Dawn Of The Dead 2004 is another shining example that remakes, if done right, can be pretty spectacular.

Rating: Null/10 (14 November 2004)

From the start this didn't sound like it was going to work. Not only were they going to remake what most people and myself would call the best zombie movie around, it was going to be written by a guy who wrote Scooby Doo (a film a lot of people thought was poor at best)and it was going to be directed by a guy who's only experience was directing ads for television. But despite those odds, Dawn Of The Dead 2004 is another shining example that remakes, if done right, can be pretty spectacular.
The reason this works is that, despite the odds from the beginning, everyone involved in the making of this film are zombie fans from the heart. You get the distinct impression that they no way wanted to rip off George Romero's original and that they wanted to focus on their own story, and that is what you get.
The film, as you probably had guessed, is all about a zombie apocalypse that, without any explanation to its cause, erupts overnight and sends the world into total chaos. At the beginning we follow a nurse called Ana who wakes up to total hell. After avoiding being eaten she meets up with more survivors who take refuge in a huge shopping mall. Problems occur early in as the security team that works in the mall are not happy with their presence. But, as the film progresses they eventually learn to work together to solve problems they face as more survivors join the ragtag group.
This isn't a remake in the sense of that word. This films stands alone from Romero's original and gives it its own set of boots to fill. Apart from the title and the setting, pretty much everything here is new. Whereas Romero's film took a stab at the consumerism and showing us that, while we shop WE are mere zombies, walking around with no purpose, DOTD 2004 is more about the action. This time zombies can run and this gives a greater sense of urgency and is more adrenaline induced. A lot of fans over the world didn't like the idea that zombies could run, and that the ones in Romero's original were a lot scarier in the creepiness factor. I tend to agree. Because they can run you sort of loose the sense that they are dead, and it gives you more of the impression that they could be just infected like they are in the British film 28 Days Later, but this doesn't spoil the film and at times, helps it to move along at a frantic pace.
Fans of gore won't be disappointed either, with blood flowing like a river all the way through the film. However it is not as "in your face" as the original, there are still plenty of parts in the film that make you cringe and go "urgh!" But in a good way.
Overall Dawn Of The Dead 2004 is a great film for fans and newcomers alike. It delivers a pace that keeps you on the edge of your seat, great acting and directing and was well written. This is another fine example that remakes can be brilliant and that, just as long as the writer, director and producers are fans of the genre then the film can work.