No, no, no

Rating: 5/10 (16 May 2018)

DAWN OF THE DEAD; a remake of George A. Romero's same titled apocalyptic, epic, zombie-horror-action-thriller-drama 1978 masterpiece; this 2004 version sometimes seems good, especially the first 20 or 30 minutes leading up to/getting to the shopping mall (putting aside the cliche of the pretty female nurse working in a major hospital). And when they get inside the mall there's this promising bit where they're running and music from the 1978 film composed by the Italian band Goblin kicks in...but it's over in a few seconds and things go downhill when they meet the security guards hiding in the mall (which was meant to add complexity/depth to the situation but doesn't - it's just security guards hiding in a mall/protecting their turf - wow). Nancy Allen said in an interview on the Robocop remake (2014); words to the effect of: 'You only remake films that had a good idea but were executed badly'. I reckon it'd be cool to remake films for younger audiences who weren't around when the original came out; SPFX have improved so now it's possible to make a better looking/more polished versions but they should leave 'em to the original director/creative team (if they're still around which George A. Romero certainly was) e.g. 'Hey George this is so and so calling from Universal Studios and we want you to remake Dawn of the Dead; you can have as much $ as you like/we'll give you whatever you need/you'll have full creative control' and if they agree or at least have a role in overseeing the production then remake it otherwise leave it alone. Part of the reason why the original Dawn of the Dead was so much better was because George A. Romero worked largely outside of the studio system; he was independent, didn't use a lot of big stars and yet his movies kicked arse; the original Dawn of the Dead had a insight into human nature and materialism and captured a sense of dread and uneasiness as we watch a breakdown of the fabric of society - this remake just isn't as good, isn't as insightful; it seems trite in comparison. This remake is uneven in tone, never really gets going/the gore doesn't take off/there's crappy slow-motion like when the zombies are being blasted off the caged wire fences in the underground car-park and the action doesn't let rip like in the original; after the first act, it's pretty boring /there were missed opportunities; the original film let rip; this one doesn't. Giving it 5 out of 10 for trying and hey; it's easy to criticise; try making a film.