Plot
Animal rights activists free a group of infected chimpanzees to horrifying results in this speculative sci-fi horror effort from Trainspotting director Danny Boyle. Waking from a coma in a deserted London hospital 28 days later, bicycle courier Jim (Cillian Murphy) takes to the deserted city streets in a state of mystified confusion. Joining forces with another group of survivors following a terrifying encounter in a seemingly abandoned church, Jim soon learns the truth behind the deserted streets and the menacing creatures that lurk in the shadows. It's soon revealed that the chimpanzees had been harboring a deadly virus that sends its victims into a furious, murderous rage, and in the days following the initial exposure, the entire population was nearly wiped out due to the resulting homicidal rampage. Is there still a glimmer of hope for humanity -- or has the deadly "rage" virus found its way to foreign shores and infected the entire planet? ~ Jason Buchanan, RoviReview
Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland (and Boyle's longtime collaborator, producer Andrew Macdonald) bounce back from the relatively big-budget debacle of The Beach with 28 Days Later, a kinetic low-budget horror film. The filmmakers gratefully acknowledge their debt to a bunch of classic horror and science fiction movies, especially George Romero's Living Dead films. There's even a kickass black woman (Naomie Harris) who saves the hero's neck like in The Omega Man. But 28 Days Later has its own style. Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle (The Celebration) uses digital video surprisingly effectively, adding to the film's gritty immediacy, with a few nice surreal touches (e.g. the painted flowers along the road) thrown in. The dark inflections of John Murphy's bass-driven score help moves things along, too. The story is simple and lends itself to allegorical readings, with its somewhat pro forma anti-authoritarian slant. There are a few nicely played shocks, and some amazing, haunting images of a deserted, "Rage"-ravaged London. The recently comatose main character, Jim (Cillian Murphy), begins as a cipher, but gradually comes into focus thanks to Murphy's soulful performance, and his chemistry with the fierce Harris. Brendan Gleeson (Gangs of New York) maintains his excellent track record as a lovably gruff father vainly trying to keep some sense of normalcy in his young daughter's life. Things get a little ham-fisted in the last third of the film, bogging down a bit when the ragtag group reaches a military outpost in northern England and predictably finds something even worse than the diseased lunatics they're fleeing. But for the most part, 28 Days Later is a good, scary horror film, and a worthy successor to the forebears it references in nearly every frame. ~ Josh Ralske, RoviCast
- Cillian Murphy - Jim
- Naomie Harris - Selena
- Brendan Gleeson - Frank
- Megan Burns - Hannah
- Christopher Eccleston - Maj. Henry West
Credit
Patrick Rolfe - Art Director, Dennis Schnegg - Art Director, Mark Digby - Supervising Art Director, Gail Stevens - Casting, Rachael Fleming - Costume Designer, Richard Styles - First Assistant Director, Danny Boyle - Director, Chris Gill - Editor, Robert How - Line Producer, John Murphy - Composer (Music Score), Mark Tildesley - Production Designer, Anthony Dod Mantle - Cinematographer, Andrew Macdonald - Producer, Ray Merrin - Sound/Sound Designer, Glenn Freemantle - Sound/Sound Designer, John Rodda - Sound/Sound Designer, Graham Daniel - Sound/Sound Designer, Nicholas Powell - Stunts Coordinator, Richard Conway - Special Effects Supervisor, Bob Hollow - Special Effects Supervisor, Alex Garland - Screenwriter, Thomas Townend - Second Unit Director Of Photography, Cliff Wallace - Creature Effects, Cliff Wallace - Prosthetic Makeup Effects| 28 Days (2000 Film), 27a (1974 Film) | |
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