I never cared much for zombie movies. Although I appreciate the quality of his first three Dead films compared to something like Resident Evil, Romero never set my world on fire, so I didn’t care that the zombies in 28 Days Later ran around, and I liked the first hour of that film, before Doctor Who showed up. I tell you this because I know a lot of you take this zombie business seriously, and will judge this film in comparison to the others. So scoff all you want, but I enjoyed 28 Weeks Later more than any other zombie film except Shaun Of The Dead (besides, this isn’t a zombie film, according to the people at 20th Century Fox, who really don’t like the Z-word).
After a very brutal, harrowing opening scene that gets your adrenaline on the go, the plot picks up after 28 Days... finished. Britain has been quarantined, those infected with the virus have died of starvation, London is a devastated shitheap, and just as American troops are successfully embarking on a repopulation programme, all hell breaks loose. That’s all you need to know for now.
With a new director and a new writer, this is much more of a genre movie than its predecessor, with louder noise and more disgusting gore; it’s what Aliens is to Alien – ie, not as dreary, stark or subtle, but making up for it with a lot more nastiness and action. At its core is a strong family story which is effective enough to make you care at least a little bit, but, just as importantly, there are some truly inventive, exciting set-pieces involving people on fire, snipers, night-vision, eerie shots of an empty London, mass carnage, and a very impressive bit involving a helicopter and lots of blood. Isn’t that what you want, for God’s sake?
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