REVIEW #99 Dawn of The Dead (2004)

Dawn of The Dead, directed by Zack Snyder is a film set just after the events of a virus outbreak that turns everyone into flesh eating zombies. Held up in a shopping mall the survivors have to battle the undead and deal with issues within the mall, all whilst plotting an escape.

CAST & THE ACTING 

The acting is actually pretty good in Dawn of The Dead, many films set in a zombie apocalypse include really cringeworthy acting that turns the film into more of a gimmick then a horror. However that is certainly not the case here, the actors performances creates a real sense of fear and realism which helps create a high stakes atmosphere. The cast includes Sarah Polley, Kim Poirier, Ty Burrell, Ving Rhames, Jake Webber, Kevin Zegers, Michael Kelly and more. I don’t think there is necessarily any stand out performances but I think that is because everyone was just as good as eachother. They portrayed their characters well and accurately showed all the types behaviours you would expect to see if society fell into chaos. The actors who played the zombies also did really well, their movement created really freaky and dangerous zombies and that was emphasised by the fact the zombies could run in this film so the stakes were even higher. So overall it was pretty good across the board here.

PLOT & THE STORYLINE 

At the start of the film we see the outbreak begin, a brief glimpse at reality before society fell. Then we see Ana meet other survivors and they make their way to the shopping mall where Dawn of The Dead is set for the majority of the film. I think this is a realistic plot because most people in that situation would make their way to a shopping centre or supermarket just because that’s where vita resources would be. That realism helps the audience connect with the film because they can relate to the characters and what they are doing. I appreciated how the zombies could sprint in Zack Snyders take, this made the whole film more dangerous, with higher stakes and just more exciting in comparison to other films and series where they can just run away from the slow zombies. There was also good progression in the storyline, the initial safety net of the mall into the panic of being trapped and needing a permanent safe place that leads to them trying to escape and heading for the ocean. Establishing a clear beginning, middle and end, which I enjoyed. My only criticism is that middle part felt a little slow and that not much was really happening, we saw them deal with a few issues within the mall but nothing really exciting, except the birth of a baby zombie which took me by surprise when I first watched it. 

CINEMATOGRAPHY & SPECIAL EFFECTS 

I am a big fan of the cinematography and special effects in most of Zack Snyders films, this was one of his earlier projects so I don’t think it was quite up to the same standard as his modern films. That being said, you can clearly identify his work through his opening credits! He utilised them in Dawn of The Dead to illustrate the impact of the outbreak across the world and he used it as the transition from the opening scenes set in normal reality to then being in the full midst of the zombie outbreak. That worked really well. The zombies themselves looked great, so credit to the makeup artists and movement choreographers that helped create them. The sets all looked good as well, I really liked the modified trucks at the end they looked pretty cool. Although it’s not Snyders best work, he did set the scene of a post-apocalyptic world.

OVERALL (7/10)

Dawn of the Dead had always been one of my favourite zombie films alongside Shaun of the Dead because they were the first films in the genre I remember watching. Now having rewatched it, I do think it’s a good film but perhaps not as great as I remembered. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with the film, everything is pretty solid and in my opinion it’s a realistic depiction of what it would be like if a zombie outbreak happened. However I just don’t think it has the components to be a great film, I probably enjoyed Zack Snyders latest zombie flick Army of The Dead a lot more, even if it was less realistic. Dawn of The Dead has just been put on Netflix so if you haven’t seen it definitely go and give it a go!

Thanks for reading.

Callan