While not technically a zombie flick, it contains enough elements to be
superficially classed as one, and a mostly decent one at that, with only a
weak third act spoiling the overall impression. It manages to tip its hat
to the genre greats of Romero while adding enough of a spin of its own to
make it stand out. That spin comes in the shape of the monsters themselves
who, being virally mutated as opposed to the living dead, have a trick up
their sleeves - they can run. While this may not sound like an earth
shattering skill to possess, it gives them a distinct advantage over
traditional zombies from which, if people in horror movies had any sense
(which they never do) they would just have run away. Now though, the
bastards can catch you.
The source of the mutation is a research centre where activists intent on
freeing laboratory chimps unwittingly release a vicious plague. Cut to 28
days later and Jim waking up in a hospital bed. As he wanders the empty
corridors 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 a
deserted Times Square? Picture that image extended to the whole of London
and you'll get an idea of how stunning these shots are.
He gradually learns of the events of the previous four weeks, as the
infected quickly multiplied and the cities were evacuated. He meets another
survivor, Selena, who warns him of the dangers they face, plus Frank and
his teenage daughter, Hannah. Together they travel north in search of an
army base they received a signal from, all the time trying to stay well out
of the reach of the monsters (as Moe said in the classic Treehouse of
Horror episode The Homega Man, "We don't like the word 'mutants' Homer. We
prefer 'freaks'.")
For the first hour or so, 28 Days Later truly is the stuff of waking
nightmares. The infected represent a genuinely scary threat and there's
enough splattery action to keep hard core horror fans happy. There are also
some remarkably poignant and mournful moments as the palpable sense of
desolation, desperation and isolation seeps through. It's a vision of
apocalypse that, in terms of tone, shares much with
Reign of Fire.
Unfortunately it all begins to fall apart in the last half hour when events
take an unexpected but feasible and equally disturbing turn, although the
action is upped considerably to compensate. With the addition of a
misjudged ending, it's a slightly wasted opportunity.
In terms of acting, Murphy impresses in the main role. I'd seen him
previously in a couple of Irish films where he'd played mentally unstable
characters, 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 of
disbelief and rage. Another Irishman, Gleeson, an underused actor, offers
solid support, but the best stuff comes from Eccleston, all public school
manners and suppressed menace.
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
