A few days later...

I've now seen 28 Days Later twice.

Sure it's got a lot of the same elements as other zombie flicks, and sure it has some of the same elements as other apocalyptic flicks, but overall a slick production and an enjoyable movie.

The fact that the zombies in this movie weren't really zombies at all serves as a better explanation. Disease we can all understand. Supernatural forces animating corpses not so much. The suspension of disbelief is much easier in this case.

The Resident Evil series of video games also makes use of infected people as zombies. Only in the RE games the idea is to equip yourself with the biggest and baddest weapons and splatter your way on through rather than collecting rainwater and living off canned goods.

At the first of the movie, Jim kinda got on my nerves a bit. This is typical for me in the apocalyptic stories we've seen so far. I just think that I (and any reasonable person) could have done a lot better in terms of survival instinct. His hesitation nearly got him killed and his sneaking off to watch home movies did too... hestitation and impulsive behaviour don't keep you alive.

I think perhaps I'm being too hard on him (and other characters we've encountered). I mean, he did just wake up into all this mess and he's been through a lot.

On the flip side, I didn't find Selena's matter of factness that desirable either. In that short time since the disaster for one to hack up their pals with ease and without a display of emotion doesn't seem realistic. What is the point of living if you're left in Selena's state? Again, I haven't had this happen to me, so I can't really say for sure how things would turn out. Maybe if we're lucky some day :)

I find that in this film, as in The Last Woman, the best choice for getting on(surviving that is) lies in a blend of the two. The street-smart tough Selena and a bit of the emotional wreck of Jim. Just like on the episode of Star Trek where there's a transporter accident and Kirk gets split into two people, one with the aggressive tendencies and the other the more meek. The only way the captain could remain as captain was in a harmonization of the Yin and Yang. And that is precisely what happens in this film. Pity for the Last Woman.

The ending I would keep the same as in the original release, though it's interesting in this day of DVD's that we get to see other possibilities.