28 Weeks Later

28 Weeks Later (2007)

Runtime: 100 minutes

Directed by: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Starring: Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Imogen Poots, Mackintosh Middleton

From: Fox Atomic

A movie I still liked, despite its flaws. Late August I finally viewed 28 Days Later, 22 years later than I should have. Late in October will be a review of 28 Years Later, which at least is better reviewed on Letterboxd than Weeks. Of course, this is filmed conventionally rather than the Canon XL-1 cameras that gave a fuzzy aesthetic to Days.

As most have likely tackled the film before I did, a breakdown of the plot and how NATO attempts to rebuild the UK after the rage virus is believed to be eradicated is not necessary. As there’s the sequel released a few months ago & the trailers were viewed often at the cinema, I knew the virus wasn’t gone so things turned sour. Turns out, the United States military were painted as the villains—insert your own comments if you wish.

There are some major plot contrivances, stupid character motivations and a plot simpler than the original, filmed w/ too much shaky-cam. Despite those demerits, I can’t be too upset w/ 28 Weeks Later merely being “fine”; it’s not “catastrophe” or “calamity.” It was nice seeing future famous faces Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Imogen Poots, and Idris Elba; it was also nice seeing Danny Boyle collaborator Robert Carlyle. There’s also some decent scares after the opening along w/ memorable moments… iffy CG aside. As I carp about often, to its credit, Weeks wasn’t simply a Xerox copy of Days.

As everyone has noted, the opening scene is the highlight of the film-the rest of the picture couldn’t match the introduction. It introduced arguably the two most important characters & presented action which doesn’t return for a long while due to the introduction then presentation of the plot. The opening + the John Murphy score were the highlights of the picture. Those elements plus lowered expectations from 18 years of middling or worse reviews made me not dislike 28 Weeks Later.

My hopes were that they fixed the flaws of Weeks for Years—I’ll soon find out for myself.