DVD Review: 28 Weeks Later
28 Weeks Later (2007)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Release Date: October 9, 2007
Directed By: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Cast: Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Imogen Poots, Mackintosh Muggleton, Catherine McCormack
Brutal As Hell Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 stars
Review By: Annie Riordan
Outside of London, in an isolated farmhouse, a group of survivors have banded together as the Rage Virus decimates the country around them. When the infected suddenly discover the hideout and break in, cowardly Don makes a run for it, leaving his beloved wife behind to die. 28 weeks later, the American military has restored a small part of London and begin moving survivors into a high security compound, heavily guarded and under constant surveillance. But the security isn’t as tight as previously thought. Don’s children, Tammy and Andy, are devastated by the loss of their mother and sneak through the barricade into London, seeking their old home and hoping to retrieve some mementos. What they find instead is their mother, alive and infected, but resistant to the virus. The military hopes that her son Andy, who has also inherited his mother’s heterochromia iridium (two different colored eyes) carries a cure within his DNA. And a cure is needed fast as the Rage Virus suddenly breaks out anew within the compound and quickly spreads.
All in all, not a bad sequel to the stunningly successful 2002 original. It’s a bit like watching an American remake as the emphasis is more on fiery action scenes than on a sense of slow-building dread, but that’s okay. 28 Weeks Later is very good, catching your attention with a breath-taking chase scene through the English countryside at films beginning and sweeping you right along at a breakneck pace as the virus spreads like wildfire. Once this film gets going, it really never stops. It’s almost as exhausting a thrill ride as The Terminator.
I could have done without the splatter film boogeyman twist given to Robert Carlyle’s Don, who stalks about like Freddy Krueger once infected. But this isn’t Carlyle’s fault and, as always, he delivers a top notch performance. And I was happy to hear the galvanizing score from the original still intact here: this sequel never tries to one-up the original but still contains several nods in its direction.
A good cast combined with a swift moving story make 28 Weeks Later a winner, if not as classic as its predecessor. Definitely worth watching.
