The Next Gen Zombie - A Paradox?

To be fair I've also got a question about the remaking of the Zombie character. In the past 5 or so years we've seen zombies go from shambling mounds of brain eaters who rove in packs to fast, vicious and even a bit intelligent.

Is this a cop out to make them more interesting because modern writers can't make the George Romero style zombie interesting, or, like "good vampires", perhaps a literary tool to make the character more appealing for a new generation?

The "Good" Vampire - a paradox?