Film Review: 28 WEEKS LATER (2007)

 28 WEEKS LATER (2007) UK/Spain 1hr 40mins

Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

"28 days later: Mainland Britain has been destroyed by the Rage virus...

5 weeks later: The infected have died of starvation...

11 weeks later: American led NATO forces enter London...

18 weeks later: Mainland Britain is declared free of infection...

24 weeks later: Reconstruction begins...

28 weeks later..."  - opening news report.

The sequel to Danny Boyles 28 DAYS LATER (2002), we pick up in London during the outbreak in which we first followed Jim on his journey only this time we follow a couple. Donald Harris (Robert Carlyle) and his wife Alice (Catherine McCormack) are hiding in a cottage outside of the city with a handful of other survivors. We learn that the Harris' children are out of the country on a school trip and are safe from the virus. All they have to do is lay low until rescue. Unfortunately for them a frightened child comes banging on the door bringing the infected with him. In a brutal and heart breaking opening sequence, a cowardly yet absolutely petrified Donald becomes the sole survivor of the group and escapes down the river on a boat. We pick up 28 weeks after the first infection when a small district of London is deemed safe, with a heavy presence from the US army, British civilians are let back into their city. Don is reunited with his kids; daughter Tammy (Imogen Poots) and son Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton) and sits them down to explain in his words what happened to their mother. Worried that he will forget his mother , Tammy and Andy sneak out of the safe district and go through an abandoned London to their old house to get a picture of Alice. After searching the house they find one of the rooms is occupied and are shocked to discover their mother who they believed was dead. Discovering the army had followed them the kids are quarantined and Alice is decontaminated and detained. Doctors take Alices blood and discover she had been bitten by the infected yet had not succumbed to the virus as others had. They find out she has a gene that suppresses the virus and they could potentially create a vaccine. Unfortunately she is not immune but more of a carrier and highly contagious. A guilt ridden Don breaks into the lab to speak to Alice and apologise for leaving her, after sharing a kiss he instantly becomes infected and due to him the virus gets back out into the population. With the help of US soldier Doyle (Jeremy Renner) and pilot Flynn (Harold Perrineau), medical technician Scarlett (Rose Byrne) tries to get the children out of the city believing them to be asymptomatic like their mother before the army destroy the city and it's entire population.

28 WEEKS LATER may not have been directed by Danny Boyle but he still had some artistic input into the storyline and it shows as this sequel has plenty of links to the original movie with the scenes between Tammy and Andy being likened to the story that Mark told of himself and his sister in 28 DAYS, to the way that Don attacks his wife once infected which is the same way Jim kills a solider at the house even down to the fact that Renners characters name is a combination of Danny Boyles name. 28 WEEKS LATER is certainly a lot quicker paced than it's predecessor packed full of action, with a storyline that contains the same kind of real human struggles that the first movie dealt with only this time instead of vulnerability and naivety it goes down the line of cowardice or how you would really react in this situation, fight or flight etc. The army are a huge presence here, as they were in the latter half of 28 DAYS but this time portrayed in a slightly more sympathetic light. They are more organised and less unhinged with their moral compasses pointing toward the greater good but they still have no clue what to do when the shit hits the fan. The acting in this is less wooden then in the first movie too, boasting an impressive cast. Choosing established actors in Robert Carlyle and Catherine McCormack to start off the movie then bringing in some smaller parts for Garfield Morgan and Harold Perrineau. With Idris Elba and Jeremy Renner popping up before we really got familiar with them or at least before I really knew them anyway. Like with 28 DAYS the infected in 28 WEEKS  are fast, violent and extremely strong with most extras cast as the infected having experience of gymnastics or dance. They still have the same look and mannerisms from the first movie with McCormacks portrayal of a partially turned victim being pretty spot on! I feel like I was more desensitized to them this time around after the first movie yet this time they seemed to use larger hordes of them or have people in situations that will mean they are trapped or under physical threat from the soldiers as well thus increasing the threat. Better shot than its predecessor 28 WEEKS uses a combination of film and digital recording processes which gives it that less glitchy look and looks less dated. Not to say it is not without it's problems though, the footage shot in daylight looked really great yet the night scenes were gloomy and fuzzy, the night vision scenes and shaky cam during some of the attacks went on a bit too long, creating a sense of nausea often more overpowering than the sense of dread they were aiming for. 28 WEEKS was the one that kind of set the bar for a stream of similar movies, eg; [REC] (2007) that went down the same route but learnt from 28 WEEKS that less is more in these instances! Even with these issues though it is still a very well paced, action packed story of survival with the kind of terrifyingly bleak ending we come to know and love from zombie movies of old. The soundtracks to both 28 DAYS and 28 WEEKS LATER were written and composed by the very talented John Murphy who apparently penned the entire score to 28 WEEKS in a mere couple of weeks. The two scores marry incredibly well together with subtle continuity and nods to eachother throughout, both brilliantly eerie and atmospheric.

28 WEEKS LATER is a great sequel and, I guess, as there were a few years between the two, it does boast a better look, slicker production and a more confident cast which edges it just slightly above 28 DAYS LATER for me. I score 28 WEEKS LATER a score of 4 brains out of 5!