What 28 Days Later had to offer was some amazing scenery: chilling images of London abandoned and in disarray; pastoral green hills dotted with castle ruins; horses running free; long shots of flower fields; mesmerizing kinetics of windmills. The absence of normal human life unfolding intensified the loneliness of the barren landscapes, creating an an eerie atmosphere.
Unfortunately I had not read much about it, so I was under the mistaken impression it was an existential movie. In reality, it was a horror flick that focused on sudden gory scenes. The premise of the movie is that animal activists released monkeys from a lab that had been infected with a highly contagious virus that generates rage and murderous behavior. I desired a movie that explored the issue of what it would be like to live in a world emptied of normal humanity. The film skated toward it, but the primary purpose was to create suspense and startle the viewer, both with sudden loud noises and movements and with gruesome images.
Attempts to integrate lighter moments didn’t do much for the story line. There’s a scene in the movie where the refugees find an abandoned grocery store and run around grabbing food joyously, like exiles finding manna from heaven. Another scene was when the protagonist wakes up just in time to hop in the car the next morning, and asks if he missed breakfast, with teasing laughter in response. These scenes did not ring true. The movie ended on an improbably upbeat note inconsistent with the plot.
The character development was limited, and so I did not feel invested in their fates. The interactions were wooden and yet somehow the acting felt overwrought. The budding romance between Jim and Selena was obvious and trite. The movie also featured characters doing obviously stupid things — standard horror movie fare: walking into dark buildings, driving into an abandoned tunnel, making lots of noise and using light at night when the monsters come out. And a virus that takes only 10-20 seconds to effect such radical change? It stretches belief.
I was looking for a movie with a realistic tone, and this one that failed to compel me. Spare yourself the aggravation. Go rent Finding Nemo, which is a fine piece of animation and voice-acting. Lots of fun, and sweet, too.
Thanks for the warning! Find Nemo WAS cool.
Now, now. This movie was ALWAYS touted as a horror film. And that’s exactly what it was…just a bit smarter than, say, something like When Darkness Falls. And picking on the happy ending is kinda silly, considering that’s not the actual ending of the film. Stupid American distributors felt that American audiences “couldn’t handle” the real ending, which is the one where only the women survive. The real ending is brilliant and echoes off of one of the lines from the disgusting military men who says, ” Women are the future.” Which also makes the military men’s macho behavior (not wearing protective gear around a sick comrade) make even more sense. Macho men are idiots in this movie and (don’t) live to prove that point. But I’m just a film nut who likes odd movies. 🙂
Well, the movie promotion industry may have touted its heart out, but I missed the hype and so I had just a bare idea of what it was. We got it off the new release part of Blockbuster, not in the horror section. We did watch the alternate ending, which made more sense and this I preferred. Too bad it wasn’t used!