p r e f e r r e d r e v i e w e r s :
 |
 |
|
You haven't selected any preferred reviewers. To learn more about customizing your experience, click here.
|
|
|
 |
 |
o t h e r r e v i e w e r s :
|
|
|
Dancing_P [ 7.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
Highly energetic (if not exactly original) zombie movie from the director of Trainspotting. A deadly virus has turned 99% of England into “The Infected”, zombie-like creatures hell-bent on getting everyone equally sick. A band of survivors gets together and heads toward a base in Manchester, where they think they can get help. The film is so good at establishing an atmosphere at the beginning that by the time they actually reach the base (from then on the film turns into a decent yet unspectacular action flick) you’re actually kind of disappointed. Atmosphere is really what makes this movie, however; the shots of a deserted London are quite impressive and director Boyle does a great job with the scares. The performances are decent, with Brendan Gleeson the standout as a good-natured survivor. The film becomes derivative by the end, but there’s good times to be had here anyways.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
chapter11 [ 8.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
I thought this film was absolutely enthralling in the theater, and looked forward so to catching it on DVD. Unfortunately, much of the impact seems to have diminished-- a climax that once had my heart pumping in my throat just had me checking my watch. I can say that "28 Days Later" is still a good film-- quite a good film, humane and kinetic and yes, quite suspenseful. I think someone's made mention of the scene in which our protagonists struggle to change a tire while a hoarde of hungry zombies shuffles toward them from the other end of the tunnel. On paper, it seems like the most groaningly obvious device ever-- oh my! Just as we notice the bloodthirsty undead creatures ambling towards us, we get a flat tire! How (in)convenient!-- but in the film it not only works, but is so unbearably suspenseful you'll likely experience temporary shortness of breath. And the stifling suspense of that scene has translated well to video. What else? I liked the characters because they were actually characters, not empty sketches of people that we're supposed to believe exist, even though we don't know anyone like them. These characters were actual people with actual doubts and fears but a real handle on what they need to survive-- not the wisecrack-heavy WB-shipped teen stars that populate 85% of what passes for horror nowadays. Anyways. Having seen it in the theater, I'd probably give the diminished small-screen experience a solid 7.5, but it was initially an 8.5, so this seems like the natural happy medium.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
jasonkrueger [ 9.5 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
My sis and her hubby rented it and hated it.I on the other hand have never seen a movie like this ever!!!The actors were magnificent and very endearing.The story was creepy and the movie was plenty gross.This isn't your stereo-typical horror film:it has different film elements in the entire movie!!There is horror but also science fiction and drama.There are certain parts that are kinda soap-opera like too.The movie is however,extremely confusing and puzzling though but that made me even more interested.The actors did an excellent job and they portayed their emotions to their highest peak.It made me sad too because of certain parts that happen.Overall this movie seemed boring in the beginning but turned out to be a terrific and engaging gem.The movie is not very violent because you only see bits and pieces but it does get quite graphic in certain parts:such as spewing blood from the throat.The ending left me confused and puzzled but the movie itself was wonderful.I really felt for the characters especially Jim and the black girl.The movie was sadi to be "scary as hell" not so it is intense in certain parts and it did make me scared some but not much.Still the movie is beautiful and intelligently done from beginning to end!!!Buy it especially since it has three new endings!!!You won't be disappointed I sure wasn't.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
gamer27 [ 8.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
This movie had it's potential to be brilliant. The only problem I had was that it wasn't scary. Danny Boyle make a great enjoyable horror film.
What was cool about it was that the zombies were fueled on rage which made them run fast. Even though it wasn't scary, it was creepy to see a new kind of zombie plague wreck havoc on London.
*** out of ****
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Jeff_Wilder [ 8.5 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
With this film, Danny Boyle gives us one of the top 5 horror films of the last decade. Based in something that could plausibly happen. 28 Days Later revives the zombie film. Boyle's one director who's not afraid of going into dark territory and that serves him well here.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
scottwblack [ 6.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
"Not a zombie movie," says Boyle. Poppycock, says I. It's so much of a zombie movie, in fact, that the last act blatantly apes George A. Romero's Day of the Dead. I liked the opening "empty city" moments and the murky DV visuals lend a sort of immediacy to the horrorific proceedings that follow, but it's all been done before and done better.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
crash05 [ 3.5 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
With the exception of a few jumpy zombie scares, this film portrayed no horror. It was a drama about a disaster that's already been done(sans Resident Evil). I watched it once and never again. I was excited to see it and bought it when it first came out, but could barely keep my eyes open to watch it. Try Resident Evil instead, much better zombie flick
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
sam_rife [ 6.5 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
A very well made horror movie with a rigid story line and good acting.Although it had many flaws but after half an hour in the movie you really get into the movie. The difference between the zombies in this movie is that they don't slowly drag themselves towards their victims, they run straight at you which adds more chilling horror to the movie.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
DokBrowne [ 9.0 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
(1-7)
CAST/ACTING: 5
DIRECTING/CINEMATOGRAPHY/ETC.: 6 (apart from the visuals and Danny Boyle's many interesting shot compositions, what stands out most to me were the scenes in which the music gradually built up into grand, operatic swells a la the intensity of the situation, like during the climax, or early on as he searches London. The music overall was excellent, and appropriately used, unlike in most movies)
SCRIPT: 6 (the characters are intelligent, and the script easily avoids a lot of potential pitfalls and cliches while still balancing a merciless audacity with an honest, well-crafted sympathy for its characters and a much appreciated attention to the little things)
ORIGINALITY/CREATIVITY: 6 (continuously more atypical for a zombie movie)
TECHNICAL WIZARDRY/VISUAL STYLE: 6 (the grainy, unfocused digital picture complements Boyle's raw, no-frills approach to the situation and adds an obvious sense of realism; it's almost like you're watching a documentary at some points; the gimmick for the zombies - silently showing their legs as they run frantically toward a victim - is terrifyingly succinct)
EFFECTIVENESS OF GENRE (horror/zombies): 7 (the suspense is suffocating - I haven't felt this weighted down by absolute dread since "Phone Booth", and this time it's even worse, since you never know when the zombies will attack, so you feel nervous the whole time, even - especially - when the characters are engaging in lighthearted activities, like playfully raiding an empty grocery store, or peacefully roaming around a church on the outskirts of town. You keep expecting something horrible to happen. It's a thrilling sensation that doesn't let up until the movie's over)
ENDING: 3 (spoilers: even though I wanted the 3 of them to survive, I was somewhat disappointed that Boyle backed away from a gruesome finale on 3 separate occasions, first when she was about to cut off his dead because she couldn't tell if he had become a zombie (nicely underplayed theme there of the survivors becoming just as vicious and ruthless as the undead, by the way), second when Eccleston shot him in the gut, and finally in the epilogue, when you just KNOW the jet is going to drop a bomb on them as they're waving up at it hopefully. I'm glad that they lived, but I'm sure the more cynical, "Night of the Living Dead", "we can't tell the people from the zombies", bitterly ironic ending would have been infinitely more effective (like a heavy punch in the stomach instead of a light pat on the head))
ENTERTAINMENT VALUE: 6
OVERALL: 45 / 56
AVERAGE: 5.625 / 7
GRADE: A-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
jeff_v [ 6.5 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
A was a little disappointed in this film, which squandered a good premise by taking a less interesting route (the real enemies are the "normal" people, not the infected ones). It grew tiresome towards the end. That said, Boyle uses DV effectively and with style. It may look like crap, but it's interesting looking crap. Also, good use of music that is atypical for the genre.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
crreig [ 6.5 ]
[ add to preferred ]
[ email this review to a friend ]
When I first left the movie theater after watching 28 Days Later, I felt the movie was good. The few questions that cropped up (Did foreign governments leak bad information to the English papers in order to prevent a mass exodus? Did the "zombies" feed on blood and, if so, why did they not seem to be interested in eating uninfected animals?) felt silly given the genre. The only shortcoming was the too loud, distracting music. (While I found the use of soundtrack swells interesting, I would like to postpone deafness for as long as possible.)
Why then, when I sit down to write a review, do I find the latter half of the movie so disappointing? I liked the suggestion that humanity was already prone to rage prior to the escape of the infected chimpanzees. I even enjoyed the heavy-handed analogy made between the good guys and the bad guys -- in the climatic eyes-gouged-out attack. But it seems to me the three or four principles could have wrestled these themes without the screenplay becoming bogged down in a fight between the soldiers and the civilians.
Overall, I liked the movie despite the relaively dull dilemma we're presented with after the military men appear. The DV filming worked well given the subject matter and Danny Boyle did a competent job of directing. Except for one or two moments, the acting was good.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Weighted Rating | : 6.6 |
| No. Ratings | : 23 | |
| No. Reviews | : 13 | |
|
|
|
|