Remains more likable the less you think about it

Rating: 5/10 (31 October 2007)

28 Weeks Later has such an interesting and dramatic premise that it should be able to carry itself despite many flaws, and it does - almost. There is a lot to like about this movie, and if you liked the first one you ought to see this one too. Don't get your hopes too high, though.
Most of the problems with this movie (like the complete lack of effective security measures in the repopulated zone) have already been covered by other reviewers, so I'll stick to the thing that troubled me the most.
The biggest problem I have with this movie are the two main characters; a preteen boy and his teenage sister. They are likable kids and you feel sympathy for them throughout the movie, which is really ironic because insofar as the story goes, they, the British Isles, and indeed the entire planet would have been better off if somebody had put bullets into their heads in the very first scene. Seriously, you spend the whole movie caring about these kids, then after the show you stop and think more deeply about the fact that it was because of these two kids that the Rage virus re-emerges in England, and then, through a separate action by the same kids, it spreads to the rest of the world. That's right, the little buggers not only release it once, but twice. *BAM* *BAM*, two casings hit the floor followed by two bodies, end of problem, life can go on now. That would make for too short a movie though, I suppose. So there you have it - we could have contained the virus and saved the world if it wasn't for those meddling kids. Ruh roh.