Good shock flick - compares very favourably to the original

Rating: 8/10 (15 May 2007)

28 Weeks Later builds on the tension, horror and shock value of the first film and delivers a new level of frights and scares that had the people in the packed movie theatre I was in gasping, jumping in their seats and hiding their eyes behind their shaking hands.
28 Weeks Later continues the story of the Rage Virus that has decimated the UK, and sees the US Military establishing quarantine Zones for survivors in an effort to repopulate London. The virus is thought to be extinct after all the infected have starved to death, but of course, it's not long before an infected survivor brings the Rage virus into the safe zone, and all hell breaks loose as the Military is forced to execute Code Red - total extermination of the population.
The storyline is original, the way that the virus reappears is quite clever, and the pace never lets up in a film that is sure to please and shock most viewers. The scares come thick and fast, the soundtrack is relentless and there are many claustrophobic and highly impressive cinematographic scenes that serve to scare, unnerve and increase the tension.
Spoilers FOLLOW! The scenes in the crowded underground when the lights go off and one zombie manages to decimate half the survivors is truly frightening, and the scene with the helicopter decapitating the zombies on the hill is awesome.
Rose Byrne is excellent in this Ripley-esquire role, and the children aren't the typical annoying or precocious screen brats, so you actually empathise with all the main characters and pray for their survival.
Be warned, there are gory scenes and it is extremely graphic and violent in places (Robert Carlisle gives his wife some tough love!) but it certainly provides entertainment.
There were a few places when the crowd laughed (Robert Carlisle tells his wife he is happy she's alive after leaving her for dead months earlier) and many people left the cinema talking excitedly about the film and recapping their favourite scene.
Good movie, great scare and good entertainment - recommended but not for young kids or a date movie :P