In 1978, George A. Romero released Dawn of the Dead as a follow-up to his 1968 classic, Night of the Living Dead (the forerunner of all modern zombie films).  While Romero gets a writing credit for this movie based on his original 1978 screenplay, and there are definitely some similarities here, it’s not the same movie.

Directed by Zack Snyder, and still taking place in a shopping mall as the zombies start to make their presence felt throughout the world, there is a definite shift over thirty years.  Where the first film left you to do a bit more interpreting, and was a bit more on the psychological side, this one is a bit more a sign of the times, and gives you a lot more action to work with while you watch the affect of being cooped up as the world crumbles.

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Luther and Nora Krank typically spend their Christmas season with everyone. The emphasis here is on spend. With so many holiday decorations and parties, last year they spent more than six thousand dollars. This year, however, their daughter Blair is joining the Peace Corps, and so they’re on their own. Luther Krank (Tim Allen) has an idea. Since Blair isn’t going to be home, and he and Nora will have all this time to be alone, why not just skip Christmas entirely?

As an accountant, it actually works out great. As a man, he knows he can’t get away with just ducking the holiday, so he comes up with a plan: They’ll take a cruise. Even after planning for a full cruise package, they are going to come out thousands of dollars ahead. Assuming that they can duck all of their standard holiday commitments, and that isn’t going to be an easy task. The first thing he has to do is sell his wife on the idea. It turns out that will be the easy part of it.

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Doctor Alfred Lanning (James Cromwell) has turned up dead, and it seems that the most likely suspect is the one being who can’t be a suspect at all. There are two reasons for this.

The first is that the law clearly states that murder has happened when one human kills another human, which leads directly to the second reason. The suspect isn’t human. It’s a robot. And according to the Three Laws, a robot should not be able to kill a human, which means that there shouldn’t be anything to investigate – even if the law were to apply here (which it doesn’t).

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As Jack (Thomas Haden Church) approaches his wedding date, he has just one plan: To spend a week in wine country with his friend Miles (Paul Giamatti).

There they will, of course, drink wine. They will play golf. And there the plans diverge. That’s about all that Miles has planned, except perhaps for a few good meals. But Jack also plans to make sure he has a few last rolls in the hay, to get it out of his system before he gets married. Miles probably wouldn’t approve.

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Washburn (Jimmy Fallon) has had some issues with driving, which is a problem, being a police officer, and it’s really a problem now because he’s got a lead on a robbery, but he needs a vehicle to follow them, since they are really good drivers.

That leaves him in a pinch, because he’s lost his driving privilege due to his problems, so he does what anyone in his situation will do – he takes a cab. He picks a good one. The driver, Belle (Queen Latifah) has issues of her own, but hers of an entirely different sort. She drives too fast, but she’s actually good at it.

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Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood, who also directed) is, by most accounts, trying to hide in his gym. He’s content to finish out his years with his friend, Eddie Dupris (Morgan Freeman) by his side. Unfortunately, like doesn’t always work out the way that we have it planned.

One day, Maggie Fitzgerald (Hilary Swank) comes in and tells Frankie that she’d like to box. There are two reasons that this is bad. One is that Maggie has little, if any, boxing talent. Two is that she just won’t go away, and that bothers Frankie more than anything. He just wants to be left alone. But like most things, if you stick with it long enough, you may just get your wish, and Maggie does. Eventually, Frankie gives in and agrees to be her trainer – but only as long as she gives it everything she has.

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There aren’t too many movies that I like that start at the end. This one isn’t likely to make me a convert. It starts with a man (Bill Pullman) jumping to his death from a hotel balcony. At least, I think it was a hotel. It may have been an apartment. I really couldn’t tell.

And that was the second part of the problem. I was completely and utterly lost all the way through this movie. I followed the plot well enough, but I spent much of the time trying to figure out what was happening around the plot. That’s no fun.

What I can tell you is that Karen (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is some sort of exchange student. At least, she is an American. Suddenly, due to the death of a nurse or housekeeper or something, an opening becomes available for her, and so she jumps at the chance. But the house where she will be working is possessed by the spirit or someone who was killed. Apparently an ancient proverb says that someone killed with great emotion will remain there, and that’s what happened.

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This is an interesting movie. On one hand, I have no doubt that it will likely end up in the stable of films that are rerun endlessly at this time of year, simply because it’s a pretty decent tale, and that’s what films like this do at this time of year. But on the other, it’s rather creepy. The animation is good, and if it were ten years ago, I’m sure we would all be amazed at how lifelike the characters are. Let’s face it – it isn’t ten years ago.

While there are some pretty amazing reproductions of life here, they just don’t quite make the final step. The hair doesn’t move. It’s like a plastic wig. And while the eyes are okay, the mouth is just a bottomless pit into oblivion. Ignore those things and you’re okay. Younger kids might be able to do so, but some will undoubtedly be spooked by these aspects of the film.

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Helen has the face that launched a thousand ships, but this story isn’t really about her, except in a small way. The story is of course about Troy, the city to which Paris (Orlando Bloom) takes Helen when they fall in love and Paris hides her aboard a ship when they leave to return to Troy.

Unfortunately when Helen’s husband Menelaus finds out that she’s gone, stolen by a much younger man, he’s not happy about it – and his brother, Agamemnon just happens to be the king, which means that he just might be able to do something about it. So the two enlist the aid of Achilles (Brad Pitt), the best fighter the world has ever seen, to go get her back. Here’s where the thousand ships come in, as they set sail for Troy.

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Just a few days before the UK switches over from Pounds to Euros, a gang decides to rob a train that holds the old notes headed for destruction. One of the robbers hides on the train and periodically throws out bundles of money to his cohorts stationed about the country.

One of these bags, however, doesn’t land in the hands of the gang members, it lands on the clubhouse of Damian (Alex Etel), who thinks that perhaps the money came from God in response to his prayers. Then he just needs to decide what to do with it.

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