Blow something up, blow it up again.

Rating: 8/10 (4 August 2008)

Now this film could have been a complete washout, a quick low-budget cash-in. Luckily it wasn't.
28 Weeks Later is a sequel to the successful zombie 28 Days Later. As the title suggests, the film takes place 28 weeks after the original out-break of the Rage virus in Britain. The film starts with Don (Robert Carlyle) with his wife Alice (Catherine McCormack), and a group of other survivors in a blackout out house just trying to survive. A young boy comes and begs to be let in and after that the infected start to attack the house. This is when Don leaves without his wife and suffers from surviver's guilt. The film then jumps into the future and the American military are in London helping with the reconstruction of Britain, and start to repopulate Britain from the Isle of Dogs (not a good place to start in my opinion). Within the returning civilians are Don's teenage daughter and 12-year-old son. After hearing his story they break out of the green zone and head towards where there old home was. It is there when they find their mum, who is a alive and not infected. Sciencfic studies showed that she had the virus but was immune to its affects. It was then when the virus is re-introduced to the capital.
This film could have been a poisoned chalice to anyone who took it on. However, I felt that the director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, did a very good job. He has a good reputation in Spain as a horror director when he did Intacto and this was his second major film. He has good potential in the Spanish and English speaking world. 28 Weeks Later is a bit more actioned packed then 28 Days Later, but I don't think thats a bad thing. It is a very good on a horror level as well, being subtle, and gory. There are a lot of good scenes in this film and shows that the British Industry can challenge Hollywood. The horror genre can be subject to bad effects and bad acting, but this film doesn't do that. There are some good actors which experienced backwards: no Z-listers or people just starting out, except for the child actors. There is also a political sub-context in this film, namely about the Iraq war and American foreign policy. There are things such the mission accomplished when the war is still is going on, the use of terms like Green-zone and reconstruction and some troops itching for action. The film is critical of American policy and some of the senior military leadership, but it also shows that some American characters in a positive light.
28 Days Later isn't as good as 28 Weeks Later, but it is still a worthy film and a good addiction to the horror genre. There is also plenty of room for a second sequel.