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MOVIE REVIEW
28 Days Later
(2003)
Starring:
Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleeson
Director:
Danny Boyle
Rating: R
Studio:
Fox Searchlight
Release Date: 6.27.03
Review
Posted: 7.01.03
Spoilers:
None
By
Jon Bjorling
"The End is Really Fucking Nigh"
What would you do if you awoke to find the streets of your city
empty? What would you do if the first human being you see
attacks you like an animal? This is the world that Jim, the main
character of 28 Days Later, awakens to. While the world
went mad he was in a coma and had been locked inside a hospital
room. Now he is awake, and uncertain of what he should do. As he
searches for people who can tell him what's going on, he runs
into some of the infected. With the assistance of a few
survivors, he begins a trek that eventually leads him to the
door of a group of renegade military officers, who may not be
fully trustworthy.
The film is shot on DV and shows why Digital Video will never
replace film. The comment is not to say that the film looks bad,
but the digital graininess of DV is apparent on the screen. This
is a low budget film and it shows. And that's okay. It gives the
film a sort of documentary feel, which adds a bit of realism to
the world. The acting is very good and I believed that many of
these characters had survived the 28 days of horror. The
cinematography is good, but during the attacks, the camera
movements are a little too chaotic and confuse the situation a
little more than necessary.
The film suffers in one key area and that is its ending. Some
could complain about the big shootout that takes place. That's
not my problem. My problem with the ending is a twofer: 1) Boyle
isn't willing to kill all his characters (which is something
that a zombie film should exploit - the fact that ANYONE could
be next) and 2) the ending is too Hollywood and happy. I'm not
against the idea of a happy ending to a zombie film but the film
ends at one point, and then continues on. The false ending would
have been a better one for it leaves the audience questioning
the world outside of England. Had the whole world been infected
or was England the only one? Sadly, we are spoon-fed this
answer.
The film combines elements from many of the zombie films of
times past. The two biggest influences on this film are The
Omega Man and Day of the Dead. You can see Omega
Man in the nocturnal activities of the zombies as well as
the (more than usual) organization of the zombies. The
influences of Day of the Dead come with the military unit
and their "test subject." The influences are never hinted at,
which is good in an age of self referencing horror
films. However, one must wonder, has any one in a zombie movie
ever seen a zombie movie?
Rating: 8 out of 10
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