28 Days Later

Paul Greenwood reviews

28 Days Later

• Cert:
• Running time: 113 minutes
• Year: 2002
• Released: 1st November 2002
• Widescreen Ratio: 1.85:1
• Rating: 7/10

Director:

Danny Boyle

(28 Days Later, The Beach, Shallow Grave, Trainspotting)

Cast:

Jim: Cillian Murphy
Selena: Naomie Harris
Hannah: Megan Burns
Frank: Brendan Gleeson
Mark: Noah Huntley
Major West: Christopher Eccleston
Clifton: Luke Mably
Private Bedford: Ray Panthaki

I shouldn’t be a bit surprised if 28 Days Later gets a title change for its US release.If it doesn’t, I’d really like to be there when the good folksexpecting to see more jaunty Sandra Bullock rehab antics witness itsopening scene where one character vomits blood on another. If there’s onething we don’t see enough of during Sandra Bullock films, it’s peoplevomiting blood on each other (this doesn’t necessarily extend to theaudience, obviously). But I digress. 28 Days Later is the latest releasefrom Danny Boyle, the director who arrived with a bang in the mid ninetieswith Shallow Grave andTrainspotting,but who hasn’t really made a good film since.

While not technically a zombie flick, it contains enough elements to besuperficially classed as one, and a mostly decent one at that, with only aweak third act spoiling the overall impression. It manages to tip its hatto the genre greats of Romero while adding enough of a spin of its own tomake it stand out. That spin comes in the shape of the monsters themselveswho, being virally mutated as opposed to the living dead, have a trick uptheir sleeves – they can run. While this may not sound like an earthshattering skill to possess, it gives them a distinct advantage overtraditional zombies from which, if people in horror movies had any sense(which they never do) they would just have run away. Now though, thebastards can catch you.

The source of the mutation is a research centre where activists intent onfreeing laboratory chimps unwittingly release a vicious plague. Cut to 28days later and Jim waking up in a hospital bed. As he wanders the emptycorridors and heads out on to the street, he sees no sign of life anywhere.Remember the scene in Vanilla Sky where Tom Cruise stands alone in adeserted Times Square? Picture that image extended to the whole of Londonand you’ll get an idea of how stunning these shots are.

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He gradually learns of the events of the previous four weeks, as theinfected quickly multiplied and the cities were evacuated. He meets anothersurvivor, Selena, who warns him of the dangers they face, plus Frank andhis teenage daughter, Hannah. Together they travel north in search of anarmy base they received a signal from, all the time trying to stay well outof the reach of the monsters (as Moe said in the classic Treehouse ofHorror episode The Homega Man, “We don’t like the word ‘mutants’ Homer. Weprefer ‘freaks’.”)

For the first hour or so, 28 Days Later truly is the stuff of wakingnightmares. The infected represent a genuinely scary threat and there’senough splattery action to keep hard core horror fans happy. There are alsosome remarkably poignant and mournful moments as the palpable sense ofdesolation, desperation and isolation seeps through. It’s a vision ofapocalypse that, in terms of tone, shares much withReign of Fire.Unfortunately it all begins to fall apart in the last half hour when eventstake an unexpected but feasible and equally disturbing turn, although theaction is upped considerably to compensate. With the addition of amisjudged ending, it’s a slightly wasted opportunity.

In terms of acting, Murphy impresses in the main role. I’d seen himpreviously in a couple of Irish films where he’d played mentally unstablecharacters, and these roles seem to have been good practice for him here,as he tries to come to terms with the new world order with a mixture ofdisbelief and rage. Another Irishman, Gleeson, an underused actor, offerssolid support, but the best stuff comes from Eccleston, all public schoolmanners and suppressed menace.

Review copyright © Paul Greenwood, 2002.E-mail Paul Greenwood

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