apecat

I am writing this as a fan of artsy fartsy visual storytelling rather than one who loves gory graphical horror, or the zombie theme as a whole. I can't say i disliked DOD '04, although I don't think it is as masterful as the original. Keep in mind that DOD and DOD '04 are hard to compare since they definitely differ a lot in style and audiovisual expression as well as plot-wise. Perhaps Romero would have liked the possibilities new technology in film-making has brought with it, but the '78'er's the big advantage over 04 is the fact that horror easily gets a bit pathetic and not scary.

A zombie model '04 is a remarkably scarier creature than its cousin of 1978; it moves as fast, or even faster than a living human and is a goal-oriented killing/eating machine. Thus one of the main points in the original movie is lost. The inefficient, slow ex-consumer stuck in a circle of reliving old habits and instincts in the mall of the '78 version is long gone, while horror movie clichés are planted everywhere. There is, however a very good take on the consumerism of today still left, revised but intact, and that sort of saves this new version from being gory rubbish, at least seen from an artistic and social commentary oriented point of view.

The very important words Us & Them and the them still have their meaning here, but sadly, in a way, the threat of other human beings in the "chaotic end of the world zombie takeover"-sort of situation is in a way replaced by raging zombies that are pure monsters rather than stupid corpses suffering from hyperactivity The acting is, I think, more professional, even if not always much convincing here in Zack Snyder's version. I can, however say that I liked the urban, cynical, rich, modern, pathetic asshole ("Steve") played by Ty Burrell. Visually its prettier and creepier and more dramatic but also introduces the risk of too much action, which there definitely is. Together with the industrial heavy metal inspired soundtrack the taste of splashy, mediocre horror is present, luckily combined with an interesting picture of life in the early 00's. It's also sad that the sound mix didn't have what it takes to boost horror.

Through the movie we get the chance to compare dignified deaths, stupid deaths and the messy deaths of fighters, but the outcome is always the same in a meaningless way that very well concludes the whole mood of the film, where the viewer can observe the danger of the most loved but always lying part of the human imagination: Hope.

This movie could have been a lot better. The fancy special effects show that at least the resources can not have been a problem, but the way Stephen King's fascinating novel is being turned in to a c-class action movie is disgusting to watch.

As I stated earlier, the beginning complete with quite OK acting gives the impression that something decent could have been done of this. The challenges that King's novel gives, including stream-of-consciousness-like parts are turned down and ignored. What a mess. And the possibility to increase the tragic "consentration camp"-feeling and use executions of civilians to make it more dramatic is being left out. I gave this movie a 5 only because of the effects, which are in fact pretty.

Let's face it, this movie *is* a cheap shining-rip off, but somehow it felt pleased watching it. As someone stated earlier on this board, this is a family-friendly movie, no bad language etc, which makes it even more suitable for TV use. This typical American TV movie format is boring and it certainly makes it challenging for the filmmakers to do something even remotely original. I find it hard to put into words, but there was something quite fresh and genuine in this, I dunno if this is a training work by someone in film school, but I must say that the basics of story telling were all right. The film doesn't pretend to be more than it is, the lousy cgi and a few mistakes (i think I saw the shadow of a camera in a stairway sequence) feels OK in this type of movies where filmmakers usually misuse their talents a lot more with tons of low budget action sequences.

The soundscapes were sometimes a bit overdone, the sick whispering didn't leave the "walking in alone in the dark"-sequences alone for a second, with a bit more patience, silence mixed with normal sounds that one could expect to hear on a shipwreck could have been even original. I watched the movie from a Scandinavian r2 DVD edition that featured stereo ac3/dolby digital sound. Unfortunately I had to use headphones, I can't say anything about the usage of Dolby Surround.

The actors were used well, not the best ones around, but by limiting their communication to TV-series type dialog you had the characters in their right elements and on the very edge of what you can expect from them.