28 Days Later

For their sixth collaborative effort, director Danny Boyle and producer Andrew MacDonald (The Beach, Trainspotting) have released Dawn of the Dead 2003, or 28 Days Later, as they like to call it. Despite the change of location, which allows for a happier ending, and faster pacing with better special effects, it's hard to deny the similarities. Here, the surviving quartet search for their own "Monroeville Mall," led by Jim (Cillian Murphy), our heroic bike courier who awakens in the intensive care unit of a London hospital to find it is 28 days after a lethal infection has laid waste to England and he's missed it all. His faithful companions are tough-skinned love interest Selena (Naomi Harris), endearing father figure Frank (Brendan Gleeson) and Frank's cute but practical daughter Hannah (Megan Burns). It's a quest that leads them down a dangerous road of death, destruction and self-discovery. The story is tried and true, and the spins on it create an interesting update. But it's the 21st century and the movie makes or breaks on its visuals. Luckily, 28 Days Later is a slick movie that adds a lot of style to zombie flicks. Boyle reveals the zombies in enticingly short intervals, keeping them hidden as well as demonstrating their rage-induced speed with quick music video-style cuts. 28 Days Later gets a little predictable but it's covered up with Scream-like satire; Boyle even likes to camp it up a bit. Certainly the ending could have been less upbeat, but with 28 Days Later, zombies finally take a bite out of the MTV generation. (Fox Searchlight)