History YMMV / DawnOfTheDead2004

* DamselScrappy: Nicole, whose stupidity forces them to prematurely flee from the safety of the mall (though Steve shares equal blame). [[spoiler: Unlike Steve however, she survives right to the end.]]
** Also worth noting that Steve is ''meant'' to be a LoveToHate JerkWithAHeartOfJerk. Him being a stupid, selfish asshole fits. On the other hand, Nicole is meant to be one of the likeable characters, so her poor decision making is a lot more infuriating.

** Seeing Creator/LindyBooth as a sweet DistressedDamsel becomes rather amusing as she'd eventually get typecast into playing murderers. Likewise she ends up trapped in a gun shop, which makes it hard not to think of ''Film/CryWolf'' where [[spoiler: she plants a gun to frame someone for murder and then fools everyone with her NiceGirl façade]].

*** To make it worse, at least in case of Monica WordOfGod confirmed she had much larger part in the plot during initial filming, but most of it was either re-shot or outright cut, reducing her to a nameless extra.
** Some people wish the zombie baby had been kept alive longer to explore whether it was dangerous and provide more insight into the nature of the virus.

** Both [[Creator/ZackSnyder the director]] and [[Creator/JamesGunn the writer]] would go on to [[Film/{{Watchmen}} direct]] [[Film/ManOfSteel some]] [[Film/{{Super}} Super]] [[Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice Hero]] [[Film/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy films]].

** [[https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7BcYptxLIYs The Hangman’s Song]], which plays during the ATeamMontage, is morbidly epic.

* IdiotPlot:
** A large chunk of plot happens, because the characters keep passing the IdiotBall around, despite knowing how dire and serious their situation is. This covers both for Nicole and Steve, but also Kenneth and rest of the group[[note]]They never informed Andy about how dangerous bites are, despite nothing ever stopped them for passing the vital information to him, also nobody bothered to check on Luda, despite Andres' sketchy behaviour.[[/note]].
** This being a remake to [[Film/DawnOfTheDead1978 Romero's original]], characters by default aren't allowed to use tools on their disposal or act in fully logical fashion, instead getting excessively emotional and/or irrational under the circumstances. While there are obvious signs of competence and thinking straight (the opening, early time in the mall, etc.), most of the time the plot only can progress further when characters do something really stupid with no guarantee of success. The most prominent example is the whole third act dedicated to "escaping" the mall - a perfectly safe and sound location traded away for... a promise of safe and sound location that might not even exist. And the best part? [[BetterThanABareBulb The script is]] ''[[BetterThanABareBulb aware]]'' [[BetterThanABareBulb of it]], providing the LetMeGetThisStraight monologue by C.J.

* SpecialEffectsFailure:

* VindicatedByHistory: While the movie made a good profit and fared decently with most critics, it was also seen as another example of a mediocre remake that changed too much to satisfy a modern audiences in the eyes of fans of the original. As time passed, however, it’s been re-evaluated as a solid remake in its own right, often compared to other horror remakes such as ''Film/TheThing1982'' and ''Film/Suspiria2018'' in how it tells a different story with updated {{central theme}}s while using the original movie's framework, rather than simply re-telling the same story with a SettingUpdate and inevitably forcing comparisons to the 1978 classic. Nowadays, it’s recognized as one of the better movie remakes.

* VindicatedByHistory: While the movie made a good profit and fared decently with most critics, it was also seen as another example of a mediocre remake that changed too much to satisfy a modern audiences in the eyes of fans of the original. As time passed, however, it’s been re-evaluated as a solid remake in its own right, often compared to other horror remakes such as ''Film/TheThing1982'' and ''Film/Suspiria2018'' in how it tells a different story with updated {{central theme}}s while using the original movie's framework, rather than simply re-telling the same story with a SettingUpdate and inevitably forcing comparisons to the 1979 classic. Nowadays, it’s recognized as one of the better movie remakes.

** In the DVD commentary, director Zack Snyder cheerfully points out a specific example- when they cobbled together the overhead shot of Ana's neighborhood via CGI, they failed to give some of the houses any street access.

* WhatAnIdiot: Norma finds that [[spoiler:Luda died in childbirth and turned into a zombie]], but Andre [[spoiler:tied her up]] and is holding his baby daughter, in denial ''and armed''.
->'''You'd Expect''' Norma to drop her gun, sympathize with the man (or pretend to), and try to reason with Andre until he comes to his senses.
->'''Instead''' Norma [[spoiler:shoots Luda, Andre shoots Norma, and Norma shoots Andre before she dies. The group loses three members in minutes and only one of them to zombies.]]

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Monica (who doesn't even get named until the end credits) and Tucker get less screen time, plot relevance, and CharacterDevelopment than their fellow survivors from the truck, even though many fans like them far better than Nicole, Steve, Norma, and Glen. [[spoiler:Monica's]] pathetic and random death scene doesn't help.
** To make it worse, at least in case of Monica WordOfGod confirmed she had much larger part in the plot during initial filming, but most of it was either re-shot or outright cut, reducing her to a nameless extra.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Monica (who doesn't even get named until the end credits) and Tucker get less screen time, plot relevance, and CharacterDevelopment than their fellow survivors from the truck, even though many fans like them far better than Nicole, Steve, Norma, and Glen. [[spoiler:Monica's]] pathetic and random death scene doesn't help.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: C.J. and Kenneth.

** The use of Johnny Cash's "The Man Comes Around" over the title credits and Jim Carroll's "People Who Died" over the end credits.

* VindicatedByHistory: While the movie made a good profit and fared decently with most critics, it was also seen as another example of a mediocre remake that changed too much to satisfy a modern audiences in the eyes of fans of the original. As time passed, however, it’s been re-evaluated as a solid remake in its own right, often compared to other horror remakes such as ''Film/TheThing1982'' and ''Film/Suspiria2018'' in how it tells a different story with updated {{central theme}}s while using the original movie's framework, rather than simply re-telling the same story with a SettingUpdate. Nowadays it’s seen as one of the better remakes ever made.

* TooCoolToLive: During the finale [[spoiler: C.J. pulls a HeroicSacrifice and Michael opts to blow his head off rather than succumb to infection]]. Possibly also [[spoiler: Kenneth]], given the ambigious ending, [[spoiler: Andy also counts, being a crack shot with a sniper rifle, and seems to bond with Kenneth over their signboard converations,sadly, due to the attempt at getting him food, he gets infected and turns, leaving Kenneth to pull a BoomHeadshot on him.]]

* AlasPoorScrappy: Bart generally comes off as an unlikable putz for most of his screentime, but it's hard not to feel sorry for him when we see his utter horror at realizing he's been bitten and hear his pitiful begging for C.J. not to leave him behind while zombies close in on him.

* VindicatedByHistory: While the movie made a good profit and fared decently with most critics, it was also seen as another example of a mediocre remake that changed too much to satisfy a modern audiences in the eyes of fans of the original. As time passed, however, it’s been re-evaluated as a solid remake in its own right, often compared to other horror remakes such as ''Film/TheThing1982'' and ''Film/Suspiria2018'' in how it tells a different story while using the original movie's framework, rather than simply re-telling the same story with a SettingUpdate. Nowadays it’s seen as one of the better remakes.

* {{Misblamed}}: Nicole gets a lot of hate for her reckless behaviour. However, right after binoculars are taken away from her by Kenneth, he looks at the entrance to Andy's shop and in panicked tone informs "They've got ''him''". Kenneth meant Andy. Nicole assumed Chips. The rest is history.
** Moreover, despite some reviewers alleging that all the deaths in the latter part of the film are due to her actions, in truth only Tucker's death can be reasonably placed on her shoulders. Everything after that (the buses driving through the horde, the frantic drive to the marina and escape on the boat, etc.) was stuff they were planning to do anyway. Even taking Nicole's actions into account, everyone except Tucker would have safely gotten away on the boat if not for Glen's screw-up with the chainsaw on the bus (and by extent, Michael for suggesting the foolish idea of using chainsaws as weapons on a moving bus).

* TooCoolToLive: During the finale [[spoiler: C.J. pulls a HeroicSacrifice and Michael opts to blow his head off rather than succumb to infection]]. Possibly also [[spoiler: Kenneth]], given the ambigious ending, [[spoiler: Andy also counts, being a CrackShot with a sniper rifle, and seems to bond with Kenneth over their signboard converations,sadly, due to the attempt at getting him food, he gets infected and turns, leaving Kenneth to pull a BoomHeadshot on him.]]

* TooCoolToLive: During the finale [[spoiler: C.J. pulls a HeroicSacrifice and Michael opts to blow his head off rather than succumb to infection]]. Possibly also [[spoiler: Kenneth]], given the ambigious ending.

* OneSceneWonder: Matt Frewer and his character's early death scene.

* VindicatedByHistory: While the movie made a good profit and fared decently with most critics, it was also seen as another example of a mediocre remake that changed too much to satisfy a modern audiences in the eyes of fans of the original. As time passed, however, it’s been re-evaluated as a solid remake in its own right, often compared to other horror remakes such as ''Film/TheThing1982'' and ''Film/Suspiria2018'' in how it tells a different story while using the original movie's framework. Nowadays it’s seen as one of the better remakes.

* VindicatedByHistory: While the movie made a good profit and fared decently with most critics, it was also seen as another example of a mediocre remake that changed too much to satisfy a modern audiences. As time passed, however, it’s been re-evaluated as a solid remake in its own right, often compared to other horror remakes like ''Film/TheThing1982'' and ''Film/Suspiria2018'' in how that tell another story while using the original movie's framework. Nowadays it’s seen as one of the better remakes.

* VindicatedByHistory: While the movie made a good profit and fared decently with most critics, it holds up even better in retrospect for being, much like ''Film/TheThing1982'' and ''Film/Suspiria2018'', a fine example of how to properly remake a horror film (i.e. telling another story, using the original movie's framework).