Worked in various areas of IT for over 20 years, self employed contractor for over 9. Also a part ti...
Worked in various areas of IT for over 20 years, self employed contractor for over 9. Also a part time musician (bass, drums, acoustic) in a band and duo. Other interests include sound engineering, reading, PC games and website design.
Member since:02.04.2007
Reviews:16
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Being a big fan of the new improved faster, smarter zombie genre (28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead 2004) I went to this not necessarily to enjoy a great sequel but an exciting horror film of that genre and wasn't disappointed. The person I went with hadn't seen 28 Days and still enjoyed it and it's a good film in it's own right even if being a sequel it lacks the impact of the original idea.
If you saw the original and did want to consider this is in the context of a sequel I think there's a comparison's to Alien and Aliens. The first dealt more with everyday people coping with an unexpected and dangerous situation where the second was a highly armed presence sent in to control a known threat. The first being slightly more about individual cunning in order to survive, the second more about guns versus numbers. One of the things I found interesting about the idea of 28 Days Later is it caused you to ask what you would do in the same situation, or any real breakdown of society, in order to survive. As with the Aliens follow up it was good to see a bit more of the action element introduced to the story. It is notable that in 28 Days Later where the whole country had been infected there seem to be less infected around than in the second film where a relatively small number (compared to a country's worth!) of people have been brought back.
Considering it was
by a different director (Juan Carlos Fresnadillo who also wrote the screenplay) the film has a similar look and feel to the original and wisely keeps the now familiar, brooding John Murphy signature tune. It's worth mentioning that this is Spanish director Juan Carlos's first film in English but he does an excellent job.
The film opens with a scene that could have come from 28 Days (being from the same period of time) with Don (Robert Carlyle) and a small group of survivors hiding out in a house in the country. It all goes wrong and one by one the folks are picked off in a serious of flashy, jerky camera angles as the infected go to work. It's a great scene to open with, the action is fast and ruthless and you're shown just enough to let your imagination do some work too. Even though the non-Carlylers in the house are only on screen for a few minutes you feel an almost instant affinity for them and the various acts of selfless bravery as all hell cuts loose makes you hope they all make it out alive. It's a thrilling chase through and out of the house and our hero just about manages to stay one step ahead and makes it out but only at the expense of abandoning a woman and child to the mercy of the infected!
Skip ahead 28 Weeks Later (a-ha!) to the American occupation and repatriation of surviving Brits into a heavily militarised 'safe zone' in London now all the infected are dead. An anxious Carlyle greets his returning children Tammy (Imogen Potts) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton) from the plane and we now find out why he feels so much guilt about leaving the people behind, I won't spoil it but you can probably guess.
The key characters from the American force we're introduced to at this point are the bored but amiable sniper Doyle (Jeremy Renner) and the smart and caring army doctor Scarlet (Rose Byrne). Both are good in their roles, especially Renner (the bad guy from SWAT) as the mixture of tough but totally selfess hero that you can't help but admire. He does steal the show as the leading hero from Carlyle but that's only because our Rob is running around red eyed and rampant for most of the time. This did feel a bit of a waste of his talents as the house and build up scenes he's in are excellent (as always) and it would have been good to see him in action more as a hunted human rather than the Begbie gone rabid character.
If you didn't already guess (or see the trailer) it's Don that kick starts the slip into infected anarchy... well that's what you came for wasn't it? The way it's done is fairly well thought out though a little tenuous and coincidental. Considering all the infected are dead it wasn't going to be that easy to get them back into it though there are several points where you find yourself saying 'I can't believe you're going to do that!' at the character's reckless stupidity.
Naturally the repatriation all goes pear shaped in a torrent of jets of blood and biting as the situation goes quickly out of control. The American forces do their best to contain it but as the infection spreads it becomes hard to tell friend from enemy and soon everyone becomes a target. I did find myself wondering if this was intentionally some kind of comment on current events or not.
Doyle, Scarlet, Tammy and Andy all find themselves trapped on ground level with a small group of cannon fodder... sorry other survivors ;o) Doyle's helicopter pilot buddy Flynn (Harold Perrineau) seems to provide the only hope of escape and their link to what's going on. With the area about to be napalmed they find themselves battling against both infected and the American military forces to get out of dodge before the bombs are dropped and meet up with Flynn.
All in all it's a really good, fast paced, modern action horror in it's own right but if you're a fan of 28 Days Later it shouldn't disappoint you either. There are some interesting glimpses into what it was like in the 28 Days time (the underground being especially creepy). Some of the scenes are a bit squeamish (look out for those thumbs in the eyes again!) but overall it's more the atmosphere of tension and excitement than the gore that makes it so gripping. The scenes of deserted London are again well done and interesting to see.
I can't think of any major downsides other than Carlyle's character not being human longer (although his initial changeover is well worth seeing) and some of the plot devices demanding people act like complete idiots by doing things you can't believe they're doing. Still if it was necessary to bring the infected back to life all's forgiven!
The closing sequence did make me wonder if there will be another sequel... "28 Jours Plus Tard" perhaps for those that have seen it ;o)
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Production Year: 2002 - Horror - Director: Danny Boyle - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Cillian Murphy, Megan Burns, Noah Huntley, Christopher Eccleston, Marvin Campbell, Brendan Gleeson
Advantages: Brilliant direction, photography, music, and acting. Disadvantages: Pretty gory!
Morning_Becomes_Electra 15.12.2007 (16.12.2007)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of 28 Weeks Later (DVD)
Advantages: Good performanceby Robert Carlyle. Disadvantages: Isn't directed by Danny Boyle, Isn't true to the format, Isnt as good as the original, slow.
Mutalisk 09.10.2009 ·
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of 28WeeksLater (DVD)
Jun 9th, 2007
(Jun 11th, 2007)
very helpful by (100%):
