28 Weeks Later (2007)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Writers:

Rowan Joffe (screenplay) &
Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

11 May 2007 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Horror | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Tagline:

It All Begins Again

Plot:

Six months after the rage virus was inflicted on the population of Great Britain, the US Army helps to secure a small area of London for the survivors to repopulate and start again. But not everything goes to plan.

Plot Keywords:

London | Rage | U.S. Army | Infection | Blood

Awards:

2 wins & 4 nominations

Cast

Robert Carlyle	...	Don
Catherine McCormack	...	Alice
Rose Byrne	...	Scarlet
Jeremy Renner	...	Doyle
Harold Perrineau	...	Flynn
Idris Elba	...	Stone
Imogen Poots	...	Tammy
Mackintosh Muggleton	...	Andy
Amanda Walker	...	Sally
Shahid Ahmed	...	Jacob
Garfield Morgan	...	Geoff
Emily Beecham	...	Karen
Beans El-Balawi	...	Boy in Cottage (as Beans Balawi)
Meghan Popiel	...	DLR Soldier
Stewart Alexander	...	Military Officer

Also Known As:

28 semanas después (Spain)

MPAA:

Rated R for strong violence and gore, language and some sexuality/nudity.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

UK | Spain

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Ireland:16 (theatrical rating) | UK:18 | Singapore:R21 | Hong Kong:IIB | Canada:16+ (Quebec) | Canada:18A (Alberta/British Columbia/Manitoba/Ontario) | Australia:MA | Singapore:M18 (edited version) | Malaysia:18SG | USA:R (certificate #43475) | New Zealand:R18 | Germany:18 | Argentina:16 | Ireland:18 (DVD rating) | Mexico:C | Norway:18 | Brazil:18 | France:-12 (with warning) | South Africa:18 | Finland:K-18 | Chile:14 | Switzerland:16 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:16 (canton of Vaud) | Taiwan:R-12 (original rating) | Sweden:15 | South Korea:18 | Philippines:R-13 | Japan:R-15 | Netherlands:16 | Iceland:16 | Italy:VM14 | India:A (cinema release)

Filming Locations:

Aldwych Underground Station, Aldwych, Holborn, London, England, UK

Company:

Fox Atomic

Trivia:

According to director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, composer John Murphy had only two weeks to compose the entire score for the movie.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the survivors are driving to escape the toxic gas, the windshield is covered in blood, which disappears in the next shot, then reappears.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Donald Harris: What are you going to cook?
Alice: Your favorite.
Donald Harris: What, again?

Movie Connections:

References Bronenosets Potyomkin (1925)

Soundtrack:

In The House - In A Heartbeat

A solid, complete zombie film.

I must immediately stress that critics who made the interpretation that this was a statement on the Iraq War seem to know as little about it as they do allegory. I'll write more on this later.

To put it succinctly, this movie has all that modern zombie movies are supposed to have. Incredible gore? Check. Virus zombies? Check. Biting zombies? Check. Soldiers shooting zombies? Check. A horror plot that has people falling to their own weaknesses? Check.

The shocks are there, the plot is excellent, and the acting is very, very good. My only issue with the movie, actually, was its use of some recognizable actors- casting semi-unknowns makes the movie more visceral, instead of having fans think, 'Oh, I saw that guy in...'.

Thankfully, fans of the first movie will notice that it doesn't try to ret-con anything, and the same action-focused, grainy camera work makes a welcome return. The movie moves along at a nice pace, never leaving you room to get bored.

Carina Chocano in the Los Angeles Times commented, "The director's message is less overtly political than it is allegorical -- that chaos breeds chaos and that force only serves to amplify it." Given that from the very first moment, without getting too specific, people abandoning their duties defines the movie (as it does virtually all zombie films), I would have to completely disagree. I even set upon another viewing of this movie simply for the purpose of finding an Iraq metaphor- and it's not really there; at this point, they would find a war metaphor in Disney's 'Dumbo'. Unfortunately, I'd have to say that this time, the critics are pretentiously political; so don't worry about getting preached to, as I did. If you're looking for military/force/war metaphors, look to the first film, 28 Days Later. If you're looking for an excellent, fun, gore-infested romp, watch this right afterwards.