Dawn with the Sickness

Saw Dawn of the Dead (the remake) last night, and I think I agree with the widespread critical analysis of it as the original without the underlying social commentary. Not necessarily a bad thing. It's a crazy zombie action movie, and it's definitely fun.

What Dawn of the Dead (2004) does well is tell a lot of mini zombie-stories through the basic structure of survival in a mall. As if you were shopping it, the movie has a lot to choose from... And you're not going to buy everything. There are scenes and plot twists in Dawn of the Dead (neuvo) that are hopelessly ridiculous and would likely spoil the movie if you were allowed to ponder them as in the film's inspiration. But walk away with one shopping bag of savvy finds, and you'll be delighted. One of my favorite moments was the addition of "Andy" a gun shop owner alone on his rooftop across the parking lot from the mall that the central characters dwell in, whose communication with Ving Rhames' removed cop is the centerpiece of a montage scored with a lounge cover of Rage Against the Machine's "Down With the Sickness". Other added characters don't work out as well; the head mall security guard, for instance, undergoes a major attitude shift almost instananeously. Some moments work (the communication breakdown during the rescue of a truck full of "refugees"), others don't (the escape from the mall is generally silly). But everything gels well.

Zombie fiction, however, is in a state of crisis with the continuing presence of fast zombies (28 Days Later) which goes against traditional zombie lore. Directors seem to feel that fast zombies will help make zombies more terrifying, and they're right. Fast zombies are much more frightening than true, slow zombies. But. They are made so overpowering that human survival becomes completely implausible. Directors create a situation that requires a deus ex machina in order to drive the story. This breaks any added suspense having a fast zombie creates. We need slow zombies back. Now, more than ever.