Review of Dawn of the Dead (2004) by Atthemovies — 28 Jun 2011

In order to judge this movie, you must look at it in two ways. First, since it is billed as a remake of the original, and not a re-imagining, one must look at how it holds up to the original. The original is, by far better then this.

The remake lacks the overarching criticism of consumerism that the original had. The remake specials effects are obviously better, but that is a given. The original is scarier in the traditional sense.

The remake is almost more of a thriller. Many plot points are not carried over into the remake. Both versions deliver what you want, a great zombie movie with lots of zombies kills and suspense. So, when compared to the original, it scores around a 6.

5. However, when looking at the film in it's on right, if you saw this before the original, it is much better. The special effects as mentioned are very good. There is a large cast of characters, so there are lots of main character deaths.

We seem to be left with only the characters we pity at the end, which is good. When not compared with the original, the plot is refreshing. There are plenty of suspenseful sequences, and a great introduction to what the world has come to through the eyes of the main character.

No zombie movie is complete without a great introduction to the zombie ridden world. The remake triumphs the original in that sense, since we already knew what happened in the original, based on events in Night of the Living Dead.

The film also does a good job of making the mall seem real, by creating a lot of fake, yet believable brands. So, in it's own right, without looking at the original, the remake of Dawn of the Dead would get an 8.

75. So, when averaged with the score of a 6.5 when compared with the original, the remake of Dawn of the Dead would get a 7.625. That rounds up to an 8, which is my score for the remake. That is of course compared to the 10 that I would give the original.