Review: 28 Weeks Later (2007)

Many sequels to truly great movies end up disappointments. This summer really showcased many of them, but one move somehow managed to avoid the sequel-itis and payed great homage to the original. And that's really all that 28 Weeks Later is; not necessarily a real full-blown movie, but one that pays tribute to the original and adds it own twist. Its just an adequate zombie film.


I'll have to admit, watching 28 weeks later is enjoyable. It has characters you actually relate with, real moral dilemmas (ones that many disaster/zombie flicks ignore, pretending most people are always heroic), and the plot itself is really thought out. The direction is above-par; many shots are plain gorgeous and breathtaking, but too often the audience is jarred around by the quick-cuts and shaky camera. There's solid performances throughout the movie, but none to really take note of.


Much like the 28 Days Later, it focuses on the human aspect as much as the disaster aspect, and depicts a few scenes that have you hating certain characters, and rooting for the others. By the end of the movie, it has one Achilles heel; it doesn't feel like a movie at all. It seems like some DVD extra packed on with the original to appease the fans, almost like a short film. Even the general, who is supposed to be the antagonist, is just left out of the last half of the film, and there is no closure with his character. Same with one of the main characters (the soldier), who helps an entire pack of people escape genocide, but then dies a gruesome death. There is an amazing part of the movie before he dies when he is pushing the car full of people and sacrificing himself, where he is able to die a heroic death; but when it happens, it is muddled and still seems entirely unbefitting and leaves you flat and disinterested.

Where 28 Days Later was a glorious epic, with monumental scenes and one of the coolest climaxes I've seen in movies made in the past decade, 28 Weeks Later is unsatisfying. You feel that you have watched a TV movie; not that it is low-key with cheesy acting, it just doesn't fill you up.