A superb second installment

Rating: 9/10 (24 April 2008)

There is one shot very early on in 28 Weeks Later where Robert Carlyle's character is seen fleeing a house that has been breached by the "infected" (I'll be referring to them as zombies from here on out, for simplicity's sake), leaving his fellow healthy survivalists -- including his wife -- to fend for themselves. Carlyle runs like hell, and we see in his face a sudden twinge of guilt and helpless desperation. It's nothing over-the-top; just a fleeting and seemingly natural reaction to what he has just done.
This is the moment where director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo shows us how he is going to turn a sequel to a moderately successful 2003 zombie flick into a great and wholly original film of his own. 28 Weeks Later is so triumphant that, as a sequel, I would say it falls just short of Aliens' greatness. This is a highly original entry into the zombie subgenre, whose realism and strong establishment of its unique tone and universe set it apart from other zombie movies (including 28 Days Later).
I won't go into the plot because, like any effective horror film, 28 Weeks Later's brilliance is in its simple and visceral structure. There are no huge derivations or twists that cause the material it adapts from the previous film to jump the shark, and there are no gimmicks. There are, however, some intriguing revelations in store. Otherwise, it's refreshingly forthright and streamlined for a horror sequel, and something that you simply have to experience.
The film features some solid performances, especially from the always reliable Carlyle and plucky newcomer Imogen Poots. And the proceedings are spiced up by amazing action sequences, including a fire bombing of the Isle of Dogs and a helicopter vs. zombie showdown that has to be seen to be believed.
Considerably more concise and tautly constructed than its predecessor, 28 Weeks Later might just be the superior film.