I finally got around to watching 28 Weeks Later, the sequel to 2002′s 28 Days Later, about a week ago.
Now I love a good horror flick, and zombie movies in particular are a guilty pleasure of mine. (Of course, as the filmmakers are quick to point out, “the Infected” in 28 Days Later and its sequel aren’t “zombies” in the traditional sense of the word.)
Overall, I enjoyed 28 Weeks Later; it’s a worthy sequel, and I do recommend it, especially if you’re like me and watched the first film but held off on seeing the second. It’s definitely worth a rental.
Is it better than the first? Well, that’s a tough call, but overall, I’d have to say no.
While the first film does have its fair share of problems (in particular, the movie goes a bit astray in the second half of the film), 28 Days Later scores points for originality and style. I love the film’s premise – the idea of an everyman (in this case, a bicycle courier named Jim) awakening from a coma after 28 days only to discover that the world as he knew it has gone completely haywire. Simple to be sure, but compelling as well, and those exterior shots of actor Cillian Murphy wandering around the deserted city streets of post-infection London are simply terrific.
The sequel doesn’t do anything particularly exciting or innovative, and the characters aren’t nearly as interesting this time around. The one exception is Don, played by Robert Carlyle, who ends up being the most realistic and three-dimensional of the characters.
28 weeks after the events of the first film, “the Infected” are no longer a threat, and the country (now occupied by US-led NATO forces) is ready to be repopulated. Two children, Tammy and her younger brother Andy, are reunited at long last with their father Don, a survivor of the initial outbreak. Their mother, Alice, was not so lucky.
When Tammy and Andy sneak out from the safe-zone and return to their old home, they make a startling discovery – an unexpected survivor, a carrier of the “rage” disease with a natural immunity to the deadly virus. When the virus threatens to spread out of control again, Tammy and Andy must flee with the help of an American Delta Force solider named Doyle and Scarlett, an army medical officer who believes the kids might hold the key to a possible cure.
Oddly enough, for a horror movie sequel, 28 Weeks Later isn’t very scary. The movie, which is 99 minutes long, has maybe two scenes that I thought were decently scary; the rest of the time, 28 Weeks Later is more like a straight up action flick. The best comparison I can draw – the movie Alien is a horror film, a Sci-Fi horror film, but a horror film nonetheless; it’s pretty scary. The sequel, Aliens, is more of a straight up action-adventure film with a few scary bits thrown in for good measure. The same is true of 28 Weeks Later. It’s gory as all get out but not very scary.
Bottom line, it’s worth renting, and if you liked the first one, then you’ll probably enjoy this one too.
Tags: 28 Weeks Later, 28 Weeks Later Movie Review, 28 Weeks Later Review
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