It's better than the original because it's faster, better paced and doesn't have any 'consumer society' nonsense in it.

Rating: 8/10 (2 September 2007)

It's a reworking of a 1970s, George A. Romero cult classic and its premise is a load of people in a mall with zombies trying to get them: sounds like a recipe for disaster, right? Wrong because Dawn of the Dead (2004) is anything but.
I think I was one of the few people who liked this film so much, it actually made me want to dislike the original even more. I'd seen the 1978 version twice before this one and now I've seen this one twice, I can safely say that it is better. Romero's original is sort of weak and how it managed to gain its cult status is a little beyond me. Its premise of: 'stuck in a mall with zombies all around you  what do you do?' still works in this version but Romero's sloppy direction, sloppy editing, poor script and lack of a star cast to give it good acting are four reasons why I didn't take to it. Maybe people like it in the same vein people like 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' (1959) but are too fickle to admit that Dawn of the Dead is a cult film because it's so bad.
This reboot rights some wrongs and at the same time tells a story in a quick, pleasing, bloody and suspenseful way which makes it so enjoyable. The set up is focuses on speed more than anything as ignoring some plot details yet adding in a few of its own. We don't know where the disease that turns people into zombies comes from and we don't really know an awful lot about Ana (Polley) our protagonist apart from the fact she's a nurse and has maybe a husband or boyfriend that is removed almost as quickly as he is introduced. In fact, the film is so fast in its set up that the little girl that Ana has two confrontations with (the first being outside and all friendly, the second being quite the opposite) I mistook as her daughter.
What Dawn of the Dead does that keeps it eerie and entertaining is that it mixes up several elements to keep it going. We are given the customary group of survivors of different ethnical race, age and social background and then given some more when they get to the mall in the form of security guards and then some more the next day in the form of even more survivors who have made their way to the mall. All these people add up to good zombie fodder for when the time comes but Dawn of the Dead doesn't just do it in an immature and guilty way because it retains sensibility of its situation and incorporates well set up and suspenseful action scenes as well as including gore, humour, action and feint romance whenever necessary. Not only does it get the basics right but it spaces them nicely. We never get overloaded with gore or manic gunfire; we are also spared the numerous shots of zombies on the outside looking in through windows or extensive shots of shop fronts as zombies trudge past them like we weren't spared in the original. The reboot also adds in running zombies and even child zombies which act as an interesting spin on zombies on a whole (the running part obviously inspired by 28 Days Later).
Whatever faults the film does have often are there to invoke tension or push forward the plot. No, I don't think the dog could have been that intelligent and yes, I feel the zombies would've gone for it  no, I couldn't believe the intelligence of Nicole when she puts herself at unbelievable risk just to save the dog and I was also confused over the fact Ana shows no emotion or sadness towards her partner from the first ten minutes.
I feel the running zombies are not just mere copies from 28 Days Later but signify a deeper meaning: where the 1978 version of this film's zombies trudge and moan  this version's run and scream. The remake, just like its zombies; is faster, louder and better.