Brave horror in this era of lightweight movie-making

Rating: 7/10 (9 September 2007)

Credit to this movie is the fact I'm moved to comment at all. As a hardened horror fan I am seldom moved to do so by todays' safe, formulaic, cookie-cut offerings.
I began watching 28 Weeks with modest expectations. The first of this soon-to-be-trilogy excited me primarily as it marked a shift in British output; it didn't have Hugh Grant (aaargh) in it; it was a horror; it was made on a budget. As a movie though, it left me feeling a little under-fed.
28 Weeks however is a rawer, meatier dish.
Not since the first 11 minutes of Dawn (2004) has an opening segment grabbed my attention and stirred my senses. Sadly, Dawn 2004 quickly put me back to sleep for the remainder, but 28 Weeks faired much better.
The first half of this movie is extremely bold and genuinely jarring in parts (how rare is that!). The second half markedly is less so. No spoilers here, but suffice it to say this is almost certainly part 2 of 3. In that context, the less breakneck mid and concluding sections are forgivable, even right and understandable.
Not wishing to steal from others observations, but I read a review on here discussing this movie being less character-driven. I wondered how that could be, but having now seen it, I'd say that is not only true, but the core strength of 28 Weeks. It is the virus, the horror of reality, the infected, the breakdown of systems, the American response and ultimately hope for the future that drives this story.
Much more than a question of 'how will this character survive?'. The question begs more of 'can this virus ever be stopped?'.
From an aesthetic perspective, I was certainly no fan of the high shutter speed, shaky-cam approach to action scenes so prevalent in 28 Days; and unfortunately it's back in force.
Used sparingly, this effect does work - giving the viewer a more frantic, discombobulating, brutal sense of the infected, but once again, I found it overused. Perhaps this is now a 'signature effect' for the franchise; but I'd like to see less of it, and at times be given a half a chance to compute what I'm seeing.
Many say that the best gore is that made-up by the viewers own imagination, implied gore if you will (as in the infamous 'Reservoir Dogs ear'). For me, part of my enjoyment of horror has always been real FX, real gore, Savini style.
It's fair to say 28 Weeks has both. The high-speed shaky-cam quick-cut stuff I'm sure left me thinking I'd seen things I hadn't, but also there was a good portion of honest-to-goodness shock FX. More of the latter and less of the former would be nice for 28/3.
Fine acting throughout, especially memorable was young Imogen Poots.
Odd name, truly memorable face. Not for a long time have I seen an actress/actor say so much with just expression. From Casualty to (the excellent) V for Vendetta and then this; she's rightly doing rather well for herself.
To conclude, I'm now quite a fan of this franchise where before I was a little indifferent. There _will_ be another instalment, and I look forward to it! I hope it retains and builds on the punch of this movie, and with luck, punch hard consistently throughout. Nothing short of a truly shocking climax to this series would do.
Watch this movie. Lights out, late at night, volume up. It's a rare beast - - - horror with frights.
P.S. Great soundtrack too! 7 / 10