Fantas: 28 Days Later 28 Days Later was a disappointment. It's not that this is not a nice movie; it's just that it did not live up to its expectations as Fantasporto 2003's opening spotlight.

From the Fantas site synopsis, I was expecting some incursion by Danny Boyle into science fiction. Instead, the plot is one of Madmaxian global collapse, caused by an epidemic. We're centered in the story of four characters: a young couple (Jim and Selena), a father (Frank) and his daughter (Hannah), and their quest for survival, at first, and then for a future in the apocalyptic mahem. Much like Trainspotting, this is a film about human relations in extreme situations. You get to see the Good and the Evil lurking in each of us, with some interesting twists in Jim's personality.

Overall, however, the story universe won't go much farther than the four main characters. Namely, the outbreak of the infection and the evacuation are poorly presented. There are also some unexplained decisions by the group, which seem present only as an excuse for placing some terror in the movie. This kind of ruins the plot for me. I'd recommend the movie, but it's not the killer flick I expected.

P.S. André is quite right: The London shots, with empty streets, in widely known places (Westminster Bridge, Parliament Sq., Trafalgar Sq., Piccadilly) are absolutely breathtaking. The light won't lie: it was shot at dawn; but it's a feat nevertheless. Posted by Sergio Carvalho at February 18, 2003 12:01 PM | TrackBack