Coventry Review of 28 Days Later

28 Days Later (2002)

Uneven horror film, but with occasional flashes of sheer brilliance

[5/10 · 3 February 2005]

Back in good old Great Britain, Danny Boyle proves that he's still a gifted filmmaker even though his short Hollywood career wasn't as fruitful as initially hoped for. The opening sequences of this "28 Days Later…" are downright astonishing and – for a moment – you suspect that you're about to watch to most brilliant horror film in a long, long time. Especially the already classic sequence in which Jim (Cillian Murphy) wanders through the entirely deserted streets of the otherwise so lively and crowded London, guided by disturbing music, is efficiently creepy. The plot centers on an extremely aggressive virus that turns people into blood-crazed maniacs. It's only 28 days since the virus was unleashed and the entire population is wiped away already, while a few lonely survivors desperately prepare for the total apocalypse. Jim is one of them, as he just awoke from a coma, completely unaware of the vile events that took place the past 28 days… Even though the story isn't very original (Romero's "The Crazies" come to mind as well as "Last Man on Earth" and "The Omega Man"), Danny Boyle succeeds in portraying a gripping mix of drama, action, suspense and – oh yes – gore! Now, I really wished I could end my user comment here and conclude that "28 Days Later…" was a simply great new horror film but unfortunately the script takes a complete U-turn halfway and becomes a repetitive lesson in which Boyle and writer Alex Garland try to convince us that mankind still remains the biggest threat of all. The last survivors end up at a military post where their lives are even in bigger danger. The tension and carefully built up atmosphere disappears and is replaced by tedious macho speeches and gratuitous brutality. The acting performances in this film aren't very spectacular but that's understandable considering most cast-members are debuting here. The fact that this project was entirely filmed with digital cameras might be a nice trivia element, but I'm not too keen on this type of cinematography. Overall, Boyle's film is worthy viewing for horror fans but experienced fanatics won't be too impressed.