There's a lot more to helmer Zack Snyder's "re-envisaging" of George A Romero's 1978 classic than rapid zombies. The basic plot remains the same: the walking undead inherit the earth, a small group of survivors hole up in a shopping mall. Beyond that, however, it's change, change, change, some of it expected (polished visuals, kinetic set-pieces), some of it surprising (all-new characters, lots of chainsaws!).
Good job, too. No point in xeroxing a perfect movie after all, so why not feather in additional plot strands and extra protagonists? And who says zombie infection shouldn't be instantaneous, our savage, sallow ghouls multiplying at the snap of a jaw? The results aren't perfect but they are fun, the power-shower gore and gloriously sick humour aimed at a commendably earnest cast (Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Mekhi Phifer).
So forgive the blasts of nu-metal. Forget the blunted satire. And allow for the obligatory, they-have-our-blessing cameos. This, as Snyder puts it, is Dawn Of The Dead on "steroids". And it's a blast.
