One of the Best Horror Films in a Long Time

Rating: 9/10 (14 May 2007)

I went into the theater not having a clue as what to expect with this movie. I had seen a very short trailer that didn't give anything away and I'm glad for this.
I was so afraid that this was going to be yet another zombie movie that is set in some post apocalyptic time frame where the movie feels more like Mad Max with Zombies than it feels like a horror movie. Don't get me wrong, I will still watch these and love them but not like 28 Weeks Later. I loved how this had a very realistic progression from the first story. If something like this did happen in real life then I can see things being realistically similar to 28 Weeks Later. A NATO force, particularly US forces moving in to help contain the problem was spot on. This wasn't only realistic but also made a great back drop for zombie killing fun and 28 Weeks does it with style. One of the other things I liked a lot was the retaining of the look of the first film as well as the sound. I've seen plenty of people mention the love of the grainy film type used to keep the feel of the first film but few mention the music that was the same or at least very close to the same as the first. Both of these things really helped me like this film along with its predecessor. The rabid, ultra furious zombies on crack are back as 28 Weeks continues to show the advantage of not using slow dumb zombies as the enemy. To say that it is more intense to see a very quick rabid looking zombie actually running after people is more intense than traditional zombies would be an understatement. To the credit of traditional zombie films I guess I should point out of course that what we call zombies in 28 Days and 28 Weeks aren't zombies at all as one would define them in past zombie films since they aren't even dead. We are really talking about a virus that infects humans and makes them crave flesh. I guess it would be more funny than scary to see a half rotten corpse running full speed like those infected in 28 Days/Weeks. Nevertheless, my point is that the infected zombie like creatures in the 28 Days/Weeks movies really build tension to the max with their ferocity. About the only thing I wish I had seen in 28WL would have been the original actors from 28 Days. I had really grown fond of the characters in the first film and would have liked to have seen them involved in the second. Then again, I suppose they wouldn't have transitioned into the updated storyline very easily. So, this is merely a minor complaint and is really rather picky considering how great 28WL was. I hope to see a 28 Months later before too long. :-)