When I first saw this back in high school, I actively disliked it because the soldiers were the bad guys. The good news is I like it now. The bad news is I still don’t think it’s a masterpiece. The cinematography is poor, but that was a deliberately transgressive choice and still comes across as such. The screenplay is solid. The characters are all likable, even if their development and arcs are basic.
The message about the collapse of society and how people react when they believe the world is ending isn’t novel or unique (See: any of Romero’s Dead trilogy). There aren’t as many zombies/infected here as you might expect, but they dominate every scene they’re in and are genuinely scary. They’re spread throughout the film, but likely appear most during the first act and a half. The characters are well cast, and all our actors do great work.
28 Days Later doesn’t have as much to say as it thinks it does, and what it does have to say isn’t anything new or deep. Luckily it has more than enough engaging or scary moments/scenes so that, even when it stumbles, it’s never enough to total the film. 28 Days Later is a highly influential/important zombie movie that continues to frighten and thrill.
3.5 STARS
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