Synopsis: Faster, Stronger, Deadlier.
This Spring, the Dead Will Rise!
Nick Cannon, Mena Suvari, and Ving Rhames star in this horror film based on the George A. Romero classic zombie film. A mysterious virus has infected the small town of Leadville, Colorado and the military is brought in to enforce a quarantine and stop the spread of the disease. As people perish, survivors realize that the virus is creating the walking dead who crave human flesh. Only a small number of people are immune to the virus and those few survivors must battle to fend off the infected zombies while trying to make it out of town alive.
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Following the tremendous success of Zack Snyder’s 2004 remake of ‘Dawn of the Dead’, it was hardly surprising that someone decided it would be a good idea to also remake Romero’s ‘Day of the Dead’. As we all know, remakes are a mixed bag: they inform new audiences about old(er) material, but they frequently tear apart what made the original a classic; rare are the remakes that are as successful, or exceed, their source material.
Being objective about ‘Day of the Dead (2008)’ is terribly difficult.
I was never a big fan of the original. I know that die-hards will scream “blasphemy” at this admission, but I find the acting to be over-the-top, the setting is claustrophobic, and it lacks a grandeur that would have served the film well. There have been persistent stories about a longer script that Romero had to trim due to budgetary restraints, and I want to believe that a better film was initially envisioned.
So the thought of a remake was actually quite a pleasing one to me, at first – especially in light of the respectful remakes of ‘Night of the Living Dead’ and ‘Dawn of the Dead’. But then I read reviews that were scalding in their assessment of this version of ‘Day of the Dead’; it just seemed like it was a throwaway best left to gather dust on a shelf somewhere. Distributors must have agreed: the film was released straight to video.
So, while I could find the film pretty much everywhere, I waited before grabbing it; it felt like it would be a total disappointment.
I’m happy to report that it wasn’t, after all. It may not have been great cinema, and it does have its share of problems, but it’s a decent film if measured against others of its ilk. Oh, sure, there’s nothing special or notable about it – but there’s also nothing especially bad about it either. Mind you, as I’ve mentioned, I’m not really a fan of the original (aside from the basic concept and the amazing, if gruesome, special effects work by Tom Savini).
For true fans, however, it would be a real drag to watch this new version/reimagining: it’s only loosely based on the original. In fact, one has to look hard to find similarities between the two: same title (check!), similar character names (check!), zombies (check!), human beings (check!), flesh-eating carnage (check!), military presence (check!), and underground science bunker (check!).
That’s about it. Otherwise, the films are completely different: the situations and settings are different, the characters’ motivations are different, there is no social commentary (or at least, none that is easily discerned), the stakes are different, the outcome is different, …etc.
Even the zombies are different. Romero’s zombies are slow, lumbering beasts that are mostly threatening in large numbers, or when human beings get cocky and take unnecessary risks; they are far too clumsy and weak to be a serious danger. In this incarnation of ‘Day of the Dead’, however, the zombies have been modernized à la ’28 Days Later’: they move quickly, are infused with mildly superhuman strength, and even have abilities that I’ve never seen before (such as spider-climbing walls!).
Perhaps the filmmakers were trying to amp things up, but I found myself unable/unwilling to believe a moment of it: the undead are animated flesh suffering from various stages of rigor mortis – there’s no way they’re running around like a wild pack of Montreal Canadiens fans after a Stanley Cup win. My other problem with this new breed of zombie is that no human being could survive such an infestation; the speed at which the disease spreads and which the zombies are attacking everyone, the whole human race would last about a week. Our protagonist simply wouldn’t make it.
Speaking of which, the reason I don’t call them heroes or heroines is because our protagonists are all young, seemingly inexperienced, and pretty weak-looking. Nick Cannon acts all tough, but he reeks of scared little boy posturing. Mena Suvari is no Sigourney Weaver or Linda Hamilton, and is hardly suitable for this role, but at least she holds her own, acting-wise. Aside from her, however, the acting is weak, and pretty much all the main cast feels like fish out of water.
Still, the film is decent enough; crafted by the writer of much of the ‘Final Destination’ series and also the director of a few solid horror films, at least it had experienced hands to guide it. Sure, it’s pretty much standard, paint-by-numbers fare, but it does it somewhat well.
It’s forgetable enough, but it’ll still be fun watching the trilogy of Romero remakes someday.
thecriticaleye 