7/19/03

Whether or not I was going to see 28 Days Later was not really a question. A zombie movie done by the director of Trainspotting? That's a no brainer (at least for me). As an added bonus, I discovered after the movie that the screenplay was written by Alex Garland, author of The Beach (which I recently read on my trip, and enjoyed greatly). Even with my expectations, it did not disappoint. Danny Boyle (the director) managed to take a concept that's been done in many ways many times, and make it feel completely new.

The movie centers around Jim, a man who wakes up from a coma to find London seemingly completely empty of all life. There are, unfortunately for him and a few other survivors, plenty of The Infected around. Almost all of the population has been evacuated, killed, or infected with some sort of virus called Rage (the origin is sort of explained in the first scene) which turns them into bloodthirsty zombies (although technically, they're not zombies, cause they're still alive). A cheesy concept yes, but it doesn't bother you one bit because it's so well done. From beginning to end, Boyle creates an atmosphere of incredible tension. Not for one second in the movie does he let you relax. You feel that at no point in the movie are any of the characters safe, and you're always waiting for something to jump out from every corner, even if it never show up.

Cinematically it was great, everything is shot in a grainy manner (apparently Digital Video) that increases the unease without being annoying. The shots of Jim walking around London at the beginning are really well done (not to mention the fact that they managed to film large stretches of London streets without people in daylight). The music made a perfect complement to every scene, increasing the tension some of them, relaxing the pace in others. It used a really good combination of an original score with random unrelated songs thrown in for good measure. The Godspeed You Black Emperor! song used as Jim walks around empty London streets is perfect.

Alex Garland's script worked really well. He had plenty of dialogue with characters philosophizing about what life meant in this post-apocalyptic world, and it didn't come of as cheesy. After reading The Beach and seeing this, I'm beginning to think Garland may have read Lord of the Flies once to many, because he seems to have no faith in humanity once social controls are removed. My only complaint about the script (and really, the whole movie) was that he occasionally had the characters doing some rather stupid things that of course get them into trouble. Usually the stupid things were there as useful plot devices, but it kind of pulled me out of the movie at times. Bad decision making aside, the actors did a really good job with the script. They were all unknowns (at least here in the US, I think many of them are British TV actors), and I really liked that because you didn't have a single familiar face to identify with like you do in most movies. I'm not sure if it qualifies as acting, but the convulsing rage of the Infected were really well done. They wasn't your normal lumbering, slow moving zombies, these guys are fast, violent, and scary as hell.

• IMDB Entry
• The Official Website