Movie BS - Reviews

May 11th, 2007 by Brent

28 Weeks Later, the sequel to 28 Days Later, picks up...well, 28 weeks after the events in the first film. Actually, the film begins with a scene that takes place before the first film where we see a man named Don and his wife, Alice, discussing how grateful they are that their children were not in the country when the outbreak began. Huddled in a farm house with four other survivors, they are greeted with a young boy begging to be taken in. Soon after bringing the boy in, the Infected attack the house and Don is faced with a choice to try and save his wife or save himself.

28 weeks after those events, we now see London in a different position. The rage virus, which turns those infected into savage and aggressive killers, seems to have died out after the Infected starved to death. London has been partially rebuilt, heavily militarized and the government has begun to repopulate the city. To avoid spoilers, I'm not going to say much more, but as you may have guessed, the virus reappears and all hell breaks loose.

The film is very similar to the first with a more personal connection to the characters. However, in my opinion there is one missed opportunity that could have elevated the plot to another level, rather than the basic one the filmmakers decide to go with. That doesn't mean it's bad though, but it does become simplified and we turn into a race for survival from not only the Infected, but the military as well, which adds an interesting twist.

Something I absolutely loved about the film is how unpredictable the fates of the characters are. It still follows the formula we have seen before in many other horror or zombie films, but personally, many of the characters fates caught me off guard. It seems no one is safe.

Visually, many scenes are hampered by the use of shakycam. I understand trying to create a sense of chaos with the Infected, but I felt that there were certain instances where it was too hard to see what was going on. That said, there is also some great imagery and the film does it's job conveying a destroyed and vacant city.

Overall, 28 Weeks Later is a worthy sequel to the first film, but falls just a tad short of surpassing it. Again, some missed opportunities with the plot results in a more straight forward action/horror flick, but there are enough unpredictable moments to keep you on your toes. If you liked the first film or enjoy these types of survival horror films, I don't think you can go wrong with 28 Weeks Later.

Quick Review
Plot/Storyline The story had the opportunity to develop some interesting and unique moments, but instead chooses the easy way out. It's not bad though and provides some tense situations.	7
Acting/Characters The acting is very good for the most part. The child actor wasn't annoying, which is a rarity. Not much development for the characters though.	8
Visuals/Sound A mix of great imagery and a destroyed city hampered by the over use of shakycam in scenes where it wasn't necessary.	7.5
Replay As a fan of the first film, which I watched a couple times, I will watch this one again.	7
Overall Rating:	7.5
All scores are out of 10. Overall score is not an average.

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