28 Weeks Later
Okay, I’m joking about the Sandra Bullock movie. I’m also writing this review never having seen the original 28 Days Later, although the plot of the sequel is easy enough to follow for newcomers. The basic facts are laid out right in the beginning- most of the population of jolly old England has been decimated by a genetically-engineered virus known as Rage, turning its victims into violently insane creatures known as the Infected. Their only thought is to kill and/or spread the infection, and the Rage virus has an almost 100% communicability rate when passed through bodily fluids, with major symptoms appearing to manifist within mere seconds from exposure. The Infected’s eyes become blood red, they vomit copious amounts of tainted blood, and are generally rather unplesant to be around socially.
Anyway, the virus spreads like wildfire but luckily for the Brits, those pesky Infected have one major problem- their instinct for self-preservation is all but nil, which not only makes them relentless killing machines but also numbskulls that don’t even bother to eat. Eventually, the Infected all starve and die, leaving England a deserted wasteland. Our movie first opens during the initial Rage outbreak, where we find a frightened group hiding out from the Infected in a small cottage in the countryside. Among them are Don (Robert Carlyle) and his wife Alice (Catherine McCormack), who are worried sick about the fates of their children, separated from them in the chaos. Suddenly the Infected manage to break in, and Don does what any real man would do when the love of his life is threatened- he turns tail and runs out on her, leaving Alice to a presumably horrible death. Now, this initial bit of character development may turn some off, but honestly, having Don abandon his wife like that was an interesting twist you usually don't see in most movies. Sure, it was low, but people do messed-up things when they're in a blind panic. Think about it- if you were in that situation, what would you really do? We’d all like to say that we’d go Arnold on the Infected and take them out single-handedly with a butter knife, but reality is harsh for some people (not me, of course!). The movie then jumps forward “28 weeks later” and a ruined London is now occupied by American-led NATO forces. A “safe” zone, called District 1, has been established and many of the British survivors are being transplanted there after having been evacuated to elsewhere in Europe during the outbreak. It is here that Don is reunited with his missing children Tammy (Imogen Poots) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton), who naturally are curious about what happened to mommy. Don, clearly consumed with guilt, nonetheless lies and tells his children how he tried real hard to help Alice but, darn it, she got herself killed anyway. Things look bad for dear old dad, however, when his kids sneak out of District 1 to visit their old house and find mom hiding out, seemingly alive and well. Whoops! Alice is quarantined and it is discovered that, while managing to survive, she did not do so unscathed. But despite bearing multiple bite wounds from the Infected, she exhibits no signs of being overtaken with Rage. It turns out that she has some kind of natural, hereditary immunity to the virus, and that shocking discovery may well lead to a cure. Don, naturally feeling lower than poop, heads to the military medical headquarters and approaches his oddly unguarded wife, begging for her forgiveness. She gives it (what a sucker), and the two kiss. Unfortunately for everyone in District 1, Alice is this movie’s version of Typhoid Mary- while she’s unaffected by the Rage virus, she’s still a carrier, and in seconds Don is fully overtaken and becomes one of the Infected. Brutally killing his wife (I bet she won’t forgive that so easily, ha ha), Don then starts randomly attacking and infecting NATO soldiers and before you know it, London is swarming with those wacky Infected once again. Don’s children, sharing their mother’s genes, may also hold the secret to ending the Rage virus. With the help of several rouge soldiers who realize Tammy and Andy’s value to the human race, they must not only escape the Infected, but the NATO forces who have enacted their doomsday plan. Will anyone survive? 28 Weeks Later is a pretty good movie. There was a creepy, post-apocalyptic vibe permeating every abandoned, ruined street of London and you really got the feel that something truly horrible had happened. The concept of the Rage virus itself was rather frightening, considering how fast it was capable of spreading from person to person, in addition to the sheer savagery displayed by the Infected. Acting-wise, everyone involved was very solid all-around. Still, no one's abilities really stood out from the others, aside from perhaps the two children. Both Imogen Poots and Mackintosh Muggleton (who named these kids, and why did they hate them so?) really made a good show of freaking out realistically whenever things were looking grim. Of course, no movie is perfect, and 28 Weeks Later has its share of problems. I’ll just list them off one-by-one and be done with it: 1) Just when you think its safe, the Shakey Cam returns! If you’re not sure what I mean, it’s when they try to make things seem “intense” and “real” by shaking the camera around so much that you can’t see anything that’s happening. And as much as I normally despise this practice, the makers of 28 Weeks Later got creative and found a way to torment me further- they used the Shakey Cam, in a dark room, with a strobe light effect thrown in. My eyes almost bled. 2) Once infected, Don keeps magically showing up in the most ridiculous places, over and over. It actually ends up getting pretty stupid after a while. 3) I'm glad there were American actors in this movie, if only so I didn't have to listen to heavy cockney accents the whole time. Mild Brit accents are cute, but voices like Don’s are annoying. His teeth are pretty horrifying as well, and that's before he's even infected. 4) They’re already trying to re-populate England a mere 6 months after a viral outbreak practically destroys the whole country? That seems a wee bit fast, huh? 5) It’s always good to see Harold Perrineau in a movie (he plays a helicopter pilot in this one), but he looks really weird with short hair. So, in closing, 28 Weeks Later interested me enough to actually want to rent the original film, despite certain friends warning me that it’s the worst movie ever made. I certainly hope it’s not, but if 28 Days Later does end up being truly wretched, at least the sequel has raised the bar much higher for the inevitable 28 Months, Years, and Decades Later. See you then.
Christopher Boyle E-mail This Page | Talk About It | Local Showtimes | Past Reviews
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28 Weeks Later is a horror movie and sequel to the critically acclaimed 28 Days Later by director Danny Boyle (no relation), which itself was a sequel to the hit film 28 Days starring the always-spunky Sandra Bullock.
