Dawn of the Dead (2004)

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Posted By: brian@brianschell.com August 2, 2023

Spoiler-free Judgment Zone

This was quite an excellent remake. Things were updated while staying true to the spirit of the 1978 original. It’s got great effects, steady action, loads of gore, and characters that you care about.

Spoilery Synopsis

We open in a hospital, and there’s a patient with a bite on his hand; they suspect some kind of brain injury because he just isn’t behaving normally. Ana is a nurse, and she gets off shift and heads home to the suburbs. She hops into the shower with her husband Luis and misses a special news report on the TV.

Luis wakes up and finds little girl Vivian in their room; Vivian tears his throat out with her teeth. Ana locks out Vivian and does first aid on her husband, but it’s clearly not going to help. She calls 911, but all circuits are busy. Meanwhile, Vivian is outside banging on the door. Suddenly, Luis gets up and attacks her too. She crawls out the bathroom window just as he breaks through the door.

She gets a look at her neighborhood, and things have gotten… Chaotic. We see that something bad has happened basically everywhere as she has a wild drive through the apocalypse. She eventually runs off the road and hits a tree in the woods. Credits roll as we hear interviews about the virus.

When Ana wakes up, there’s a cop pointing a gun at her. He’s Kenneth, and he’s not infected. The pair soon join up with Michael, Andre, and Luda, who is pregnant. They’re headed to the mall, and Kenneth and Ana don’t have much choice but to join them. They get inside, and it looks clear in there.

While it seems quiet, things soon get hectic when they find a few zombies already inside the mall. They run into three armed security guards, led by CJ, who take all their weapons, and then the group stops to watch the news on TV. Nicole has been bitten, and Kenneth has a wound on his arm as well.

The group sets out to fortify the mall and dispose of the bodies. More and more zombies start surrounding the mall; maybe out of instinct. They set up a signal on the roof for any passing helicopters. CJ makes it clear that he’s running the show. He and his friends are bullies and maybe not too smart. Eventually, even the news signs off.

We have time for the characters to talk. Andre the criminal and Kenneth the cop have a heart-to-heart about the apocalypse. The group turns against CJ and Bart, the two bad guards. A truck comes into the parking lot and backs up to the door– several new people arrive, including one very sick-looking old woman.

There’s a guy trapped on the roof of the gun store across the road, and he communicates by writing on a big sign. Inside, Ana helps the sick and wounded; two of the newcomers have been bitten. The old woman dies and almost immediately gets up and chases Ana, who stabs the zombie through the head. They figure out that it’s the bites that do it, so they decide to quarantine the bitten man, but then they decide it might be better to just shoot Frank since he’s clearly infected.

Things settle for a little while as they are safe with plenty of food and water and things to do in the mall.

The power goes out, and there’s a small battle on the way to get to the generator.

Andre and Luda talk about the baby; they feel it moving. After a while, they all start settling into a routine at the mall. People wonder about Luda, but Andre says she’s fine. He’s got her tied down to the bed, and she’s looking really bad– but she’s not a zombie. She finally dies and turns quickly. It’s finally time for the baby to come. Norma finds the happy family, and they all die in a shootout. Ana finds the zombie baby and shoots it herself.

Smartass Steve jokes that they could all go to the marina and get on his boat. The others think that may be a really good idea. They all work to reinforce two of the mall’s shuttle buses to carry them through the zombie horde.

Andy at the gun shop has all the guns and ammo he needs, but he’s starving, and the trucks aren’t ready yet. They try to get the pet dog to carry food over to Andy. The dead ignore him entirely– but they do follow the dog into the store and bite Andy. Nicole goes crazy and crosses the street to save the dog. She makes it across just fine, but Andy, who has turned, traps her there.

Some of the group goes through the sewers to get outside and into the gun shop for more ammo. They get what they need, but they lose a couple more guys on the way back. The zombies get into the mall, so everyone runs to the elevator and out to the reinforced trucks.

There are thousands of the dead outside, and they swarm the two trucks. They blow up propane bombs to clear the parking lot and drive on. They drive too fast, and bad things happen to one of the trucks. Steve abandons everyone and pays the price. But they snag his boat keys.

The few survivors get into the remaining truck and head to the marina. CJ blows himself up when he’s cornered, which does save the others. Michael got bitten and chooses to stay behind. Terry, Nicole, Ana, and Kenneth take the boat and sail off into the sunrise.

Commentary

It’s super gory and violent. There’s some humor and a lot of characters. I don’t think a single small propane tank would make a boom like that, and we get three of them here.

This never lets up and never gets boring. If you like classic-style zombies, this is one of the best.