Action-filled remake isn't half bad.

Rating: 8/10 (4 January 2006)

Remake of Romero's classic Dawn of the Dead (1978) is pretty good, even though it mostly steers away from the original film.
Zombies are running amok, which leaves a number of people trapped inside a shopping mall, but how long will they be able to live there?
Dawn of the Dead 2004 basically only keeps the premise of the original film, building a new plot with a larger number of new characters, and with the help of director Zack Snyder it becomes an entertaining flick. The film is packed with action, some new suspenseful situations, and some nicely done humor. This remake is all the more intense because it doesn't use the typical 'zombie' image, but rather re-invents the flesh-eaters as more cunning creatures, after all they do run in this film! There's also plenty of freakishly good make up FX to be had and a great rock soundtrack.
The cast is pretty good, Polley, Rhames, Weber, Kelly, Booth, and Zegers being especially good characters.
Dawn of the Dead 2004 remains the most critically acclaimed horror remake thus far, and it's not hard to see why.
*** out of ****