28 Weeks Later
28 Weeks Later is a great example of a crazy, exciting zombie thrill ride.
Review by Sirus

“28 Weeks Later” is the sequel to “28 Days Later”, a zombie movie with a twist. Be warned that this review will contain spoilers for the first movie if you think a zombie movie can be spoiled. In “28 Days Later” there was an outbreak of a virus that turned people into angry creatures that attacked and bit other people. Unlike in the traditional zombie movie, these infected will run towards you at full speed. People who are bitten by them turn within seconds. At the beginning of “28 Weeks Later,” we are told that the outbreak in “28 Days Later” was isolated to Britain through quarantine. The infected were left alone until they all died of starvation, Now a group of U.S. military personnel have cleared a section of the country for living. A new group of residents has just come in on a plane and, after preparation, are brought to the city. The residents are all told that it is strictly forbidden to leave the grounds because it is not safe outside the walls. One of the residents was a survivor from the first outbreak so he sent for his children who happened to be out of the country on a trip during the initial outbreak. Somebody should have told the military that you can’t have curious, adventurous children in an area they are forbidden to leave because, inevitably, they will want to escape.

WARNING CONTAINS SPOILERS:

The two children decide to take it upon themselves to find their mother whom they believe to still be alive despite assurances from their father that she died during the first outbreak. They sneak out of the safe zone, assuming they are undetected, and make their way towards their old home. To speed up their travels, they take a moped lying on the side of the road and ride it until they reach their house. When they get inside, they start grabbing a few things that they hold dear. The younger boy ventures upstairs and sees a figure moving in the shadows that he assumes is his sister playing tricks on him. Upon closer examination, he realizes it isn’t his sister but his mother who is still alive. She isn’t herself, though, so the boy runs down stairs just in time for the military to arrive. The three are taken back to the medical center of the base for decontamination before being allowed back into the population. The children are unharmed but their mother is found to be a carrier of the virus. Despite being a carrier, she is miraculously not displaying any symptoms of infection. Before they are able to kill her to prevent spread, her husband comes into the medical room where she is being held and kisses her, becoming infected himself. With that simple kiss, the infection is loose again. The man goes crazy within seconds and in his rage breaks out of the medical area, starting another outbreak. From that point on, the movie becomes a desperate attempt to contain the area and keep as many people free from infection as possible.

END OF SPOILERS

Being a zombie movie, there is quite a bit of gore to satisfy the gore-hungry in the audience. The movie manages to finally do away with one of the most annoying staples of zombie movies, arguing amongst the survivors. “28 Weeks Later” still retains a film technique that was used in “28 Days Later” that makes a lot of the fight scenes hard to focus on. To present a sense of chaos, many of the action scenes are shot through a camera that never focuses on anything for very long. This technique is successful at creating the sense of chaos but makes it impossible to see any of the gore. If you are a fan of zombie movies and don’t mind your zombies running around, “28 Weeks Later” is a great example of a crazy, exciting zombie thrill ride. The movie never drags and keeps the audience informed of what is going on for the most part. Some might be disappointed by the ending because it leaves room for a sequel but if the sequel is as good as the first two, I will wait patiently for it.

Final Score: 4.5/5

Second Opinion by Dack

Five reasons why 28 Weeks Later Rocks: Amazing Visuals, Shaky Stedicam, Awesome Zombies, Scary, and it has Good Music! One Reason why it doesn't: Story not very deep, especially compared to 28 Days Later.

Final Score: 4/5

Overall Score: 4.25/5