Movie Reviews
28 Weeks Later a Review
By Mitch Emerson
May 11, 2007 - 15:44

Studios: Fox Atomic
Writer(s): Rowan Joffe, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Jesus Olmo, Enrique Lopez Lavigne
Starring: Rose Byrne, Imogen Poots, Jeremy Renner, Mackintosh Muggleton, Robert Carlyle, Harold Perrineau Jr, Catherine McCormack
Directed by: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Produced by: Alex Garland, Danny Boyle, Andrew Macdonald
Running Time: 99 minutes
Release Date: May 11th, 2007
Rating: R
Distributors: Twentieth Century Fox
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy, Thriller and Sequel



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28 weeks after the original outbreak of the Rage virus, all of the infected have died from starvation and London is ready for re-population. 15,000 people are now back and trying to start new lives. With an unbelievable amount of military supervision the plan seems to be working, until Don (Robert Carlyle), a cowardly husband who leaves his wife (Catherine McCormack) behind to die during the original outbreak, finds out that she is still alive. She is a carrier of the virus but is not affected, but Don doesn't know that. They kiss and the proverbial poo-poo hits the fan, again. Now his kids, who may have the same immunity as the mother, must now get out of the infected zone with the help of three soldiers ,Doyle (Jeremy Renner), Scarlet (Rose Byrne), and Flynn (Harold Perrineau Jr.) before either A. The infected get them, or B. the military firebombs London.

In 2002 Danny Boyle created a different take on the zombie film. That movie was 28 days later, and it was a hit. In 2007, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has taken what Boyle created and made it better. Yes, one of the few sequels that is just as good, and even better in some aspects, than the original. If you have seen 28 Days Later you know that this isn't a zombie film in the traditional sense. These guys are not shambling, stumbling, clumsy dead people. These are fast and furious mindless machines of infection and death. This movie invoked the same creepy-crawly sensation in the pit of my stomach as the first, yet even more so. Using fast cuts and the patented “shakycam”, Fresnadillo ramps up the tension and then delivers on the scares, only to do it again and again. Beautiful and ghostly aerial shots of an abandoned and decimated London help set the stage and drive home the feeling that this could happen.

If Jeremy Renner seems familiar to you, don't worry he is. He was “Dags” in National Lampoon's Senior Trip. Now if you would have told me then that Dags would make a good soldier type, I would have laughed in your face. And, not only does he play a good trooper, but he also shows emotional conflict when he is told to open fire on civilians in order to contain the outbreak. My hat's off to you Jeremy. The real heart of our little group is Rose Byrne's Scarlet, who knows the importance of Andy's blood. I have only seen her in smaller roles before this so I have nothing to compare her to, but she doesn't seem out of place. While being important to the plot, the chldren just seem like extra that are baggage at times (which essentially they are as they are the carriers of a possible cure or what have you) and Harold Perineau Jr. plays basically the same character he did in the Matrix trilogy, a pilot.

My one and only problem is with Zombie Dad Don. Somehow, he seems to survive snipers, firebombing and chemical weapons to pop up every fifteen minutes or so to terrorize his children. That seemed a bit of a stretch to me.

I consider this a horror film and a sequel that is just as good if not better than the original. I liked that the budget was bigger and was able to expand the scope of the movie. Instead of dealing with a small band of survivors, we get to see the effects of the Rage virus on an entire nation.

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