British zombie movie “28 Days Later” received a lot of praise upon its release. I saw it and thought it was just another zombie movie and I really am getting tired of these movies. They’re all just so interchangeable and disposable. This movie is directed by Danny Boyle (“Trainspotting”), who has done some good movies so it’s a shame that he’s not able to inject more life into this bland genre.

A group of animal rights activists free some primates from a research lab but they’re infected with a deadly virus. It spreads to humans and soon the United Kingdom is plunged into chaos. Jim (Cillian Murphy “Batman Begins”) wakes up after weeks in a coma to discover that the world as he knew it has changed. Now, he goes through the streets of London with zombies lurking in the shadows.

Like a lot of zombie movies, the characters are just not interesting. Cillian Murphy is a good actor but the material here is just lame. Naomie Harris (“Skyfall”) is so dull as Selena. Brendan Gleeson (“The Guard”) is easily my favourite of the survivors but he isn’t in nearly enough of this movie. Christopher Eccleston from tv’s “Doctor Who” is really disappointing as Maj. Henry West. The zombies here are not anything special.

“28 Days Later” has a few moments in it that are intense. Some of the shots of famous London areas being empty are daunting too. However, most of the movie is just really bland. It feels the same as the George A. Romero zombies films such as “Dawn of the Dead” as well as countless other zombies films. If you want an entertaining British zombie flick then you have to look to the more comedic “Shaun of the Dead” with Simon Pegg. That movie at least did some new and interesting things with the genre.