quick review (mild spoiler info)

Rating: Null/10 (18 March 2004)

Saw it last night, and i have to say that so far my feelings are pretty mixed. I didn't hate it, but (eventhough I will probably buy the DVD anyways) I didn't love it either.
But to sum it up quickly, the plot is etched out much like "Night of the Living Dead": sudden break-out, strangers meet in a designated location and try to hold fort, the fort is already occupied by greedy, scared folk who don't want to share their hideout, there is a strong, leading black male character and a younger, strong white female lead; must-go-there-and-come-back suicide mission, and a similar dramatic ending.
Now, change the farmhouse and make it a huge mall like in "Dawn of the Dead". Then augment the zombie factor by a hundred-fold, like apocalyptic numbers like in "Day of the Dead"... add lots of slick shotgun-n-flashlight action like in "Resident Evil", and of course... to make things hipper and faster for the young generation, make the zombies *run* like in "28 Days Later" (who were in fact not zombies, but infected living. I don't think you could run very fast when rigor mortis sets in!)
Of course, borrow alot from John Carpenter's "The Thing", "Prince of Darkness" and "Assault on Precinct 13", but fill the movie with obvious cameos from the original film... Then, create a poster design that pays homage to the original Dead trilogy in terms of color, design and typography.

It does have neat opening and closing credit sequences, though.

It does have good moments and its homages to the original film are clever, and I think overall the film will have to grow on me. it can hold on it's own if you dont know the original films. Much like "The Ring", the remake will be a success because alot of its audience wont have seen (or cared) about the original.
Hideo Nakata's "Ringu" was so much better.
But, I will give "Dawn of the Dead 2004" a second viewing.