I bought 28 Days Later last week on DVD because I expected it to be good enough for me not to waste 5 bucks on for renting it beforehand. I finally got the chance to watch it this weekend, and it gave me mixed feelings.

I can’t say I didn’t like the movie. I liked it a lot. Except…the ending is so decieving. At the point the movie ended, I thought it was the introduction that was ending, and that the movie was beginning. But no, it was the end. I think I really wasn’t prepared for that, and that’s what shocked me.

Except for that, the fact the movie is only 90 minutes when I feel it could/should have gone for 120+, the movie was good. It’s so different from 28 Days Later when you think about it though. You notice it on the first frame; it’s filmed on 35mm and not in digital. Although 28 Days had that cool feel with digital, I have to say it looks a lot better on film. It really adds that feeling of reality, distancing it from that choppy feel of survival from the first one. In the making of, that’s what the director says; the movie is more of a documentary of the repopulation, the building of lives, than the survival. But they still mix together.

From the technical side of things, I really enjoyed watching the making-of and listening to the commentary. It gave me a great insight into how this movie was special. First of all, it was relatively low budget, which surprised me seeing as 28 Days Later was a pretty big success. They still managed to do great things with the movie, such as many more shots of deserted London. Another thing that struck me was that (at least, I think so, correct me if I’m wrong) the whole movie was filmed with only one cameraman. Seeing him film really impressed me. His hands touching the camera were like those of a pianist expertly playing, and the movement was awe-inspiring. I also found it funny that the writer, the director and the cameraman were all Hispanic. It just made it that much cooler.

I found the movie hard to believe though. That someone is immune to the virus? Easy to believe. That the virus manages to get out again? Easy to believe. That the US Army couldn’t eradicate a few thousand infected? Hard to believe. In real life, they would have nuked the city. Honestly.

I’d like to write more, but I feel I gave most of my feelings about this movie. It’s good, rent it. Observe, it’s really well made. Just don’t expect a development…

9/10

By the way, 28 Months Later hasn’t been officially announced yet but Danny Boyle says he would like to make one. I suppose that one would have a significantly bigger budget if Fox Atomic were to produce it.