“28 Weeks Later”
2007
Stars: Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne, Robert Carlyle
Writers: Rowan Joffe, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Enrique
Lopez Lavigne, Jesus Olmo
Dir: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
100 minutes
Like its prequel “28 Days Later,” this continuation of the
British zombie apocalypse is a crowd pleaser for fans who appreciate a high
gore factor and psychological themes that tell us something about the human
race and leave us thinking deeply hours after the film has ended.
I’m probably opening myself up to criticism in saying “28
Weeks Later” beats its predecessor in both blood and guts and its ability to
trigger emotion, right from the first scene. If you do not respond emotionally
to that heart-racing flashback opener, in which Don (Carlyle) makes the choice
to leave behind his wife and save himself, then you, my friend, are a zombie.
The movie begins, as its title implies, six months after
the initial “rage virus” spread through the U.K. These zombies, given life in
the first film by Danny Boyle, are perhaps better and more commonly described
as “the infected,” as they do not rise from the dead in search of brains, but
rather their own minds succumb to the hell-bent desire to bite, scratch, maim
and hurl on any humans they can get their hands on, to spread the infection.
(For more background, read the review of “28 Days Later,” in which Rob
painfully admitted these zombies are hands-down pretty effing awesome.)
The U.S. military leads the re-colonization efforts in
London, and survivors are allowed to re-enter the city under specialized
military watch. [*SPOILER ALERT*] Things seem to be going well until, in a
unique twist I have not seen done in other films, an unknown “carrier” of the
virus who exhibits no outward symptoms, through an ironic kiss with the hubby
who once left her for dead, spreads a new wave of infection through the colony.
Chaos and a series of internal battles between following orders and serving the
greater good ensue.
A major theme that runs as rampant as the infected during
the course of the film is the complexity of choice in deciding who survives and
what the nobler cause is. While “28 Days” centers more strictly around man’s
ability to survive, “28 Weeks” complicates it with emotional choices. Most
obviously, Don chooses self-survival over what he believes would be the death
of both him and his wife, while she is left behind after trying to protect a
young boy from the horde. The guilt of that decision, however, stays with him
like an infection of its own. Even when he gets the virus, his rage seems to
take on its own purpose — a rare move in a zombie flick,
as he becomes more than a mindless member of the horde and stalks his children,
acting out against them, haunted by his guilty memories.
On a less personal, more humanitarian level, Scarlet
(Byrne), a doctor with the U.S. Army, leaves her post to protect Don’s children
knowing they might share the same DNA their carrier mother had that could be
the key to an eventual cure. At one point she tells Sgt. Doyle (Renner), this
hope for a cure is a greater good than saving her own life, or his. Doyle, in a
dramatic scene where his orders as a sniper are to take out not only the
infected in the streets down below, but the scores of survivors as well, also
abandons his post for the greater good and helps the kids, and a small group of
others, escape the city.
The only character who can separate emotions from duty is
General Stone (Idris Elba), who chooses a different greater good to ensure the
survival of the race, even if it includes sacrificing this first failed batch
of colonists.
With frenetic camera movements that effectively mirror
some of the more chaotic, claustrophobic scenes and keep your heart racing, and
that constant fine line between hope for a future, for a cure, and impending
doom, “28 Weeks” is a must-watch.
Romero Rules Followed: Their sole purpose is to find all
humans and infect them, so I would say yes.
Gore factor: Blood, guts and zombie vomit abound,
including a scarring scene where Don tears into his wife’s neck and then
proceeds to drive his thumbs into her eye sockets. I may never be the same, but
I’d say this sequel’s gore surpasses that of its parent film.
Zombies or Wannabees?: Despite their nontraditional way of
going about it, they are zombies, through and through.
Classic, fine, or waste of time: A new kind of classic, as
created by Danny Boyle’s “28 Days Later.”
