A dark disturbing film that remains with you long after the end credits

Rating: 6/10 (24 August 2008)

When I first saw the trailer for 28 weeks later, the overhead shots of apache gun ships and jets firing money shots disguised as missiles and bombs into London like a UK version of Independence Day didn't give me much hope for this film. My first reaction was oh no the studio and film makers have been infected by the greed virus and this is going to be a lowest common dominator film, made by a focus group who had just read how to make zombie films for dummies. However I couldn't be more wrong on just how good this film was and how little it sold out.
If you expecting a no brains blood splattering zombie film with Arnie look a-likes firing rocket launchers from their sides in an endless spiral of blood, then avoid this film. Instead it paints a bleak and hopeless landscape, a far darker and broody brother to 28 days later, It is grim and desolate and it doesn't let up from the first scene to the last. It is more kinetic than the first film with less time for character development and more action. While 28 days later shows what it would be like to wake up in a world after the apocalypse. 28 weeks later puts you right into the middle of that hell and as a result the action and intensity is relentless. Saying this even with limited screen time the main characters remain solid with only the peripheral ones being slightly weak, but in no way does this spoil the films.
All Zombie films fall into the realm of fantasy or quasi-believable; they take a sense of truth and reality and twist it. Zombie films in many ways are cousins to fantasy films and you'll get the most out of this film if you watch it with this frame of mind. 28 Weeks later was not designed to stand-up to scientific scrutiny, there are some plot developments that wouldn't stand-up in a court of law. But like all fantasy films this is not the point. The films makers were never trying to make a super realistic docu-style film. Even the rage virus itself was skipped over in the first film and the director and writer admitted that they themselves didn't know a whole lot about the origin of the virus. They were out to make a zombie film and a statement about modern life and where we maybe heading, which is what all the best zombie films do. 28 Weeks later has some truly terrifying and disturbing scenes. The action is brutal and packed with emotions; there is only one over the top scene, which seems like homage to other zombie films. But that is the only time this film looks into the past; it is not a rehash of 28 days later. It has a very different pace, but certainty comes from the same family with a high quality of production and direction.
This is well directed quality film with more than a few shocks in it, definitely not a date movie, but a disturbing statement about modern times and is harder to watch that 28 days later. Like all films that ask uncomfortable question about the present, not everyone is ready to hear the answer and it will be a love or hate film as you can see from the reviews. But as time goes by this film will grow in stature and become a snap shot of the times, just like all great zombie films.