28 Days Later - Movie Review

28 Days Later (2002)

28 Days Later is a zombie film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Alex Garland and stars Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris and Brendan Gleeson, and is about a group of people who must survive a zombie apocalypse after infected chimps are released by animal liberation activists. Released in the UK in 2002 and in the US in 2003, the film was critically acclaimed, gave birth to the kind of zombie film we know today and was a box office success, grossing $82 million on a $8 million budget.

Let's review this film shall we?

THE GOOD

28 Days Later is a horror masterpiece! It's tension filled, exciting, extremely intense, and character driven! I loved the characters in this film, they are likable and charismatic, thanks to fantastic performances and a solid script! This movie focuses on the characters more so than the zombies, which is a breath of fresh air for the zombie genre and makes the zombie scenes more impactful when one of them die. When the zombies show up, this movie gets super intense really quick, it is white knuckled and suspenseful, and the gore and makeup effects are absolutely top notch! The tension is executed with perfection, there's rarely a moment where you can take a break from fear that zombies may be around, ready to attack.The musical score by John Murphy is nothing short of iconic! It's very somber and fits the tone of the film perfectly, it also helps that the score is used sparingly, as most of the film is very quiet and subtle. The cinematography is wonderful and unique, Danny Boyle shot this film in low resolution, which may bother some people but in my opinion it works beautifully! It really adds to the dirty, grimy feel of the film. Everyone gives phenomenal performances, they really sell the fear, despair and depression given the situation their characters are in.

THE BAD

None, I think this film is perfect!

CONCLUSION

28 Days Later is one of the best zombie movies ever made, it has all of the zombie stuff you could ask for without compromising story and characters. It has nail biting suspense, great characters, an engaging story and great cinematography and effects. If you haven't seen this film and love good horror, you owe it to yourself and check it out!

10/10

FILM INFO

MPA rating:  R (for strong violence and gore, language and nudity)

Release date:  November 1st, 2002 (UK), June 27th, 2003 (US)

Run time:  113 min

Studio:  20th Century Fox, Fox Searchlight Pictures 

SOURCES

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/28_Days_Later