Day of the Dead 2008 (watched 2/16/09)
I guess I’m on a bit of a remake kick in my personal time, and please don’t think less of me. This week I took one for the team and watched the Day of the Dead remake that went straight to DVD. I’ve said before I don’t make comparisons to the original, and I won’t make any exception here (there are that many synonyms for abomination).
"Pretty please with sugar on top may I act like a badass?"
Truthfully though… it wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t good either. I’m wondering if Mena Suvari is considering a claim that a body double played the whole role for her. Maybe it was a fun side project, but definitely not a step up. Ving Rhames also shows up in this Romero remake, but he’s not as ass kickingly cool as he was in the Dawn of the Dead from 2004.
****Next Paragraph is a vague spoiler section (not really much to spoil though) skip to the ***** if you want to miss it
Typical story, follows most traditional/remake horror rules: black people don’t fare so well, teenagers who have sex don’t do so well unless you’re of relation to the protagonist, and government agents and their conspiracies get there due
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The zombies are freakin’ weird with some heavy hands on the CGI and excessive speeding of sequences in the editing room. It’s probably a taste thing, but the pacing just didn’t work. It’s a Romero concept with 28 Days Later zombies. I had a hard time visually digesting that one. The makeup was nice, though rushed in parts, which is probably the biggest asset the movie has to offer. (Trust me, you’re not flipping this one on because of the plot).
I did end up rooting for Nick Cannon’s character Salazar a lot simply because he has some of the best kills in the movie. There are some nice (don’t read great) special effects sequences. Absolutely nothing is here for the brain though, and if you are a die hard Romero fan skip it, you’ll probably end up pulling your eyeball out and eating it before the movies over.
What it’s got: Fast zombies, big budget, massive flame thrower, evil scientist genius, a lot of driving (how big is this small town anyway?), intelligent zombies (oxymoron?), a plot that was written while sniffing glue, government conspiracies (surprise!), a bizarre sequence where the town substation blows the whole town blacks out and then mysteriously regains power, and a blu-ray release (really?!?!)
What it’s missing: the scene where Ving Rhames is castrated (wtf?), respect for parents, decent burials, a lack of residue after burning, helicopters (c’mon where are the helicopters?), trigger locks in gun shops, acting
No surprises here. You want to watch zombies. You get to watch zombies. Would I pick it up over say re-watching 28 Days, the original Day of the Dead, or an episode of Lassie? Probably not, but it wasn’t painful.
2/5 zip ties
Brains, Blood, Boomsticks, & Broods 
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