Given the greatness of George Romero’s 1978 independently made classic—in which cannibal zombies besiege a shopping mall where a clutch of still-human survivors is making its last stand—I feared what a studio remake of this apocalyptic thriller would be like. 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. Sometimes the film seems a commentary on the ease with which humanity slips into barbarism, at other times a slip into barbarism itself. But if you leave when the end credits begin, you’ll miss further plot developments. With Sarah Polley, Ving Rhames, Jake Weber, and Mekhi Phifer. R, 90 min.
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