Review of 28 Days Later (2002) by Kyo 9 — 13 Sep 2012

Hm, I don't know where Sandra Bullock is, but then again, I don't even know what in the world people were talking about with their description of this film, because I didn't hear anything about zombies. Oh no, wait, that's just "28 Days", and this is just one hiply stylish study on people trying not to be horribly killed by the feral human monsters that now populate most of the United Kingdom, though I suppose you can't blame me too much for getting confused about what kind of film this is, as I can't help but feel as though a misunderstanding of that nature is why Danny Boyle is attached, because he must have thought that he was putting his nifty music video stylings into the making of a biopic on the Australian punk rock band 28 Days, who make at least me go feral and want to kill a bunch of British people, seeing as how I can't tell much difference between the Brits and Aussies. Well, either that's why Danny Boyle is attached to this film, or because even he wanted to make up for "The Beach", which isn't to say that he's the only person behind this film with that mindset, because the man behind this film's script is, not the screenwriter for the film "The Beach", but Alex Garland, the guy who actually wrote the film's original source novel and probably jumped at the idea of writing this film, seeing as how Danny Boyle owed him for making "The Beach" look like it was probably a pretty poor read... to most everyone except for me. Forget y'all, I liked "The Beach", but make no mistake, this film is quite decidedly better, and Alex Garland decidedly proves himself to still be a pretty good writer, even if he does miss out on a few obvious opportunities with this film as far as potential twists are concerned. Looking at Cilian Murphy's ridiculous beard in the earlier acts of the film, I kept waiting for the big twist to be that the Jim character was, in fact, the very evidently amnesiac lab monkey that spread the virus to begin with. Well, this film does have, like, "28" alternate endings in existance (Yeah, I say, "alternate" as though the final cut actually has an ending), so I'm sure that twist is out there somewhere, and until they find it, we're gonna have to deal with what we have, which is just fine with me, because I'm digging this film. Of course, I'm not quite "feral" about it, for although this film makes quite the "bite", it goes "infected" (Stretch of zombie puns, anyone?) by quite a few factors.

Though it is rarely, if ever too terribly slow, let alone dull, this film does slow down, and quite often, meditating for extended periods upon either quietness or total nothingness, which leaves the film to sometimes fail at sustaining your attention and often slip up a bit at providing thorough thrills, even if it does not go quite as consistently dry as you would expect from looking at the culprits behind slowness. For this restrain on the blow of the slow...ness, credit is, of course, due to Danny Boyle, partially because the man sure knows his style, though perhaps too much so, as this film definately proves, seeing as how Boyle gets to be perhaps a bit too stylish for this film's own good, or at least for the film's budget's own good. Even with its costing a decent £5 million, or in USD, about $8 million, the film makes more than a few cuts in spending and ultimately - whether it be intentional or not - looks a bit cheap, or at least for Danny Boyle's tastes, as Boyle is a very stylish director with a lot of pop-flashy visions that this film's relative cheap spots don't always have the funds to fully support, resulting in a kind of stylistic inconsistency that Boyle manages to generally work past, - as I'll touch more upon later - yet all too often can't entirely handle, for the film is so cheap in some areas, and has more than a few tell-tell signs that Boyle attempts to paint over, when really, all he ends up doing is pronouncing this reality-simulator's budgetary restraints and technical shortcomings - especially flawed camera quality - by drenching the final product in perhaps too much of the pop style that fits a more well-funded production, thus leaving illusion to break and the audience to often grow all too aware of their watching a film, which causes a degree of emotional distance. It sounds like a light flaw, I know, but you'd be surprised how far this film's falling short in funds goes in keeping you from slipping into this world as deeply as you probably should, as it sometimes blows this movie's cover of being its own world, and it doesn't help that this world isn't quite as well-established it should be. Much like how it looks cheaper than its budget would have you believe, the final product, even with its being a zombie film that clocks in at just under two hours, is shorter than its runtime would have you believe, being indeed pretty sweet, yet nonetheless a bit too short and to the point, doing a reasonably adequate job of establishing the story and characters, but falling a bit short when it comes to actual flesh-out, as crucial twists and turns in the depths of the story and characters find themselves hucked in with limited exposition, something that definately shouldn't be happening when we're talking about a human survival film. For quite a few reasons that I'll touch more upon later, the film's level of compellingness is passable, yet the film doesn't quite celebrate its story enough for you to find yourself fully invested in everything, which not only exacerbates the film's degree of emotional distance, but brings more to attention such missteps as the occasional story convention and a couple of abrupt crucial character shifts and exits (Speaking of abrupt: cop-out ending!), while helping in making the final product not quite what it could have been. However, what it ultimately is is a rewarding watch, nevertheless, for although the film finds its shortcomings, it ultimately prevails as generally satisfactory, if in no other way, then as far as, well, style is concerned.

As I said, Danny Boyle's style is rather detrimental to the film, being a bit disengagingly overbearing in its often inorganic marriage with the film's rather cheap technical value, yet on the whole, Boyle's style powers this film perhaps more than it damages it, and that particular goes for the visual aspects of Boyle's style, for although the film doesn't quite have the money for the cameras that Boyle's beautiful visual style deserves, that doesn't stop photography director Anthony Dod Mantle from knowing what Danny Boy wants, making the first of many collaborations with Boyle count with brilliantly unique and elaborate shots, complimented by clever lighting that may not be as radiant as it should be, - seeing as how weak the actual cameras are, especially in comparison to the high-quality stuff Mantle goes on to use when shooting for Boyle - but delivers on more than a few attractive or even gritty shots. This visual style supplements the film's trippy things in an effective, attractive and all around unique way, while what further breathes life into this world is the soundtrack, which is pretty sharp, or at least just well-manipulated. The indie tunes are, of course, lame, because lord knows music has been infected and essentially dead for years, yet Danny Boyle has always known how to use this kind of music to the benefit of his films, and certainly knows what he's doing here, drawing the pop from the lame tunes and comfortably bonding it with this film's style and substance in order to give the film and even the otherwise bland music some livliness, while John Murphy's score work, of course, doesn't need Danny Boyle's directorial touch to impress, boasting dynamicity and genuine uniqueness to make the it sound all the more sharp and nifty, as well as supplementary to the effectiveness of the film's style and tones. Both visually and audibly, the film is nothing if not stylish, often to the final product's detriment, but generally to the film's benefit, as it breathes some life into this film, which still wouldn't be as rewarding as it is were it not for Alex Garland's screenplay, even if it too is flawed. The film's story falls into a few conventions and other faults, and gets to be particularly messy with its exposition, as the story and characters aren't quite as fleshed out as they should be, yet with that being said, the film's story and characters go fleshed out just enough to earn your investment, which further goes secured by the other major strengths in Garland's screenplay, as Garland presents more than a few cleverly unique set pieces and concepts (They're not really zombies, but actually living people infected with a physically and internally deforming and fluid-transferred virus that radically intensifies rage to an animalistically feral state; based on the fact that it's awesome and makes sense, this has got to be my favorite type of zombie, and these aren't even technically zombies) to compliment a story that may be flawed in structure, yet remains generally strong, as well as partially brought to life by the engaging performances. Still, even with all of the mostly commendable technicians, writer and performers, when it's all said and done, the real force behind this film is Danny Boyle, who may make his share of mistakes throughout the film, yet remains a truly remarkable director, and further proves that with what he does get right with this film, not just as far as style is concerned, but as far as substance is concerned, as Boyle manages to work past all of the emotional rifts just enough to create a consistent degree of intrigue and compellingness, broken up by piercing intensity, for although this film, - whether it be by design or because of the moments of emotional distance - isn't all that consistent or even all that potent with its thrills, - so much so that I would consider the final product very much more along the lines of a thriller than the all-out horror film it's been called by everyone except for me - when things go down, they hit hard with tension, whose effectiveness goes rivaled only by the moments in which Boyle manages to deliver on the story's more human depths, which may not go pronounced enough to keep you consistently fully invested, but raise compellingness in a fashion that defines this film, as well as Danny Boyle as the strong storyteller that he ultimately is. A particularly heartbreaking scene "very early on" (Not a spoiler!) in which Cilian Murphy's Jim character returns home to find his parents dead and embracing, with a says-it-all suicide note to Jim that they hoped he would never have to read - seeing as how it would mean that Jim has awakened from his coma to a ruined world - is one of quite a few sequences in which Boyle cuts through all of the limited exposition and other emotionally distancing faults in the film to draw genuine resonance, which may proceed to find itself undercut by the film's extended rifts in emotional resonance, but really does spark a lot of life into this film, which isn't to say that Boyle doesn't deliver on enough consistent intrigue to get you by, as well as appreciative of the generally strong story, style and performances that all go into making this film a rewarding one, even with its shortcomings.

At the end of the days, however many there may be, the film has its fair share of slow spots, yet takes the most damage from its overstylizing - made worse by the film's being too cheap in some spots to be as stylish as it is - and flawed script, which plummets into a couple of story conventions, while not plummeting deeply enough within the story's depths to draw thorough exposition and flesh-out, thus creating a kind of emotional distance that helps in leaving the final product not quite as sharp as it should be, yet still sharp nevertheless, as it delivers on style that may be detrimental at points, yet is generally cleverly unique and razor-sharp, which is what you can say about Alex Garland's script, which delivers on nifty concepts to spice up a mostly strong story, brought to life by compelling performances and, most of all, Danny Boyle's storytelling, which is flawed, yet generally inspired in its providing a consitent degree of intrigue, broken up by the potent tension and emotional resonance that helps in making "28 Days Later" a much more often than not engrossing thriller, from which you will walk away satisfied.

3/5 - Good.