I love the Dead!

Rating: 7/10 (31 March 2004)

If you are a Dead fan then this movie is for you.
Just about everyone reading this already knows that this is a remake of George Romero's Dawn of the Dead but beyond the title and the fact that the dead have a hankering for munching on the living the similarity (for the most part) ends there. This is an improvement over doing a scene-by-scene remake as was done for the original Night of the Living Dead. I am pleased that the producers decided to add their own interpretation of the genre.
Judged on its own merits this is destined to become a classic "Dead" movie. The Romero movies are classics, especially the first because nothing like it had ever been done before but the action, direction, make-up, and special effects of this (re-)incarnation make this film a must see. The Romero series is looking rather dated and low budget compared to what can be accomplished with the special effects these days. Do special effects and a bigger budget make a good film? Just refer to the most recent Star Wars films and you'll see that that is not the case.
I won't bother with the plot because, let's face it, these movies are about putting ordinary people into extraordinary situations and seeing how they respond. In that context it is easy to understand their appeal. How would you react? Would you just give up and accept your fait, would you fight back or perhaps fight your potential allies for control? This movie covers those aspects similar to how the Romero films covered them, with intelligence and insight into the human character.
The bottom line is if you are a fan of the Dead movies than it is worthwhile to see this in the theatre. The production values are good, the action is good, the suspense was a little lacking but overall this is one for my (Dead) dvd collection.