28 Weeks Later (2007)

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:

Rage | Infection | U.S. Army | Blood | Shot In The Leg

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

Color:

Color

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:

The Millennium Stadium in Cardiff doubled for the interior of Wembley Stadium because, at the time of filming, the interior of the newly built Wembley was still under construction. Visual effects were used to turn the seats red and make the grass appear untended.

Goofs:

Errors in geography: The DLR train carrying the settlers from the airport has "Greenwich" on the front. Greenwich is across the river from Isle of Dogs, so it wouldn't have been quarantined.

Quotes:

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

Movie Connections:

References Dèmoni 2: L'incubo ritorna (1986)

Soundtrack:

Kiss of Death

a good sequel of a decent horror movie

European horror movies used to be theatrical, low-budget and suffering from it, and badly edited. Like its predecessor, 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later is nothing like that. I must say this is one of the best horror movies I have seen (and I have seen hundreds), for a number of reasons. Although the movie does juggle many clichés, it does so kind of skillfully, so that you can really expect to be surprised. Most importantly, however, the sequel is as good as the original, which is the greatest surprise of all in the horror genre.

The main gimmick here, like in the original, is a mix of the zombie theme and the killer virus theme. The zombies here are extremely hyped-up, not doped, and instead of being bent on eating the flesh of the living, they behave like rage-driven human beings stripped completely of their superego and ego, and left with the instinct to fight (and yes, as it's the result of a scientific experiment gone bad, the movie can be considered sci-fi). Perhaps due to the fact that this is an European movie, we get something markedly different from the Resident Evil franchise - here, in placed of Resident Evil's focus on showcasing pretty actresses and made-up high-tech, we are treated to a foreboding feeling of isolation and powerlessness in face of helplessness and doom. We get to see normal, everyday people and faces struggling to survive, when practically everyone around them can quickly become the embodiment of evil and destruction. 28 Weeks Later focuses a little more on some action elements than, say, on the question of how long people can uphold their morality and respect for their fellow woman in such peril, but still, this movie stands proudly as a horror flick. And, like I said, it is different - with its crisp visuals (unlike the music-video lushness of a lot of Hollywood film scare), haunting and memorable music and unaffected performances. There are some loopholes in the plot, of course (e.g. really not enough few safety precautions on the part of the military for such a dangerous epidemic potential), but the movie runs smoothly throughout, and even the child actors deliver.

There are better movies with a similar feel (such as Children of Men), but as a sequel to a decent horror movie, 28 Weeks Later certainly stands out. By the way, I think that watching 28 Weeks Later will be an especially scary experience for Londoners, as most of it is set in London. Londoners, beware.