Disappointing sequel, I preferred the original to be honest.

Rating: 5/10 (11 May 2007)

28 Weeks Later... is set in a decimated London & starts as all the infected created by the rage virus have died of starvation, a US led Nato group has set up an area in London to start the re-population of England. Don (Robert Carlyle) survived the virus & is reunited with his two children Tammy (Imogen Poots) & Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton) whom he tells the bad news about their mother Alice (Catherine McCormack) being killed by one of the infected. Tammy & Andy break out of the quarantined living area & into a deserted London where they hope to go to their old house which they do, once there they find their supposedly dead mum hiding in a bedroom. They are all taken back & Alice is examined by a military scientist named Scarlet (Rose Byrne) who makes the shocking discovery that Alice is infected with the virus but somehow has an immunity to it, unfortunately since the virus is present in her blood Alice is also a carrier of the virus & it's not long before there's another outbreak...
This British production was co-written & directed Juan Carlos Fresnadillo & is a disappointing follow up to the original 28 Days Later... (2002) in my opinion. The script by Fresnadillo, Rowan Joffe, Jesus Olmo & E.L. Lavigne starts off a bit too slowly for my liking, in fact the first 30 odd minutes of 28 Weeks Later... is nothing more than exposition about the aftermath of the outbreak & bringing the viewer up speed on the situation as it stands at present, this actually feels almost semi-documentary & news report like. Then, eventually, the action kicks in & it's pretty uninspired stuff to be honest. There's the usual small group of survivors who have to combat an evil menace, in this case the infected & it all seems rather routine & a tad dull. 28 Weeks Later... reminds heavily of Aliens (1986), there's the initial threat which has supposedly been eradicated, there's the gung-ho American military, there's the annoying brat of a kid & a complete stranger who sudden thinks they're the most important thing in the world & all sorts of unlikely coincidences & a fair helping of bad luck & stupidity which sets a chain of unfortunate events going including rounding the entire public population in a single room & only locking one door & not guarding them so when the infected arrive they can just walk right on in & have plenty of victims to choose from... Then there's the awful character's, the only likable one gets cooked while the kids really are annoying & since they were the ones who pretty much caused the entire situation in the first place I had absolutely no sympathy with them & I actually wanted them to die, horribly. The ironic ending where the good hearted scientist & soldier sacrifice their lives to get Andy & Tammy to safety even though they too carry the infection but show no symptom's like their mum which then spreads the virus even further is probably the most effective thing about the entire film. Having said that it's watchable on a certain level, the second half of the film does pick up & it moves along at a reasonable pace, if your undemanding then you may enjoy it but I personally didn't think it was anything special at all.
Director Fresnadillo ruins the whole thing by filming it on grainy hand-held camcorders which shake about all over the place especially during the action scenes so it's sometimes difficult to see what's happening & that quickly becomes both annoying & frustrating. Then there's the quick fire 'blink and you'll miss it' editing which also makes it difficult to see what's happening, both the shaky camera & quick editing techniques have been used a fair bit recently in horror films & I personally hate both. Why can't people just make a proper film? The whole gritty, realistic documentary look irritates me & I don't know one single other person who likes this style. Forget about much gore, there's a fair amount of blood splatter, there's an eye gouging, some gory gunshot wounds & the films showstopper moment when a group of the infected are mowed down by helicopter blades but overall there's not much here if your looking for gore.
Techncially the film is fine, there are some impressive expansive aerial shots of London & some of it's landmarks. It was nice to see the new Wembley make an appearance at the end, ironically when the first film 28 days Later... was made it hadn't been built yet! The acting was alright, no one going to win any awards & that young kid with the long girly hair just got on my nerves throughout. The always dependable Robert Carlyle is as watchable as ever though.
28 Weeks Later... is an OK time waster although I expected & had hoped for more than that, overall I was disappointed by a largely dull, forgettable & ordinary film.