Seen: May 18th, 2007
Format: Theater
Rating: 8
I once inflicted 28 Days Later on a relatively new girlfriend. I loved it; she didn't. And while she did forgive me, truly, it left an indelible taint that will never quite wash clean. I still hear about it occasionally.
Here we go again.
This is a straight up, no foolin' zombie film. If you don't like horror, gore, thrills, chills and a large helping of squeem, just stay away already. The rest of you, step right this way.
I generally can't stand manic jump cutting. You may have "heard" me rant about how it creates an artificial sense of urgency. How it can be used to artificially drive scenes that are less compelling on their own. This is one case where that editing style really works. There's manic jump cutting all over this film. But here, it's used to convey the fact that there's usually multiple acts of madness all happening at the same time. The jumps between horrific bits represent a character's reaction to these various things, flicking his attention from one place to another in rapid succession to continuously monitor his surroundings in an effort to maximize his chances for survival.
Or something. Anyway, it works in spades here. And it works primarily because we're given long periods of respite. The world doesn't race along in ratchet mode. We generally cruise through our day in lackadaisical fashion. We have conversations, interactions, and go about our daily routine casually. We save the adrenalin for when we need it, and when those rare moments happen, the switch is flipped and we process it all as fast as we can.
All this is a way of saying that this film moves. Even when it's quiet. Even in the moments of relief, of temporary sanctuary, this film is moving on to the next thing. As soon as things slow down, you'd better relax while you can, because the next bit may be just around the corner.
The story is good as far as zombie fare goes, which is to say that it all makes sense and is internally consistent. It's generally consistent with the genre as well, though these zombies don't shamble; at all. The family angle is an interesting one, as is the response to the epidemic. The scenario creates a lot of tension, which is very fitting and serves very well.
Acting is generally good, great is simply not required. Rose Byrne is an interesting choice, and Robert Carlyle does a great job. Contrast this with his performance in Ravenous.
28 Weeks Later is hardly for everyone. I'll not assume who might enjoy it, as a lady in the theater seemed to be indoctrinating her infant child in the genre very early in his(?) film going career. Excepting some gurgling, the child was silent for the majority of the film, evidently as engrossed as I was.
I guess there's no accounting for taste.
The Good: Buckle up and hang on
The Bad: All in the family
The Ugly: Traipsing through the dead in the dark
