this movie so don't expect me to be impartial at all, that's just not happening.

I wasn't a big fan of remakes back in the day. The way I saw it back then, if a studio has money to burn then surely it would be better spent on making something original, why remake something? If a film's good enough to be remade then surely you'd just watch the original anyway? I still went to see the remake of 'Dawn of the Dead' though; I was about three books into 'The Walking Dead' and I was just about to start on Brian Keene's 'The Rising' books, of course I was going to see a 'new' zombie movie if I got the chance. After the end credits went up, I was so blown away by 'Dawn of the Dead' that I swear I was half expecting Leicester Square to be a zombie wasteland when I got out of the cinema. It wasn't. Well, no more than normal for Leicester Square...

So, what is so great about 2004's 'Dawn of the Dead'...?

Now I love the 1978 'Dawn of the Dead' as much as the next person who loves zombie films but it goes on a bit, doesn't it? You've got your survivors holed up in the shopping mall and... well, once they've cleared the zombies out, it feels like they're there for just a little bit too long. And maybe that's the whole point (it wouldn't be the first time that I've completely missed the point) but if I'm watching a film, I don't want it to hang about getting to a conclusion and the 1978 'Dawn of the Dead' does just that, for me anyway. 2004 'Dawn of the Dead' though, well that's a different story...

Once you've got past Ana missing every cue that the zombie apocalypse is kicking off (it is possible), you're thrown into her harrowing realisation that shit is getting real. The zombie apocalypse is thrust into Ana's face and our faces too, up close and really personal. And it doesn't stop there, it just gets worse quicker with all sorts of stuff being thrown at our survivors. They may well be in a mall but one of them is already a ticking zombie time bomb and that isn't counting the zombies in the parking lot. That's what I like most of all about the remake, there's no time to get bored as life or death situations come up with alarming regularity. This is real survival horror business going on here, a bit of social commentary is fine but is there really time for loads of that when your main aim is not to get eaten?

The other (main) reason why this film just flies is that these zombies are a lot faster on their feet than the originals. And that's fine by me. I know that Romero himself wasn't too keen and said something along the lines of rigor mortis not letting a zombie run like that. I'd say that these guys come back to life quicker than rigor mortis sets in so we're good :o)

I'd also say that anything that gives the movie the sense of urgency that it does is fine by me. My heart is in my mouth watching these zombies chase people down and I wouldn't swap that for a shambling zombie, not at all. It makes this film work, that's all I need.

What I also really like about this remake is that the survivors make the decision to leave the mall (and have a plan for where to go) themselves, it's not a decision that is thrust upon them. A bit of agency, rather than having survivors almost waiting to be moved (I'm looking at you, 1978 version...) is great, giving the remake a little identity of its own. I think the cast here are a little more rounded out as well (although the awkwardness of the survivors, in the 1978 version, could just be that they were thrust together and didn't really know each other, I don't know...) . I love the way that Ana slowly comes to terms with her situation and is stronger for it, I've got a lot time for Michael and the strengths that the zombie apocalypse bring out in him and I particularly love the way that Ving Rhames' Kenneth and Michael Kelly's CJ just effortlessly steal scenes with awesome delivery of their lines. Like I said earlier, this is just the perfect film for me as the viewer.

I wouldn't want to say that the 2004 remake of 'Dawn of the Dead' is better than the 1978 version as there are enough differences to make a comparison fairly pointless. The 1978 version is about a message to the viewers while the remake is just about wall to wall action, picking a favourite character and seeing if they make it (the odds are that they won't). I know which one I enjoy more though and at the end of the day, that's what matters.

Here's the trailer if you haven't already seen it,