28 Hours Later

28 Days Later: Wait for the DVD. See Charlie’s Angels twice instead.

28 Days Later is not the genre-busting thriller because it would first have to fulfill it’s genre(s): zombie horror flicks and virus panic movies. Don’t get me wrong: the idea behind 28 Days Later is stunning. Absolutely stunning. And as Roger Ebert points out:

That 20-second limit [from infection to bloodrage] it eliminates the standard story device where a character can keep his infection secret

This instant madness drives a handful of sequences that are totally nuts to watch and remind me of the prison riot in Natural Born Killers or the homicidal glee of Series 7. But in between these excitements is long, long, long meditations on isolation and alienation.

I guess I was expecting sort of a caffeinated Night of the Living Dead where you depict all society bonds disintegrating: children cannibalizing parents and the like.

Notable is the lack of shock and surprise – attacks are forecast with point-of-view rushing and I think make the violence even harsher because you have a few seconds to dread it’s arrival.

Overall, I thought the movie was such a fantastic idea but the over-careful pacing keep things deflated. I guess I expected a chase movie instead of a road flick.


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