28 Days Later - Horror Movie - Review

karofi (51)in #aaa • 5 years ago

The movie I am going to review today is a horror/ fantasy show that I watched again recently. I am a big fan of horror movies so I thought to share my views about "28 Days Later" a British movie which is written by Alex Garland, directed by Danny Boyle, and starring Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Megan Burns, Brendan Gleeson, and Christopher Eccleston.

The Plot

A bicycle courier Jim wakes up a few weeks after a collision in an abandoned hospital. Not only has the hospital been abandoned, but also, Jim discovers as he stumbles through the streets in disbelief, the rest of London. Cars are empty at intersections, there is money on the street and there is no living soul anywhere. A headline and a column stuck with desperate messages bear witness to a massive exodus from Great Britain. We know from the film's prologue that a group of animal liberation activists invaded a laboratory 28 days earlier to free a bunch of chimpanzees infected with a "frenzy virus" that causes pure murder. During the action, an activist becomes infected, and from that moment on, the virus spreads rapidly through the British population through saliva and blood, turning everyone infected into a murderous, unreasonable beast within seconds. The only way for Jim to survive as a "healthy" person is to join fellow sufferers and eventually look for a functioning military base that should be north of Manchester.

A Zombie Film

Strictly speaking, the "infected" are of course not living dead, but their behavior is completely zombiesque, even if they are a bit faster. For anyone who is somewhat familiar with the genre, these creatures will come across as completely familiar: they like to jump in through windows, make animal sounds and seem to have little concern for their own well-being. It is a pity that you also see the moments when they will attack coming from miles away, so the shock is never really there. Furthermore, it was not entirely clear to me how the "infected" people decide whether they will infect or simply kill someone. Regarding survival horror: the part in the military camp makes it clear that in a post-apocalyptic world you don't have to be infected with a frenzy virus to lose your humanity. The viewer is reminded - not too subtly - that our civilization only forms a thin layer of varnish, which soon shows cracks when it comes to life and death.

The acting/ actors

The acting is good without outliers, although Brendan Gleeson as Frank and Naomie Harris as Selena both have more charisma than protagonist Murphy, and the images of an abandoned London do not miss their effect, even after similar scenes in films such as The Devil’s Advocate and Vanilla Sky. The weak spot is the story, which never gets really scary and has few surprises except for the last part. 28 Days Later, more than enough untapped territory is left for future films, asking what is left of man when you swing him back into the Stone Age and let him fight for his life.

Concluding remarks

If you want to watch some entertaining show to spend some moments with a family member or a friend, then this is a good movie. However, it was not that scary according to my standard.