Dawn of the Dead (2004 film): Difference between revisions

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Ana, a Milwaukee nurse, finishes a long shift at her hospital where -- along with other bits of [[Foreshadowing]] -- she discusses [[Zombie Infectee|a patient who was bitten in a bar fight]]. After work, she chats briefly with a cute neighbor child, then returns to her suburban home and her waiting husband. The next morning, she wakes up to find her zombified young neighbor in her house; the girl kills her husband, who then rises a zombie and comes after Ana. Ana escapes in her car, only to learn that, overnight, the town has fallen into [[Zombie Apocalypse|chaos]]. A living human attempts to carjack her vehicle, causing her to panic, drive off the road, crash into a tree, and knock herself unconscious. When she awakens, she meets up with a police officer by the name of Kenneth, and then a small group of survivors more-or-less led by jack-of-all-trades Michael. They all break into a nearby shopping mall, where they are confronted by a trio of mall security guards, led by the surly C.J. Via binoculars and dry-erase boards, they also "meet" gun-store owner Andy, who is stranded alone in his shop across the mall's zombie-infested parking lot. The guards are eventually disarmed, and some more survivors are let into the mall, among them teenaged Nicole.

For a while, the group wallows in the mall's materialism, and Ana and Michael edge into a romance, but due both to general stupidity (thanks Andre!) and the collapse of the power grid, the situation finally deteriorates to the point where the group decides to reinforce a pair of parking shuttles, drive to the local marina and escape out to an island on Lake Michigan. An attempt to get some food to starving Andy ends in general disaster (thanks Nicole and Steve!), and when the zombies finally break into the mall, it forces the survivors into a premature evacuation. {{spoiler|The only ones to survive the chaotic trip to the marina are Ana, Kenneth, one of the guards, and Nicole. Setting sail, they manage to reach an island, only to be immediately attacked by a new zombie swarm; their ultimate fate is unknown.}}

 

* [[Action Girl]]: Ana

* [[Apocalyptic Log]]: Andy's video diary in the remake's DVD extras.

* [[Casanova Wannabe]]: Bart the security guard is a light example.

* [[Chainsaw Good]]: Brutally subverted in the breakout.

* [[Crazy Survivalist]]

* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Steve, on top of being a [[Jerkass]].

* [[One-Scene Wonder]]: Matt Frewer and his character's early death scene.

* [[Our Zombies Are Different]]: The 2004 version compared to the 70's version. The zombies in that one are capable of running and jumping, with no sign of exhaustion and very persistent. Making them a much more severe threat. The 70's version was mostly scary due to numbers. They were slow and shambling but could easily overcome the humans if they managed to corner them.

{{quote|"Trust. The primary ingredient in any relationship."}}

* [[Regret Eating Me]]

* [[Shout-Out]]: The remake contains numerous nods to the original versions of both ''Night'' and ''Dawn''.

* [[The Stinger]]: Footage was belatedly added to the closing credits.

* [[Suspiciously Apropos Music]]: There are multiple instances involving the Mall's muzak.

** The first is "Don't Worry, Be Happy", which plays when the survivors enter the mall just barely escaping the undead.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Films of the 2000s]]

[[Category:Zombie Stories]]