I probably prefer 28 Days Later as a movie but just slightly. It's close to even. I think Weeks has a couple scenes that are better than anything in Days though.
Just rewatched Weeks on Hulu and I agree. I’d have to give 28 Days a rewatch but, at this point, I think the only reason I prefer the first is because it had the freshness factor when I first watched it. Really helped to reinvigorate that particular horror subgenre. Weeks, meanwhile, you sort of knew what to expect and the Snyder Dawn of the Dead had come out before it, too, so that fast-moving zombie element was still intense but more familiar.
I think the original does a better job of establishing the sense of dread and weirdness of stepping out into the world after the spread of the virus. Some of those early scenes where Cillian is just looking for people and has no clue what is going on are phenomenal. That “once thriving, now desolate” motif works really well. Worked in I Am Legend a few years later too.
But on many of the other factors, Weeks probably has it beat. I found myself more interested in the human story of Poots, her brother, Rose Byrne and Renner than I did Murphy, Harris, Gleason and co. In the first. That’s not a comparison of performances, I think the sequel just made those characters’ plight more interesting to me.
Carlyle gives a strong performance in my view. Some of those early scenes, where he has to sit with the reality of his fleeing to save his own life at the beginning of the film are really good because he absolutely sells the emotions and the pain. The only issue is that by having him as the one zombie who the children must ultimately face off against before they get to safety seems narratively cogent but also very convenient. I almost felt as though Carlyle’s presence should have come to an end after that horrific scene where he first gets infected (one of the most effective and scary scenes in the film). He spreads the infection but at the point it’s almost irrelevant whether Rage Carlyle did or didn’t survive the army’s attempts to stifle the outbreak. It’s not Carlyle anymore. You could have the one scene where the son sees him and that’s it. Him seemingly relentlessly pursuing the kids, Byrne and Renner borders on a bit hokey.
People have been talking in these threads- when discussing both films- about the pros and cons of having Eccleston and co. as the final heels (The Walking Dead- societal collapse makes monsters of men story of thing). Well, this movie also has the forces become the opposition in a sense because we want the Byrne contingent to survive and Elba and them are trying to take out everyone who may potentially be infected along with the infected.
But it’s handled quite differently with Elba and his group not seeming as outright malevolent as the Eccleston crew who seem to be corrupted by their power and are concerned with what happens in their compound, without much concern for broader society.
I think this movie was probably massive for Renner’s career. I remember first becoming aware of him as one of the bad guys in Swat, but it was after this movie that he got The Hurt Locker and his career blew up from there. I’m thinking his familiarity with playing military couldn’t have hurt his getting the role in the Bigelow film.
Rose Byrne is awesome. She can do very good work in any genre in my opinion.