28 Days Later (2003) Review

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS OF THE DISCUSSED FILM. READERS DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

We all know monsters can be within, but knowing who has it is where it can be scary.


PLOT


28 Days Later takes place in a dystopia where the human race has been leveled by an infectious virus of rage. It started from a lab chimpanzee that was experimented on and once freed by animal rights activists, it quickly spread the infection to them which in turn triggered the epidemic. The one person who wakes up in St. Thomas’ Hospital after the incident is a man named Jim who was a bicycle courier before the world changed. He finds London deserted and doesn’t realize what has happened until encountering many infected people at a church. He is saved by the duo of fellow survivors Selena & Mark (Noah Huntley) who help him take refuge in a street-side shop. When they take the request of walking Jim to the home of his parents, it quickly goes awry as Mark gets bit by an infected and gets hacked to death by Selena for her safety. With such an instant reaction, Selena warns Jim that she’ll protect him until she’ll have no choice but to kill him should he get infected. They meet other survivors in Balfron Tower that reveal themselves to be a father daughter pair, named Frank and Hannah. Frank saves them from other infected and allows them to stay in his flat for the night. By morning, he shows the other a military broadcast that offers sanctuary outside Manchester and a cure to the virus. With a lack of supplies, all four agree to take a chance. When they pass through a supermarket, change tires in the middle of a tunnel and refuel at an abandoned gas station, they’re able to mostly evade infected people. They do reach the blockade only to find it deserted, but the journey does not stop there. When a body from the tall gate drips blood, it lands on Franks’s eye and causes him to turn. Although the others would be saved by hidden soldiers protecting the blockade, they would be the ones to kill an infected Frank. Inside is a mansion led by Major Henry West who does his best in making the remaining guests comfortable with a banquet. He would however show Jim he’s holding an infected soldier named Mailer (Marvin Campbell) chained outside to see how long it will take for him to starve to death. Only after this does he reveal there is no cure and he lured them to make sex slaves out of the girls. Besides Jim, the only other one uncomfortable about the scheme is Sergeant Farrell (Stuart McQuarrie), resulting in both to be arranged for an execution by the Major. Farrell would die first, but distracts the other soldiers in advance to give Jim a chance to escape. That sacrifice would work and in the process, the latter would see a jet in the sky that would confirm the former’s theory that the virus is isolated in Great Britain. As he saves the girls, he sets off a siren that distracts West and he frees Mailer to kill Privates Bedford (Ray Panthaki). Jim ends up killing Private Jones (Leo Bill) and leaves Private Bell (Junior Laniyan) to Mailer, but also kills Corporal Mitchell (Ricci Hartnett) personally when he tries to abduct Selena, but he would do it with such ferocity she and Hannah would almost mistake him to be infected. When they try driving away in Frank’s cab, West sneaks in and shoots Jim in the stomach. Hannah is able to end the conflict by driving in reverse which causes him to be dragged away by Mailer before they drive off. Another 28 days go by and Selena is able to save Jim from his injuries at a remote cottage in Cumbria. There, West’s theory is confirmed true as well as many infected lie on the road and starve to death. The film ends with Jim and the girls successfully flagging a different jet flying overhead with a hug cloth banner saying ‘HELLO’.


THOUGHTS


Zombie movies are not easy to make in the 21st century because you don’t want to disrespect the legacy George Romero left behind with the sub genre. Being aware of this explains exactly why writer Alex Garland & Director Danny Boyle are able to approach this film not as such and still make an intense ass horror flick. These aren’t exactly the ideal zombies you’ve seen before since the infected are still alive before turning and their symptoms straight up echo real life diseases like Ebola/Bird Flu/Mad Cow’s disease that in turn reflect social rage. And if you saw this during or after the COVID-19 pandemic, not relating to such an inner fear would be impossible. That alone makes the dystopia realistic since we all fear of plagues. And despite not being actually dead, they still inspired the consistency of fast zombies that had been lacking at the time since Nightmare City. That idea is scarier than the standard type that are slow but much scarier in herds. One infected can do the trick because you have to trust your speed to evade death. And if ain’t so obvious, the young ain’t safe when seeing the likes of an infected child or a baby corpse that results of starvation. As a zombie fan, you can argue the inspiration is still there because each act has inspiration of Romero’s original trilogy, which make a solid pace for the story itself. Anthony Dod Mantle’s cinematography is simultaneously haunting & exciting because the feeling of isolation kicks in hard once you see deserted London. Considering this was made during the 9/11/01 attacks and was released the following year, many felt that feeling severely. With all the anxiety being unleashed, this movie is straight up telling us to not let our fears get to us or well become part of the problem. And thanks to a strong ensemble, it got easy to catch on to such a lesson. Before leading the Peaky Blinders and being a recurring collaborator for Christopher Nolan, Cillian Murphy gives a great breakthrough performance as Jim who gives us a relatable journey in this sub genre. He saw himself as the most gentle of people we see here and has to find the needed balance to be aggressive enough to fend for himself or else he won’t last long as he hopes. It was already one challenge to dodge bullets that were the infected, but it was the uninfected & corrupt that became a bigger problem the longer he was moving forward. Seeing Christopher Eccleston portray Major West as the most diabolical that he’d let his men have a terrible solution to cleanse, he knew he had to take a stand when no one else would. Of course, he doesn’t feel inspired without the person who inspired him to act such. Naomie Harris was awesome as Selena because she is far more hesitant in this survival of the fittest setting, which inspires an opposites attract relationship with Jim. She’s far more compatible with him compared to Mark because while she inspires him to be consistent on keeping the guard up, he teaches her there is no shame in keeping it down temporarily. She tried to save him after he got shot because she owed it to him as he saved her & Hannah from a cruel fate. On the same page, you can guarantee they’ll have a great future together once they get out of the UK. Besides Jim, it’s a given to say Frank is the most optimistic and far more cheerful despite the country fall apart in his very eyes. With his daughter being his motivation to keep fighting, it made it easy for him to take whatever chances possible for a safe haven. His death is right on par with Ben from Night of the Living Dead because he was consistent in trusting his perspective and couldn’t see it follow through. Megan Burns makes Hannah likable because even though she feels more hesitant compared to her dad, she gets her share of capableness and confidence under Selena’s wing. I mean considering how relentless Jim got in killing Mitchell, I don’t blame her in worrying he got infected too. Since she made it to the end as well, I hope she got to live on in honor of her dad with her new friends. This movie is definitely better than you’d expect, but good stuff like this has its share of head scratching moments. For starters, I respect the scientist trying to kill the first activist that got infected in the cold open, for the sake of trying to prevent the epidemic, but a chair was gonna be far from affective than a knife or a fire extinguisher. Also, how exactly is London empty when Jim is calling for help? I know we want him caught off guard when he goes to the church, but it’s crazy there wasn’t at least one infected nearby in such an open area. Since none of them sleep, I wouldn’t buy the possibility no one heard him or the car alarm. I was saddened with Jim’s parents committing suicide and being found dead, but if they didn’t want their son looking for them, I feel like they should’ve left their note at the hospital, whether or not they were sure he’d wake up. Moving on, it’s kinda surprising Selena & Mark weren’t keeping watch on Jim since it was his home movie that got the infected’s attention. If they saw them coming, that should’ve been noted. And how the hell is the supermarket still fully stocked by the time Jim’s group gets there? 28 days would sure be enough to make the place at least half empty. And if the electricity has been off for about half the time, I don’t buy the place being well lit either. On top of that, what would West’s plan be if no women showed up? Would he recruit guys like Jim to be part of the same schemes he had in mind or just kill them? I mean that’s a code hard to crack. Other than that, this is still a film smarter than what meets the eye. In short, 28 Days Later is able to successfully reinvent the zombie wheel and make them all the more threatening in the 21st century when that wasn’t even the intent. If you dig dystopian flicks, check this out