9. 28 Days Later (2002) - Jim's Rampage
Danny Boyle is a bit of a prolific auteur when it comes to dabbling and exploring different genres - he tackled sci-fi spiritualism in
Sunshine and a hopeful misery in
Slumdog Millionaire but possibly his best and earliest example of a dramatic genre shift is in the supremely brilliant
28 Days Later which follows Jim (Cillian Murphy) and a group of survivors in a zombie-infested apocalyptic London. In the bloody, rain-soaked finale, Jim breaks open his shackles inside the Army prison he's found himself in and decides to mount an adrenaline-fuelled rescue of fellow survivors Selena and Hannah who are about to be raped by soldiers. He unleashes zombies on the Army, rescues the women and becomes akin to a Rage-virus sufferer himself. Full of rage, anger and humanity, Jim is a one-man machine who destroys everyone in his path. The fact that broken teenage survivor Hannah deftly dispatches the villainous general of the soldiers with a taxicab and some ace driving skills only makes this sequence more incredible and a dark delight to watch.