28 Days Later Movie Review:


Can you remember those sleepless nights you had when you were a child after watching a really intense zombie movie? Perhaps it was "Night of the Living Dead" or "Return of the Living Dead" or "Dawn of the Dead" but each generation has had their own zombie film that broke out and continued to shock horror fans. "28 Days Later" could be that film for this generation.

Thrown into the crowded summer movie season, a little British zombie film called "28 Days Later" follows Jim (Cillian Murphy), a displaced coma patient who wakes up and finds the city of London deserted and no one in sight. Eventually Jim runs into Selena (Naomie Harris) and Mark (Noah Huntley) who seem to be on the run from a mob. Jim learns that a deadly virus has been sweeping through England and that it’s turning the citizens into mindless-homicidal freaks. Eventually the trio meets other survivors but their world will never be the same again.

What makes "28 Days Later" work so well is the realistic angle and vision for the film. We experience everything the main characters feel. From the time Jim wakes up we are as lost as he is. "Trainspotting" director Danny Boyle’s camera work and filming has a rough and raw feel which accents not only the horror but the film’s real raw edge. With such a far-out horror premise it is utterly amazing how real the film feels.

Another thing that is key to making this film work is the cast of relative unknowns. The only recognizable faces are that of Brendan Gleeson and Christopher Eccleston. Gleeson was last seen in "Gangs of New York" and "Dark Blue". Eccleston, on the other hand, has had quite a range of projects from the indie fan-fave "24 Hour Party People" to the Nicolas Cage actioner, "Gone in 60 Seconds".

I really like the no-holds-barred edge of "28 Days Later" and I also found myself cheering for the heroes in this film. In previous zombie films, the filmmakers would often make all the characters except maybe one central figure absolutely despicable. Then you would cheer for the zombies to win in sort of a "Survivor" square-off.

I really hope to see Naomie Harris and Cillian Murphy emerge from this film in other projects. I really liked their performances. Harris displayed such a cold but vulnerable character that has a lot in common with the character of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" in the show’s final seasons. As for Murphy I hope he can learn from Eccleston and have an interesting career of character acting. I think the same of him as I did when I first saw Ewan McGregor in "Trainspotting". I could see Murphy having the same career Ewan would have had without the "Star Wars" prequels.

"28 Days Later" is such a surprise incased in a lacklustre-blockbuster summer movie season. So brush back the tinsel and seek out this little gem.

(4.25 out of 5)

So Says the Soothsayer.

Dean Kish

Danny Boyle’s apocalyptic horror film 28 Days Later was a huge blockbuster last fall in the United Kingdom. The film received acclaim and the UK’s Empire Award for Best British Film. Already out on DVD in the United Kingdom, 28
Days Later is now being released across theaters in the United States.

The film opens with a group of animal rights activists breaking into a research facility to set free experimental chimpanzees. Warned by one of the research scientists that the chimps are infected with a virus known as rage, the
activists still set them free and do not live to tell about it. The film then moves to 28 days later, where a bicycle courier Jim (Cillian Murphy) wakes up in a hospital from a coma. Jim quickly realizes that the hospital is deserted. As he makes his way around London, the streets are empty without a soul in site. Just think of Tom Cruise in the opening sequence of Vanilla Sky, but
more powerful. Jim notices a newspaper that states an evacuation of the city, then he is chased by a few of the "infected." Two survivors named Selena (Naomie Harris) and Mark (Noah Huntley) come to his rescue and explain to him the catastrophe of the virus that has spread throughout the United Kingdom. By
being transmitted by either blood or salvia, the rage virus creates those "infected" into a permanent murderous rage. The "infected" ones have red eyes and move quickly, Boyle actually cast athletes for their quickness to play the
"infected" ones.

Trying to deal with the rational explanations of London’s emptiness, Jim and Selena stumble upon a taxi-driver father named Frank (Gleeson) and his teenage daughter Hannah (Burns). Frank explains that there is no chance of survival except to reach an Army base near Manchester. The location of the base is learned by the group through a radio broadcast. The characters then set out to reach the other survivors, but discover something that none of them expected.

Boyle’s direction in the film is visually stylish, the atmosphere is stunning and the instantaneous attacks of the "infected" are thrilling. Digital
video was used as the composite source, so the film has a grittier look to it. Boyle also places light sources to where the audiences only see what he wants them to see. The "infected" are mostly hidden and when their chaotic attacks
are captured the camera is mostly shaking. Boyle jerks you a few times with some jolting moments, but the scariest moments are when Jim is walking around the deserted streets of London.

Alex Garland, who previously worked with Danny Boyle on the unimpressive film The Beach, wrote the screenplay for 28 Days Later. This is finally a horror film that actually has a good plot. 28 Days Later has some of the same
concepts from Resident Evil, but it is better developed. After the group reaches the military group, additional subplots takeover the story that makes the film longer than it should have been.

Cillian Murphy is convincing as the newly awoken Jim and Naoime Harris is a presence as Selena. The always great Brendan Gleeson turns in another likeable performance as the taxi-driving Frank.

28 Days Later is a gory and flashy horror film about an apocalyptic state. One can not help but compare the film’s "infected" with the zombie movies of director George Romero. Boyle doesn’t let the camera stay on the "infected"
long enough for their red eyes to look too cheesy. The concept of virus leading to the desertion of London is scarier than the actual "infected" beings
themselves.

Grade: B

Joseph Tucker

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