Remakes. Or Re-imaginings. Or Reworkings. Or just plain borrowing the name of a legendary movie to get a few more sales. I'm not a fan of any of the above in general, most turn out to be wretched impostors dressed up in the clothes of the master; but, the Dawn of the Dead remake was a solid enough film, I thought that I'd be brave enough to dabble with disappointment here.

You can forget Day of the Dead (1985, George Romero) before we even start. As 'remakes' go, this bears very little relation to it. A few similar character names. Some zombies, and even these are not the slow moving sluggards of Romero's masterpiece, but rather rapid moving beasts like those of 28 Weeks Later or even the recent I Am Legend. And there the similarity to Romero's work ends.

This is a hectic movie, fast paced, missing the depth of the original Day - the main focus is very much on the action as a viral outbreak creates zombies, and a few people struggle to say alive. In other words, very standard zombie fare. It might be done well and look good in most places, it might keep up a cracking pace and deliver plenty of blood and action, but it's not anything new in the zombie arena.

I certainly won't deny that it is entertaining, nor that it delivers a good dose of zombie, blood spattering gore. It comes up trumps on both counts. But, it is nothing more than just an enjoyable zombie romp, it lacks the depth, atmosphere, and sheer bewildering sense of oppression in a zombie dominated world that are there in the '85 movie. If it has any place in the ...dead series then it is perhaps as a prequel to Day, but in my opinion it is not deserving of the name.

Watch by all means, you'll probably enjoy, but it's not a groundbreaking movie, breathtaking retelling, or even a clever reworking, just standard zombie fare with plenty going on to keep interest. Oh, and it wears the name of a movie that is far better and beyond anything this could aspire to.