28 Weeks Later :: Wessex Scene Online

28 Weeks Later

Robert Carlyle Runs from the zombies

25th May 2007
Daniel Morelle

About this film

Title	28 Weeks Later
Director	Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Release Date	11 May 2007
Certificate
Genres	Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Our Rating	3.5/5.0
Shown at Union Films Tuesday 9th October 2007 10:00pm

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28 weeks later trailer

This sequel to 2002’s surprise horror hit 28 Days Later sees the efforts to rebuild Britain after the devastating outbreak of the Rage virus.

Overseen by the U.S. Military, London is in the midst of being sanitised and people are gradually being allowed back into the capital to resettle. Of course, only an idiot would believe that the threat of the Rage virus has truly gone (unless you’ve seen the trailer).

With Danny Boyle, the director of the previous instalment, busy on Sunshine, the chair has passed to Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, director of 2001’s Spanish language thriller Intacto. This is a wise choice as Fresnadillo brings a strong visual style that is immediately felt in the action scenes. These set pieces are ingenious, from the relatively small scale farm house attack with frenzied camerawork expertly conveying the sense of panic and confusion, to the mind-blowing where London is fire bombed, and are subsequently the major strong points of the film.

As well as upping the action, Fresnadillo has expanded the original premise of the first film. The infection and its impact are seen from more of a global perspective, giving this film contemporary and political relevance. In addition, the film’s focus on the family unit grants it further complexity, but it is also its greatest flaw. One of the successes of the original was that its main characters, though distinct in their own right, still had an ‘every person’ quality about them that allowed the audience to imagine themselves in their situation and wonder what they would do, something that all great films of this genre manage to accomplish. But the distinct focus on the family does not provide for this, and this leaves you with an unshakeable sense of detachment, despite the uniformly strong performances from the cast.

It is for those reasons that 28 Weeks Later fails to surpass the excellent original, but in an age of manufactured scares aimed at the teen market it is refreshing to see a horror film with such conviction and depth beneath its surface, and this makes it worth seeing.