Short version: I had fun.

Rating: Null/10 (19 March 2004)

Long version: (no spoilers...I double checked)
I am more annoyed at the theatre company for bringing up the house lights over the credits (stay, by the way) than I am at the movie executives who greenlighted this project who had all "made the list" when I heard this mulligan was being filmed.
While I hope that Romero, Savini and all the other original cast members who made cameos were well paid for their time, I have to say that the new group of beseiged castaways did an okay job of making the idea of being holed up in a shopping mall surrounded by the flesh eating undead their own.
Okay...I still have a problem with the 28 Days Later style of agile and quick moving zombies. I am a traditionalist. But it was obvious that a significant portion of of screen writer James Gunn's misspent youth involved an immersion in the classics of the genre, and a whole lot of video games. So the material is treated with reverence, respect, pathos, and the right amount of jet black humour to ensure that I did not feel violated, or even cheated out of my money. (Except for the house lights thing which REALLY annoyed me!)
The movie is quite artfully crafted and filled with visual allusions to the entire original trilogy. The gore is pervasive and squishy without being overwhelming or too comical, and your first calls about who lives and who dies are probably going to be right on the money.
There are no suprises here, and it breaks no new ground in the genre, but the individual elements combine well to create an overall satisfying zombie stomp.