Leadville, Colorado, is quarantined after a mysterious illness begins to overtake much of its population. Corporal Sarah Bowman, a local of Leadville, is one of the many soldiers assigned to enforce the quarantine. But when she drops by to check in on her mother, she finds that the illness has struck close to home. She rushes her mother to the hospital, which is teeming with ill citizens. Then, without warning, the sick individuals begin to transform into flesh hungry zombies with super-human speed and agility. Nobody is safe from their onslaught.
Only the Corporal and a small band of survivors remain, including the recently recruited Private Bud, the trigger happy and hot-headed Private Salazar, Corporal Bowman's brother, and his girlfriend. But can they escape the infected town in one piece?
Day of the Dead is named after the third installment in George R. Romero's Dead franchise, but can hardly be considered a remake. The film does cover much of the same ground as the original. It's about zombies, soldiers, and scientists, and it contains a critique of the military industrial complex. But it is far from the same film in terms of everything from script, to characters, to the plot itself. As a remake, therefore, this movie would be no less than a tremendous fail. But if taken on its own merits and in its own context, it isn't that bad.
It starts off badly - the initial scene presents you with a number of really irritating characters and the first death is of a woman who is killed by a zombie because she refuses a ride home with a cretin who offers her money for sex. But then you realize that all of these characters are going to die and that you won't have to suffer any of them for the full length of the film.
Instead you get introduced to Corporal Bowman, a strong, intelligent female character played by Mena Suvari. Most of the other characters may not be particularly compelling, and Salazar is a downright obnoxious, and brutally stereotyped figure, but it could have been worse.
The plot both exists and makes a fair enough amount of sense, plus it has something to say. It's action packed, although there are no real good scares to speak of. Zombie purists will perhaps criticize the film for its fast, and ultra-agile depiction of the undead. But this film follows the 28 Days Later zombie tradition as opposed to the slow and plodding villains of the Romero classic. It could be worse, they could be groaning "braaaiiins" every five seconds and making off beat wise cracks like in certain other popular zombie series and films.
This version of Day of the Dead may not be a real remake, and it may not become a classic of zombie cinema by any means. But up against many of the zombie trash that has been pumped out in recent years it looks relatively decent.
3 eyeballs out of 5
Rated R for strong pervasive horror violence and gore, and language.
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