Six months after the rage virus has decimated the British Isles, an eerie silence has descended on the quarantined nation. With the infected millions dead of starvation, British refugees prepare to repopulate the country with the forceful assistance of the US military. To facilitate the re-taking of the island, thousands of civilians are shipped from refugee camps in Europe to block residences on the Isle of Dogs, in London's desolate heart. Forbidden from attempting to cross the boundary into the city proper, they are surrounded by bunkers bristling with death-dealing hardware and guarded by rooftop snipers around the clock, including Doyle (Jeremy Renner), a good natured marksman itching for some action. Leaving almost nothing to chance, the US military also employ CCTV cameras to keep the populace under constant surveillance in case any signs of infection occur.
Amongst the Brits attempt to re-establish the rhythm of life in their radically changed environment, is Don (Robert Carlyle), in charge of maintaining the blocks, and his children Tammy (Imogen Poots) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton). Don, who was caught up in the horror of the rage pandemic with wife Alice (Catherine McCormack), has welcomed his kids back to England, who were fortunate enough to be abroad on a school holiday at the time of the outbreak. Brought closer together by the apparent death of their mother at the hands of crazed blood drinking assailants, all is well until the youngsters sneak back to their old home, so Andy can retrieve a picture of his mum. The kids are stunned to find her hiding in the family abode, emaciated and starving, but the reunited trio are swiftly picked up by chopper pilot Flynn (Harold Perrineau, who played Link from the
Matrix trilogy) and taken into quarantine.
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Alice is immediately processed through a harrowing decontamination procedure, and then screened by military doctor Scarlet (Rose Byrne); it becomes evident that she is infected with rage, but, rather than succumbing to the virus, has instead become a carrier. Scarlet deduces that Alice can infect anyone coming into contact with her blood or saliva, a theory proven correct when Don sneaks his way into the med centre to see her and exchanges kisses. From here, the terrifying power of rage is again unleashed, as is the awesome firepower of the US military, which ultimately designates all non-military personnel as targets for extermination. Scarlet, realising that Andy and Tammy may also have inherited their mother's immunity to rage, deserts to protect them and Doyle does likewise, sickened by the unfolding slaughter as he watches from his sniping post. Together with a handful of other survivors, they flee from both the crazed psychotic infected hordes and Uncle Sam, in a desperate race to reach Wembley Stadium and an airlift to safety from Doyle.
From the opening moments to the very last,
28 Weeks Later is a film that will leave you breathless; its harrowing, disturbing and incredibly grim at times, coupled by some superb special effects, particularly when the US Air Force fire bomb the capital. But before going any further, it's time to get just a little self righteous and make sure we all understand a simple yet crucial point about this film once and for all; it is NOT a zombie movie. For both the uninitiated and the just plain ignorant, zombies are unfortunates who have died and been reanimated in one fashion or another. However in both this movie and its predecessor, although those infected by rage mutate into psychotic, blood crazed beasts, they are, technically speaking at least, still alive. This is proven beyond doubt by the script-writers themselves, when a host of infected are killed by a gas attack from US troops; such tactics would be a waste of time against zombies, simply because the undead do not breathe. It IS viable to vaguely relate the two types of creature, in that the victims/protagonists of either condition are autonomic killing machines who undergo a complete loss of their former identities, but to say they are the same is completely incorrect. Understood? Good.
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The film's predecessor,
28 Days Later, offered a superb first hour or so, with a blood pumping, if relatively unoriginal survival horror theme being taken in an interesting direction, thanks to a combination of good direction, great photography and an excellent soundtrack. That said, the second part of the film, which saw the survivors hole up with a team of soldiers, slowed the pace down significantly. This is certainly something that can't be said of
28 Weeks Later, as the tension keeps growing and the blood keeps flowing. Robert Carlyle plays his role to consummate perfection, producing a powerful performance worthy of recognition at the highest level. The range of emotions his character displays, whether remorse or deception, or sheer incandescent insanity, are portrayed with seemingly effortless skill, marking him as a master of the art. Although eclipsed by Carlyle, the rest of the cast also succeed in fostering audience empathy, lending pathos to their fates as the nightmare unfolds. And whilst trying to bear the ever-increasing tension of the inevitable disaster to come, the audience are also treated to a number of heart stopping shocks; indeed, if you don't flinch at some of the scares, you're already dead.
The photography used is reminiscent of the first, with numerous hand held shots during combat sequences, with the result that much of the violence is seen almost in first person by the viewer. That's not to say there's an air of voyeurism in the piece however, but the chaotic, confused scenes of battle do place spectators right at the heart of the conflict. As well as the action shots, there's some excellent panoramic sequences of London including the new and criminally over-priced Wembley, although the photography does at times become a little irritating in a manner akin to a tourist board advertisement. On the downside, there's not really much else to add; although it's not perfect, there's really very little wrong here. So overall,
28 Weeks Later is a superb shocker of a movie that, though obviously contemporary, evidently draws its influences from a range of horror and post-apocalyptic classics, as well as standing out as a truly outstanding piece of Western horror in a modern era of poor remakes and generic dross. And although it's definitely not a zombie movie, it's certainly the best zombie movie that's not actually a zombie movie.
