Terrifyingly Unexpected

Rating: 9/10 (7 May 2017)

The 21st century has been flooded with films and TV shows about zombie apocalypses, so it's difficult for any of them to stand out and feel completely fresh. But there's something about the '28' series that really hits well for me. There's something so glorious about seeing the streets of London be a wasteland that only occupies a select few living and undead.
Similar to how the Cloverfield films are related but not directly tied in, 28 Days Later is a prequel of sorts, but the characters and plot are entirely different. 28 Weeks Later picks up after London is deemed safe and virus free, as the undead have starved to death after the events of the previous film. Of course, apparently it was a good idea for the military to reoccupy London and start building up a civilization again, even though it was the center of disaster only a half a year earlier. Implausible probably, but we've never really seen an apocalyptic series that attempts to go back and restart civilization from the same area. Usually we either see everything as the apocalypse is going down, or maybe several years later. So, in that way I like what the film tried to do.
I also found the cast to be quite impressive. Not only do you have some nice lead turns from Robert Carlyle and Catherine McCormack, but you have Idris Elba, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, and Imogen Poots before they became famous. All of which, do a wonderful job in roles that aren't necessarily flushed out. That partly because it's only 100 minutes long, but mostly because the film never takes a breath. That could lead to pacing and character issues, but with a non-stop action-horror, it actually works to the benefit of the experience. Adding to that experience are running zombies. Yeah, I'm looking at you every other horror film, it's cool to make them run.
But perhaps the biggest compliment I can give to the film is its utterly unpredictable. With a horror film, you expect there to be an ample amount of deaths, but the way in which Juan Carlos Fresnadillo directs the deaths is terrifyingly unexpected. And when you can't see where the terror is coming from in a horror film than you're in for something special. In all, 28 Weeks Later improves upon 'Days' scares, story, characters, and plot to make for one exciting entry in the horror/sci-fi/drama genre.
+Great performances
+Horrific scares
+Refreshing take on apocalyptic zombie flicks
+Unpredictable
9.0/10