Running time: 99 minutes
Starring: Robert Carlyle, Catherine McCormack, Rose Byrne, Amanda Walker, Harold Perrineau
Rating 8 out of 10
Set six months after the events of Danny Boyle's post-plague virus chiller, 28 Weeks Later takes the zombie theme and converts it into a spectacularly entertaining success. Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo made the stylish and engaging Intacto back in 2001, and the confidence he displays here ensures that audiences are in for an unsettling ride.
Boyle retains exec producer credit and this outing has a much more coherent script than its predecessor, which for all of its stylistic bells and whistles came undone in its last, somewhat ponderous, third. The sequel is taut, edge-of-the-seat stuff.
In a nod to the current global political situation, US forces now occupy Britain with an iron glove, creating a secure plague-free zone in the City of London. It's been six months since the last plague victim died, and although there have been no new outbreaks, they are taking no chances.
A spectacular and giddy opening sequence introduces us to Don (Robert Carlyle), forced into the selfish act of leaving his wife (Catherine McCormack) and escaping from the onslaught of zombie killers at the countryside hiding place. Riddled with guilt, Don enters the safety zone where some months later he is reunited with his children.
Unable to fully come to terms with the manner in which he left his wife, he consequently fudges his explanation to the kids, and when the teenagers use their own initiative to escape the secure zone and return to their house, they find their mother hiding in the attic. Once the army is called, and the mother returned to the lab, all hell breaks loose.
There are several well-produced sequences which take the excitement level up, and Enrique Chediak's cinematogrphy coupled with John Murphy's pounding score all help to keep the tension high. In terms of characters, it's a clean break from the original, with none of them returning, and Carlyle is impressive both as the tortured father and in the later sequences when the virus inevitably returns.
All-in-all a surprisingly effective sequel which should more than satisfy fans of the genre.
Paul Hurley
Boyle retains exec producer credit and this outing has a much more coherent script than its predecessor, which for all of its stylistic bells and whistles came undone in its last, somewhat ponderous, third. The sequel is taut, edge-of-the-seat stuff.
In a nod to the current global political situation, US forces now occupy Britain with an iron glove, creating a secure plague-free zone in the City of London. It's been six months since the last plague victim died, and although there have been no new outbreaks, they are taking no chances.
A spectacular and giddy opening sequence introduces us to Don (Robert Carlyle), forced into the selfish act of leaving his wife (Catherine McCormack) and escaping from the onslaught of zombie killers at the countryside hiding place. Riddled with guilt, Don enters the safety zone where some months later he is reunited with his children.
Unable to fully come to terms with the manner in which he left his wife, he consequently fudges his explanation to the kids, and when the teenagers use their own initiative to escape the secure zone and return to their house, they find their mother hiding in the attic. Once the army is called, and the mother returned to the lab, all hell breaks loose.
There are several well-produced sequences which take the excitement level up, and Enrique Chediak's cinematogrphy coupled with John Murphy's pounding score all help to keep the tension high. In terms of characters, it's a clean break from the original, with none of them returning, and Carlyle is impressive both as the tortured father and in the later sequences when the virus inevitably returns.
All-in-all a surprisingly effective sequel which should more than satisfy fans of the genre.
Paul Hurley
