An entertaining and worthy sequel

Rating: Null/10 (27 May 2007)

Many zombie purists will argue that 28 Days Later was NOT a zombie film. And in a way they're right, Danny Boyle first showed us the rage virus as being something that does not kill you, but turns you into a blood-thirsty maniac...in a matter of seconds. Not a slow walking, moaning, rotting corpse which wanders aimlessly looking for brains.
In many ways the human who is infected with the rage virus is a far, far more terrifying adversary. Mainly because when they spot you, they instantly run full pelt at you, and don't let up. They infect you by either biting or beating the crap out of you and then vomiting blood in your face. Not a nice way to go.
28 days later, was really a social commentary that hinted to the fact that millions and millions of people die from infectious diseases each year around the globe, and that we really don't know what's next on the natural disease list. Mother nature could finally figure out a way to tell us Homo Sapiens to "get lost" once and for all - and that was what made 28 days later so scary, so real, and so brutal.
So fast forward 28 weeks later, and what so we get, we get a ravaged England that is now under US military control and has been sectioned off. We get thousands of refugees streaming in from the countryside, to start all over again. People from all walks of life, who are trying to make a life again for themselves.
Yet there's a problem.
No one knows where the virus has gone. Has it evolved, has it a new carrier? Understandably tensions are still among the people. It only takes one outbreak to start the chaos - and, well...I think you know what happens from here.
But 28 weeks later is a very simple story, its a very straightforward and in many ways short plot line, but effective none the less. Its a lot more intense and violent that the original, and there are some scenes where you'll laugh out loud as the director clearly pays homage to the zombie genre - with plenty of gory head-shots! Its a well acted film, and the actors all play their roles convincingly - even the infected. For people wanting a deeper meaning to their horror, it won't deliver on that level. But for people wanting a good scare at the Friday night cinema, you'll get what's expected.
28 weeks later does what its supposed to do - and that is scare you, not necessarily with cheap scares, but the good old "base under siege" and the "will they make it" plot line.
Its a good horror film, and deserves to be watched in a packed cinema.