Day of the Dead 2008 (Blu-ray)
Reviewed by Uncle Creepy
Starring Ving Rhames, Mena Suvari, Michael Welch, Pat Kilbane, Nick Cannon
Directed by Steve Miner
Distributed by First Look Pictures
Ludicrous: lu·di·crous. adj. — Laughable or hilarious because of obvious absurdity or incongruity. Ok, there ya go. Review over. Take care.
Still here?
You bastards. You’re really gonna make me do this again, aren’t you? Well, I guess that’s why I am here. To give you guys the bottom line no matter what the cost. Even if it’s my sanity.
This re-imagining of the George A. Romero classic, just like Zack Snyder’s quality Dawn of the Dead, is a remake in name only. However, unlike Snyder’s flick, this one fails on just about every level except for unintentional comic relief.
So what went wrong? Is it the acting? Well, yeah. Nick Cannon is an absolute embarrassment. He nearly sets back strides made pertaining to racial tolerance about two decades by giving the most stereotypical performance I’ve seen in years. He makes the black dude in The Fog remake seem like Kunta Kinte in comparison.
Is it the writing? Yeah, but not by Jeffrey Reddick who’s given all the screen blame for this sinking ship. His original script (which was actually quite good) was torn to shreds by meddlers who thought they understood what kids wanted today. But that’s just part of it.
The real culprit behind this mess has to be director Steve Miner. Don’t get me wrong, he’s made some great little flicks in his career, and I love the guy, but I just cannot imagine what he was thinking here. This is a zombie flick from a ten-year-old’s perspective in terms of its cool factor. “Have the zombies move fast like unnerved Loony Toons! They need to be able to climb across walls and ceilings! That’d be really spooky! Oh, and they should just explode when they catch fire like some dudes in a video game! YEAH! SWEET!” On what planet could anyone think all of that could work? I feel dirty.
Yet, I have to say it could have even been worse. Despite its flaws, and wow are there flaws, I was never bored. Dare I say it the absurdity of it all kept me somewhat entertained. For more of what I thought, check out my initial Day of the Dead review here.
Sadly, the movie’s Blu-ray debut is a true snoozer as well. While the picture quality is far better than the DVD version, everything still looks really soft and smooth. Too soft and smooth. The only real bang to be found here is the sound mix. Sporting a 24-bit Dolby TrueHD soundtrack Day of the Dead will give your surround system a pretty grueling work out. It definitely added to what little experience there was to be had here.
In terms of supplemental material we get the same hodge-podge found on the Day of the Dead DVD release (review here), and nothing more. Actually the trailers section is a bit different but do you care? Didn’t think so.
In the end, the copious amount of CGI splatter still looks cartoony, the movie still kind of sucks, and those responsible should still not be patting themselves on the back. There is one ray of sunshine to tout though … at least this release has better cover art. Joy.
Special Features
“>“>2 out of 5
“>“>2 out of 5
Categorized:Reviews
