Twenty-eight weeks have passed since the Rage virus struck Great Britain, and all of the infected have died. A NATO contingent under the command of the U.S. military has set up a safe zone in London, rebuilding the city and allowing roughly 15,000 refugees to return home.

When the latest group of refugees reenters the city, Donald Harris (Robert Carlyle), a civilian hired by the NATO forces to act as the super of an apartment complex, is reunited with his son Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton) and daughter Tammy (Imogen Poots), who were out of the country when the virus struck.

Although Donald tells his children that his wife, Alice (Catherine McCormack), was killed by a group of the infected, she soon turns up alive; to make matters worse, she’s carrying the virus.

CRITIQUE

Every 28 Days Later fan had every reason to worry about this sequel. Try as we might to be objective and keep an open mind, many of us were still wary. First off, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland weren’t returning (they do serve as executive producers, but so what?). Second, every successful horror film eventually gives rise to a follow-up, more often than not with disastrous results. Lastly, the previews made the film look like a big, dumb action flick, which didn’t jibe with the original (it may have worked for Aliens, but there’s always an exception). At best, this movie looked a like a crapshoot.

As it turns out, 28 Weeks Later is fine follow-up. It’s not as good as the original (the surprise is gone), but it’s still a damn good movie. Rather than continue the story of the characters from Days (which really would have been a dumb move), co-writer/director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (director of the Spanish thriller Intacto) opts to tell another tale set in the same world. And while the action plays out on a larger scale (in both senses), there’s still a rather small, personal story at the heart of the plot. And while it’s not as effective as that of Days, it does give the movie enough of an emotional core to prevent this from being just another action/horror flick.

The shooting and editing style Fresnadillo adopts is quite similar to the one Boyle employed. It still works, although one sequence is cut so frenetically it moves beyond chaotic and becomes incoherent. The action is expertly staged; the firebombing and inevitable helicopter-as-a-Cuisinart sequences are standouts, and the scene in which the snipers attempt to take down the infected is wonderfully constructed. And the pacing is relentless; the opening (set during roughly the same timeframe as Days) kicks the movie off with a bang, and there’s hardly a breathless moment until the end (which, not surprisingly, leaves the door open for a third installment).

Two things drag 28 Weeks Later down just a bit. There’s a scene near the end that’s intended to be fatalistic, but to me it comes off as contrived and a little too coincidental. And when it’s all said and done, the movie feels somewhat like a transitional piece. There are story elements that don’t play out completely, as if they’re being introduced here simply so they can factor in later (some interesting parallels are drawn between the Rage virus and AIDS, but not much is done with this). Hopefully they will pay off down the line, as there’s some serious potential in the world these movies portray.

One last thing: No disrespect to George Romero and his fans, but I think these two movies (and the Dawn of the Dead remake) have shown that zombies that can run are a hell of a lot more effective than ones that shamble along like little old ladies. (I know the infected in the 28 flicks aren’t technically zombies, but a character in Weeks refers to them as such, so I don’t see why the rest of us can’t do the same.) So unless Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg decide to make a sequel to Shaun of the Dead, why don’t we declare a moratorium on the waddling dead?

THE VIDEO

The movie was shot on a mixture of 35mm film, 16mm film, and HD video, which (intentionally) resulted in a wildly mixed look. This disc’s 1.85:1/1080p transfer expertly preserves that look, while at the same time calling attention to the problems inherent in the mix. The 35mm and HD segments generally look best, although the highly variable lighting wreaks havoc on depth and detail.

Grain in the 16mm footage, as you might expect, is rather heavy. Blacks are sometimes murky and indistinct (a couple of dark scenes are visually incomprehensible), and the filmmakers’ decision to shoot some sequences day-for-night only exacerbates this. As was the case with the original, the visual quality here is certainly fitting, and perhaps I’m being a bit harsher than is really necessary, but it’s still hard not to feel a twinge of disappointment.

THE AUDIO

The movie’s sound design is surprisingly front-heavy, so don’t expect much of a sonic assault from the disc’s DTS HD 5.1 Master Audio track. Audio in the quieter scenes collapses almost entirely into the center channel, with the surrounds and LFE channel only coming to life during a couple of the more intense action sequences.

Dialogue, somewhat surprisingly for a movie of this genre, is generally clear and intelligible, although a few whispered lines are somewhat difficult to make out. French and Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1 tracks are also included. English, Spanish, Cantonese, and Korean subtitles are available.

THE EXTRAS

The commentary by director/co-writer Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and co-producer Enrique López-Lavigne is both interesting and boring. It’s interesting when they’re discussing the movie’s themes and the hurdles of mounting a low-budget sequel to a low-budget sleeper hit, and boring when they’re either not speaking or simply describing the on-screen action.

Next up are two deleted scenes (6 minutes total). The first involves Don’s family’s first meeting with the military officer who befriends them, while the second is a rather stupid bit that was wisely cut from the finale. Fresnadillo and López-Lavigne provide optional commentary for these scenes.

Code Red: The Making of 28 Weeks Later (13 minutes) is a standard making-of featurette. Interviews with the actors and filmmakers are mixed with spoiler-filled film clips and behind-the-scenes footage.

The Infected (7 minutes) shines a spotlight on the numerous extras who play the victims of the Rage virus.

Getting Into the Action (7 minutes) offers a look into the planning/staging of the action sequences and also dips into some of the gore effects.

Also included are two animated chapters from 28 Days Later: The Aftermath (15 minutes total), the graphic novel that serves as a prequel to the first movie.    

Rounding out the extras is the movie’s theatrical trailer.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Not quite up to the original, but a damned fine second entry in the franchise nonetheless, 28 Weeks Later delivers the goods. Here’s hoping this series doesn’t start to eat its own tail anytime soon.