| Posted by: Puck Bond at July 7, 2003, 2:03 pm | | Topic: Reviews: 28 Days Later Forum: JoBlo | | 28 Days Later...is a smart, thoughtful and absolutely thrilling zombie/horror film from writer/director Danny Boyle(Trainspotting(1996)-9/10). I wouldn't say I'm a hardcore fan of these type of movies, but based on early buzz and the previews I was really looking forward to this film. It's certainly one of the best of the year so far and the best film of its kind since the Evil Dead films and even the 1968 George Romero zombie classic Night of the Living Dead(1968)-9/10. The story starts off in an experimental lab where we see rabid monkeys infected with some sort of virus...they call it "rage". Three activists try to free the monkeys not knowing of their condition and one of them gets bitten and the monkeys are set loose. We then flash forward 28 days later and see a single man called Jim(Cillian Murphy) waking up on a hospital bed...he wakes to find the hospital completely deserted...he goes outside and finds the entire city of London a ghost town. This is just an awesome site...a solitary man in orderly clothes walking around the empty streets of London...its accompanied by great music...and the entire score of this film is just great too. As scary visions and settings go this is one of the best....waking up to an empty city, not knowing the cause is truly frightening...just brilliant. Jim eventually finds people...a couple of survivors one named Selena(the very good Naomie Harris) and a guy called Mark. They help Jim escape a rabid band of people who have been infected...and they bring him up to speed on the situation. Most of the entire population has been wiped out by this virus...people are killing people...and it has apparently covered the whole of the U.K. beyond that we don't quite know...The media is wiped out, there is no electricty or water etc. food and water are scarce. Later on they meet up with a father and his young daughter. Frank played by the always good Brendan Gleeson and his daughter Hannah played by Megan Burns. The small band get wind of a radio broadcast from up north by Manchester...it seems a small group of military soldiers grounded at a mansion have found a cure and this gives Jim and company hope. The first half of this film is absolutely brilliant...I was mesmerized from the beginning and it had me on the edge of my seat. The second half of the film is a bit of a letdown...it kind of deteriorates into the usal type of zombie flick...and the end well seems a bit too easy. It still doesn't take away from the fact that this is a very good film...it's not just a zombie gorefest which I very much appreciated...there are interesting issues explored here, like international quarantines and survival of the species and what people are willing to do to survive. Overall, 28 Days Later is a remarkable little film about a small band of people trying to survive a horrific virus that has wiped out a nation. The direction is great, obscure, gritty, off-putting...creating an eerie atmosphere of suspense and impending doom. The cast of unknown actors are universally good. The first half is absolutely brilliant...the second half seems to go astray, but that doesn't discount the fact that this is an excellent film and one of the best of the year so far. Go see it...this film is INFECTIOUS. |
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