Day of the Dead: Review By ZombiePhan

I want to begin by clarifying that I wasn't entirely unimpressed by the 2004 remake of the film Dawn of the Dead. Seeing that Vingh Rhames had returned gave me a sliver of hope that this film would be watchable. I quickly realized how naive my optimism was when the film's plot completely deviated from that of the originals'. When I first viewed the film with a friend, I was entirely unconvinced that this was a remake. Correct me if I'm wrong and excuse me for this aside but isn't the idea of a remake to actually "remake" the film? Besides retaining the names of a few key characters, this remake goes out of it's way to avoid Romero's plot. Amid the violent computer generated carnage (which merited the 2 star visual rating) there is actually very little going on. The entire prelude consists of a group of teenagers partying in the woods whilst all the major roads in town are secured by the military, utterly cliche. The film actually hits a few high points when the action turns cannibalistic, though this may have something to do with my soft spot for these scenes. Bashing aside, I understand what the director was trying to achieve. He wanted to fill in the coloring book of George A. Romero's Dead series, the page just before the original Day of the Dead. This is a concept I would have enjoyed. The original film left it a mystery as to how zombies took the planet, and this newer incarnation had a perfect chance to explain that. Unforunately, it fell exceedingly short of my expectations. Rather than rant about the original film and why it is better, I'd like to ask a simple question. If the dead are returning to life, does this film have to come back too?