Dawn of the Dead

    Obviously, there was no way that I was going to let the Halloween season pass by without reviewing at least one zombie flick and what better choice than the one that I probably consider my favorite. Now, there are several remakes of horror films that turn out terrible. I completely understand the argument towards not remaking horror films because they do typically turn out brutal. Halloween, Friday the 13th, even A Nightmare on Elm Street, these are all horror remakes that were terrible. However, from time to time you get a good remake, and Dawn of the Dead is one of those films. This film rules on so many levels. It is exciting, gory, scary, intense, and has a ton of emotion which I believe is important for any type of film. If there is nothing or nobody to care about, what is the point? This film gives you plenty to care about and makes the deaths matter.

            This film just starts off wild from the get-go and never really lets up throughout the film. There is always danger present and when things start to become a bit stagnant Zack Snyder introduces new elements to freshen things up and keep the film interesting. The zombies here are great. They are fast, animalistic, and absolutely relentless in their pursuit of the survivors, but they are also kept true to nature of being brain-dead and not being bright. They are creatures that rely on pure instinct and stop at nothing until they taste flesh. Every scene involving them is great to watch, but that brings me to the flaws I had with the film, and that is the main characters. The characters, aside from having a few side-plots do not really have a lot going for them. They are all generic. You have the badass, the asshole, the damsel in distress, the young ones, the stoic one, and the main survivor that initiates the whole story. They have nothing of depth to offer aside from those surface features. This is in part because there are simply too many characters at a time to really give anyone any character development, unlike in George A. Romero’s original version which featured a much smaller cast. That is possibly because Snyder wanted more action and death to happen in his version of the film, but it is sacrificing substance for action. Despite that, Zack Snyder still gives you enough reason to care about the deaths that happen for the most part.

            Despite that flaw, the film is still much better than I expected and a blast to watch. It keeps its entertainment even after the first watch and that is something that is critical in a film of this nature. Not every film needs to have a high rewatch factor to be considered good, but zombie films are of the genre where I think it is important to be able to watch them multiple times and have a great time during each watch. Snyder makes sure that this film delivers on those high impact aspects that make a film rewatchable. If you are going into this film wanting to see something with a lot of depth, character development, and deep meaning, this is probably not the film for you. If you want to see zombies mess people up and get messed up in the process, this is the film for you. Official rating: 3 Stars.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Fast and the Furious

                    With the latest installment hitting theaters, I figured now would be a good time to look at where the franchise began. This is a tale of humble beginnings when you consider where the franchise is at now, and what the plot has become. Imagine trying to explain to the younger generation who started out with Fast Five what the original film was all about. The first question they would ask you is, “where is The Rock?”. We need to keep in mind that the first film came out in 2001. After two decades, we knew that the franchise would change, but did we ever expect it to be this drastic? To fully understand, let us take a look back to the origins of the franchise, and give an honest review of the first installment.             The film starts off with a few cars pulling off a heist on a truck, which then leads to us getting introduced to LAPD officer Brian O’...
Read more

Searching

                    I love watching films that I go into blind that end up being one of the best films I end up seeing all year, and that was the case with the film Searching . I knew virtually nothing about this film, and basically just watched it off the recommendation of my sister-in-law; She did not disappoint with her recommendation. Let me start off by saying that this film will not be enjoyed by everyone for one very important reason, it is shot in a strange way. It utilizes that filming style where rather than looking like it is filmed on a traditional camera, everything that you see is on a computer screen, and you only see the film through a webcam, or found footage from sites such as YouTube, or other video sites. It takes a bit to get used to, and if you are someone that does not enjoy found footage films, you will probably have a hard time enjoying this film, especially since the entire film is seen through a compu...
Read more

Resident Evil

                    A good friend of mine was recently telling me about how much he loves the Resident Evil franchise, and it made me realize that I have never actually reviewed any of the films. Well, it is time to fix that and start at the beginning. While I was never a big fan of the games, I can wholeheartedly say that if you are a big fan of the games, you are probably going to hate the films. If you are not a fan of the games, you will probably enjoy the films slightly, but not much. This film is just not that good. Even if you go into it with an open mind, it is difficult to get into it with its screenplay, effects, and acting performances. Aside from that, you also have the unique and whacky directing style of Paul W. S. Anderson. Having directed films such as AVP , Mortal Kombat , and Event Horizon , you know to expect some zaniness and crazy effects in this film, and that is exactly what you get.    ...
Read more