Make no mistake, this film and its makers ACTUALLY claim that this is a remake based on George Romero's third entry in the Zombie Apocalypse/Social commentary films that have defined his career. They would've been perfectly legitimized in just lying and saying that using the title was a marketing decision to lure unsuspecting viewers in, though. But.... This film followed the release of Zack Snyder's punchy "Dawn of the Dead" remake (Which honestly misses Romero's social criticisms to a degree too, but they're at least stated in that film). Romero zombie films serve not only as horror, but usually have a message that is almost impossible to miss through either blatant symbolism or dialogue. The original "Day of the Dead", while often seen as the lesser of the initial 3 Zombie films, nonetheless highlighted how the Zombies succeed because even they have more competence towards putting aside differences and working together than the surviving humans. "Day" literally insists it's a remake beyond its makers' claims by restaging several key scenes and casting Ving Rhames as a military officer. (Rhames had played a character in Snyder's film who even spoke of having a brother that was at a military base - It was easy to misunderstand or speculate this film as that character's story) But really, "Day of the Dead" is perhaps the easiest film on this list to criticize because Romero's intent of using horror tropes to encourage examinations of human behaviour is COMPLETELY absent. This is a dumb, straightforward horror film. It has no ambition beyond showing zombie violence and cutting down its human cast in its wake until the credits roll. It's so one-dimensional and linear that you could retell the film with photos, simply captioning each with "Then this happens." Critics of Romero often find his messages ham-fisted. At least there's something there amidst all the brain-chasing though. Not here. ARGH: Rhames' character is actually dispatched early in "Day of the Dead". In other movies, this would've been an unexpected, brave turn of events but here it galls because 1. It's obvious that they probably couldn't afford any more Rhames than they already had and 2. It promotes Mena Suvari to the fore as primary military officer and identification figure. Yeah, you read that right. IRREPLACEABLE ELEMENT: The original "Day of the Dead" was the weakest in its film series to that point but wisely played to the strengths that Romero always imbued them with - Strong character interractions and conflicts, a social commentary that happened to use zombies, and gory payoffs. This film blows all three and had MORE of a budget than the original, ironically enough.
In a parallel universe where game shows' final jackpots and consequent fortunes depend on knowledge of obscure music trivia and Jon Pertwee/Tom Baker Doctor Who episodes, I've probably gone rich, insane, and am now a powermad despot. But happily we're not there, so I'm actually rather pleasant. Really.
