One of the Better Remakes I've Seen.

Rating: 5/10 (1 July 2006)

This movie is easily one of the better remakes I've seen. I've watched it several times, and every time I like it all the more. However, this movie is an example where my personal preference for a movie outshines the movie's actual artistic merit. Despite being an excellent remake, and highly entertaining, it's only a decent film. Being such, my ranking reflects that, and not my personal enjoyment of the film.
All the actors that they chose did a decent job on this movie. There were no extraordinary performances, or even great ones; only non-obtrusive good ones. Each part was well cast and it can be said that nobody fell short in this regard.
The opening credit sequence, after Sarah Polley (Who played Anna) fled her home, was alright, except for the choice in music. While the lyrics might have been somewhat fitting, the overall tone it set was entirely counter-productive for what they've already established and what they continue to establish afterwords. Even the clips that they choose to show for that sequence are mediocre at best. But it still gets it's point across extremely well: This is not an isolated instance, but an epidemic (of a sort) sweeping the world at large.
One part of the movie that I found extremely annoying at first, but which eventually turns into something of an acquired taste, is the coloring and lighting. They're all unnaturally bright. Upon first viewing, this can be detracting. Even on second viewing it can be very annoying. But after that, you get used to it and can tolerate it. It actually is somewhat unnerving, which compliments the movie, to see everything in a matter that's far to bright and colorful for the pervading mood and situation all around them. The makeup for the zombies was done extremely well, I felt, and far surpassed the original.
If the original 1978 Dawn of the Dead was something of a Horror/Drama movie, then the remake is more of a Horror/Action one. It still touches upon human drama amidst the swarms of flesh-eating zombies, but that takes second stage to all of the physical activity. Especially at the end, this movie digresses into an almost all-out action movie, although swings back somewhat at the end more to horror.
This is not a slavishly devoted remake. Except for the concept of people hiding out in a shopping mall amidst a zombie attack, and a few other details (A black man being a cop who's brother died, a pregnant woman, a woman who lost her husband, etc...) there's very little in common with it and its predecessor. The vast majority of the action and actions taken throughout the course of the film are different from the the original. This is not necessarily a bad thing. The movie has a life and an action all of its own, and can be considered on its own merit, and not just that of the 1978 film. It is rare that remake can do this, and it should always be commended.
One criticism that I have for the film is the over-abundance of characters. The original only had four protagonists. This one has around 12 or 13 throughout the whole film, although some only have a brief time on screen. This makes each life, subsequently, less valuable. Granted, they are able to pull off a large-bodied cast better than most other films, and are able to keep the audience from perpetually waiting for them all to die off.
One thing that I like, which seems to be a trend in many zombie movies as of late, is for these, as one person called them, "Super Zombies". By this, I mean zombies that are not slowly lumbering sacks of meat, but fast, strong and deadly undead; such as in the movie 28 Days later or the book Cell. They add incalculably to the danger perpetuated by the zombies, and makes the threat all that more... well... threatening.
Overall, this is an extremely entertaining film, and one of the best remakes I've ever seen. It might not be, from a more critical standpoint, a good film, however. It's not nearly so good as the original overall, lacking the sharp satirical wit of it's 1978 predecessor, although it does a far better job in making the zombies a threat than before. This is a definite must-see for horror, Zombie and Romero fans. It should also appeal to a much younger audience than the original.