28 Days Later

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Summary:
Activists try to bust loose chimpanzees being tested at a facility. Problem is, they're infected with a highly contagious disease of pure rage. The UK is destroyed with an entire population of rage-infected running zombie-types. 28 days later, Jim awakes from a coma and bands with others in hopes of surviving the wasteland.

Review:
Can't say I'm much of a fan of most of Boyle's work. It's abound with bad editing and painfully pretentious bullshit. To my surprise, 28 Days Later rocked my world! Filmed with digital cameras, it has the wasted and worn out look of the world these people reside in. Most digital filmed movies until the last couple of years almost always look like shit. As if some amateur doesn't know how to do proper lighting is running around filming low budget bullshit with a camcorder. Drives me nuts, because digital film is a great medium now, and can look BETTER than film, but somehow gets used improperly. For this movie, it actually works.
Another big bonus in this movie's favor is the laid back, meloncholy score. It kind of just ambles along quietly, slowly gaining momentum, but never overbearing. It compliments the onscreen events, and doesn't try to take a front scene to the story. Without the loud bursts of percussion and strings during startle scenes, the movie has to work harder at scaring the audience with tension. I have to say that for the first half of this movie, I was wound pretty tight - in the words of Frank-N-Furter - like an E or first string! Seeing the post devestation and emptiness of the streets of London along with Jim, and catching the first glimpses and onslaught of the rage infected gives a sense of impending doom. The problem is, the doom is withheld for a considerable amount of time. When the shit hits the fan, it splatters all over the fucking place! Even after that initial rage attack, there is still plenty of worry over who's gonna get it next, even when Jim and crew head to his house to see his parents. You never know when you're truly able to relax.
Cillian Murphy and Naomi Harris carry most of the burdens of the cast, and performed admirably. Naomi Harris is SUCH a hottie - even in her Pirates of the Caribbean witch makeup! Scrumptousness! For the ladies, I'm sure they can fall deep into Murphy's blue eyes, as still and soft as a gentle pond. There are others who are part of the main troupe, but these two become the focal point of the plot developments. Amidst the devestation and chaos, there are times when the movie slows down and allows some calm reflection. I especially dug the child-like kiss that Selena gave Jim during one of these reflective moments. Even though they have been through hell, she can still retain a bit of humanity and innocence.

I'll talk a bit about this zombie movie. Yes, I consider it a zombie movie. There is endless complaint and insistence about this NOT being a zombie movie because they run, don't walk, and they don't eat human flesh. They are "rage infected", not ZOMBIES. Well, uhm... it's a new take on the zombie genre! It doesn't follow the rules of George Romero's zombies, but Romero himself didn't create the zombie movie. 28 Days Later doesn't proclaim itself a zombie movie. That's fine, but it essentially IS. They aren't ROMERO's zombies, but if you don't want to call these rage infected victims zombies, more power to ya. Maybe they don't eat flesh, but they are automatons. You think what you want to think, and I'll have my opinion. It's like saying an electric guitar isn't a guitar because it's not acoustic. There are a handful of other zombie movies in which there was running before this one. Return of the Living Dead and Nightmare City come to mind. Regardless, call them "The Infected", that works too. It's not the same zombies as Romero's iconic rule setting, but eh... apples and oranges.

Back to the movie... I found that the more I've watched this over the years (about once a year), I came to like it more each time. The first time around, it was definetely pretty damned good, but upon more viewings, I took the pacing better. It gets slow in some parts, and it's a fairly quiet movie most of the time. I like that now, though. Moreso than the first time around. Also, the last third brings a complete turnaround from just evasive run-and-hide moments and goes into a completely different kind of tone. I actually loved this turnaround, even though there are a few implausibilities. I can't go too far into it, because that would spoil the movie. The cast regulars meet a new batch of humans who have a different outtake on their predicament. It brings up the ever-cheap question of who's the real "monster" in this world. Throwing that aside, I really enjoyed one of the final kills, complete with eye poking grandeour. That is truly ANIMAL!! Yes!!

28 Days Later has proven to be inspirational in other horror movies, with Dawn of the Dead being remade with running zombies (to some of Romero's disgust, then admitted overall acceptance to the movie). 28 Days Later is kind of in a class of its own. I don't recall a post-apocalyptic movie with this kind of flavor, and with the directions it took. Even though this movie isn't pure originality, I give massive credit for taking an oft-used premise and flipping things around enough to turn it into something extremely different. The last third can be of contention to many - as well as the insistence of some to call it a zombie movie! - but if horror fans haven't seen it yet, they should because there is bound to be enough goodness to outweigh the less impressive aspects.

GRADE: A-

Reviewed 5/11/07