Pros: See review
Cons: See review
The Bottom Line: For the horror buff there should be nothing better.
Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie''s plot. Ah the zombie movie, time tested and dare I say worn out? I remember my first zombie film, 1987’s Dawn of the Dead; I was sixteen years old and I had nightmare for months afterwards. I didn’t watch another such film for years afterwards and even today I will not watch Dawn of the Dead. So why you may ask did I sit down and watch last year’s zombie blood-fest 28 Weeks Later (2007), the sequel to 2002’s 28 Days Later? It was time.
The Story-Line
Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo 28 Weeks Later picks up, well 28 weeks after a deadly Rage virus (transmitted by saliva) hits and virtually wipes out the human population Great Britain. This story opens as couple Alice (Catherine McCormack – The Tailor of Panama) and Don (Robert Carlyle – Trainspotting, The Full Monty, Eragon) hold up in a English countryside house hiding from zombies. Suddenly there is load knocking at the front door, someone, or something is trying to get in.
They reluctantly open the door to a little boy, but he has been followed by the zombies (his Mum and Dad to hear him tell it), and well you can guess the rest. Don tries protect his wife but the in the rush they are separated, he leaves her and the boy and she is infected. Don escapes to live another day.
The virus is now thought to eradicated, and the U.S. Army and NATO now occupies England, so London is slowly repopulated. Don and Alice’s children Tammy (Imogen Poots – V for Vendetta) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton) resettle to London and re-unite with their father. The children make an unauthorized trip to their old home and Andy finds his mother hiding in the attic; she has been infected, but has not turned into a zombie.
She is being treated by Scarlet (Rose Byrne – Troy, Damages) a U.S. Army officer when Don gets word that she is still alive and goes to see her unaware of course that she has been infected. They make out he becomes infected, gets loose and re-infects the city.
My thoughts
For a modern day horror film 28 Weeks Later is entertaining, more of a curiosity for me than a true horror film. Yes there was blood and a few guts but not nearly as graphic and personal much as in zombie movies of old. But, the movie is (mostly) intelligently written, with well-sketched characters, political allegory, great special effects, a healthy dose of tension and plenty of fast moving high-energy zombie flesh.
But there are implausible(s) as well, such as why Alice was left guarded; how Don was able to get to her; and how the military allowed Don, once infected to escape so easily. Yes I know it was necessary for the story, but...
...And here is another biggie: zombies are supposed to be brain-dead but Don shows a remarkable level of intelligence, and he uses it not only to escape fire bombings and poisonous gas, but manages to track his son across London! Unlike the other zombies, he is a loner, a one man infection machine…huh?
Despite the plot holes there is an emotional connection, both to the ancient and storied city of London, and to the children in this film. You (I) wanted them (the children) to be okay, I wanted them to survive. Of course it helps that the cast gave its all to this gritty film about the end of mankind, most notably newcomers Poots and Muggleton, as the children who have been dropped into an inescapable calamity that may have been caused by their own parents.
Above all else, the message that 28 Weeks Later conveys, wrapped as it is in blood and gore, is that despite own supposed intelligent and dominion over the Earth, humanity often regresses in the face of complete and utter devastation wrought by their fellow humans.
The malady that infests London, this Rage virus is a beast of ungodly proportions, it is the End-of-Days, one of the Four Houseman of the Apocalypse, if one believes in that fable. The Rage virus is horrifying and unsettling in every imaginable way, but it is not that much different from zombie movies of old; the setting is different, but the story is essentially the same; after all how many different ways can you turn humans into flesh eating machines? And the allegory remains essentially unchanged.
Next up, zombies eat Paris...
Recommended:
Yes
Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age
