As good as a horror sequel can possibly be

Rating: 8/10 (19 May 2007)

Being a huge fan of the first installment, I eagerly anticipated 28 weeks later. The movie starts with a highly suspenseful and terrific introduction that lets the audience know they wont be disappointed. After that, it slows down dramatically for about a half an hour. This interim while slow, serves the purpose of introducing the audience to the main characters, and there are quite a lot of them...
In fact, I was unable to identify the protagonist of the movie. At first I thought it was Robert Carlyle's character, then Sgt. Doyle, then the very attractive medical officer, then Perrineau's character, then the boy, then the girl... and now that I have seen the entire movie, I still have no clue who the main character was. Perhaps this is a flaw in the plot, or perhaps it served to make the movie unique. I personally feel that the director intended for this to happen.
Acting wise, the movie definitely delivered. The action and gore far surpassed the original as virtually all horror sequels do. There were several plot holes that I noticed, but I was willing to overlook them as the plot overall wasn't too bad. It was a little over the top at times, but in general, the plot was fairly clever and easy to follow.
The movie was quite suspenseful with several shocking 'hearattack' moments. But it seemed to lack the underlying subtle terror that the original had. There was really nothing all that groundbreaking either. This film certainly didn't have the edge that 28 days later had but it made up for it with superior special effects and a more distinguished cast. While I really liked this movie as well as the original, I hope that there will not be a 3rd or 4th installment. I feel like it will only get much worse from here and the clever story, unique filming techniques, and everything else that made these two films solid will only get more mundane with another sequel. But be that as it may, a 28 months later seems all but inevitable.