Dawn of the Dead

Entertainment Weekly Lisa Schwarzbaum

Don't leave before the final frame -- if you're still breathing.

Portland Oregonian M. E. Russell

Tense, bloody, funny and smart; lacks original's conscience, but it's still a surprisingly gritty remake.

Washington Post Desson Thomson

The movie has many of the elements that made the first "Dawn" so darkly entertaining.

Empire Chris Hewitt

A welcome surprise, containing more bona fide scares than Romero's vision, while paying grand lip service to the old master. Truly worthy of that famous title.

Los Angeles Times Manohla Dargis

Good zombie fun, the remake of George A. Romero's Dawn of the Dead is the best proof in ages that cannibalizing old material sometimes works fiendishly well.

Washington Post Michael O'Sullivan

Yes, it's essentially a remake of a sequel, albeit a sequel that happens to be one of the greatest horror movies ever made, but it more than surpasses the original.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer Sean Axmaker

Romero's satire is largely replaced by a sardonic gallows humor (the zombie-shooting contest is as funny as it is grotesque), but otherwise it's a bloody entertaining zombie apocalypse.

New York Daily News Jami Bernard

There was no burning need for a remake, but this one is respectful of its predecessor. It incorporates the technology and acquisitiveness of the intervening quarter century since Romero's vision. It even features a metrosexual, something unheard of in 1978.

San Francisco Chronicle Mick LaSalle

It's silly, witty and good-natured, not scary so much as icky, and not horrifying or horrible but consistently amusing.

Miami Herald Rene Rodriguez

Faster, leaner and more compact than the original. Dumber, too, but that's almost always the case with remakes.

Philadelphia Inquirer David Hiltbrand

This film plays out like one of those trigger-happy video games -- it's all cranial splatter. Word to the squeamish: Dawn of the Dead merits a very hard R rating. The depictions of violence are exceedingly graphic.

Chicago Sun-Times Roger Ebert

My only complaint is that its plot flatlines compared to the 1979 version, which was trickier, wittier and smarter. Romero was not above finding parallels between zombies and mall shoppers.

ReelViews James Berardinelli

Calling this version of Dawn of the Dead a remake is applying a misnomer. It's more of a re-imagination.

Premiere Aaron Hillis

An amply entertaining tale of survival terror, fully realizing the epicness of Romero's vision by infecting every wide-angled overhead shot with as many computer-generated cadavers as possible, and bridging tense moments with a laugh-aloud, plucky wit.

Baltimore Sun Chris Kaltenbach

Dawn of the Dead may depict the end of the world as we know it, but rarely has watching doom proved such a kick.

Film Threat Jim Agnew

First time director Zack Snyder has done an amazing job of creating a sense of doom and dread while sprinkling it with some wicked humor and amazing music.

Austin Chronicle Marc Savlov

Snyder’s film isn't likely to be considered a classic 20 years down the road like Romero's film is, but it's a winningly extreme episode in the ongoing adventures of Zombie and Harriet. (And stick around while the end credits roll: The film isn't over 'til it's over.)

USA Today Mike Clark

Overall, this Dead is zippier than 1995's retake on "Village of the Damned" and somewhat less junky than the recent remake of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre."

Village Voice Michael Atkinson

It is, like most, an unnecessary remake, but the new, digitally boosted Dawn of the Dead brings it on with a 10-minute overture that might be the most upsetting tin-can apocalypse modern movies have ever seen.

Dallas Observer Gregory Weinkauf

Sensational yet sadly unsatisfying.

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

The movie is weak on attempts at survivalist philosophy (anyone bit by a zombie is likely to become one). Even the religious overtones feel tinny and unpronounced.

Chicago Reader Jonathan Rosenbaum

The new version has its share of disturbing moments, but writer James Gunn and director Zack Snyder have stripped away the social satire of the original and put little in its place.

Charlotte Observer Lawrence Toppman

The new Dawn of the Dead moves along with speed and slick visual style, but it's soulless and anonymous as -- well, a shopping mall.

The Hollywood Reporter Michael Rechtshaffen

When there's a whole mess of zombie killing to be done, who cares about reflective writing or that time-wasting element of suspense?

Variety Scott Foundas

More palatable than "Texas," Dawn also seems even less necessary, given how effectively the original was reworked last year in Danny Boyle's "28 Days Later."

The Globe and Mail (Toronto) Rick Groen

This time the script makes scant metaphoric use of the mall. In fact, metaphors are generally in short supply here. Scares too.

Christian Science Monitor David Sterritt

Horror buffs will find plenty of split-second suspense and in-your-face carnage, while others will scramble for the exit as quickly as the characters race away from their apocalyptic foes.

TV Guide Maitland McDonagh

A buzzed-up gloss on the original, it's entertaining -- if fundamentally shallow.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

It's mindless entertainment, so take it or leave it.

Chicago Tribune Michael Wilmington

Despite a big budget, lots of technical flair and a good cast headed by Sarah Polley and Ving Rhames, it's mostly a bloody mess.

The New York Times A.O. Scott

The eventual video game is bound to be a lot more fun -- and less slowed down by bad dialogue -- than this "Dead."

The Onion (A.V. Club) Scott Tobias

Swarming with zombies on both sides of the camera, the film is unrelentingly relentless, leaving no room for original director George Romero's wry satire on consumerism or his slow-paced, creeping undead.