'28 Weeks Later': Now, with gore!

It's not very often that one feels like a sedative after a movie. Watching '28 Weeks Later' (trailer) was great, but not for the weak of heart. It was one of the most thrilling experiences I have had in a theater in a while, and I only kind of mean that as entertaining. The action sequences in this movie were terrifying at time and I began feeling that I, like the characters in the movie, were dreading the possible reappearance of the zombies. Wow, I think I'm getting a bit ahead of myself here.

This movie is one of those rare breeds of sequels that actually aren't crap. A follow-up to 2002's '28 Days Later' (review), the movie follows the results of an evacuation of the UK following an outbreak of the "rage" virus that turns humans into zombie-esque killing machines. By the time of the sequel, the "infected" have all supposedly died and the U.S. military has created a green zone in an effort to rebuild the city. If you're getting shades of Iraq and September 11, well, you're not stupid. The references are supposed to be there (and elsewhere throughout the movie), but the director does not beat you over the head with them. If anything, the similarities come across as being more intrinsic to the situation than simply a carbon copy of current events as, like Iraq, the situation in London gets out of hand and a foe that was thought to be defeated rears it's bloody head. It's more political underlying message differs from the original, which was a more personal story about survival. This movie also differs in its treatment of the zombies/infected: they are actually there. In rewatching the original, I was struck by how little they were in it. For the sequel, they went all out and made a movie that was bloodier and, at times, more terrifying. It was the type of movie that I think could actually give me nightmares.

I was glad to see that Danny Boyle, who directed the first movie, was around for the second, even if only as an executive producer. I imagine that his influence helped keep the movie a more creative flimmaking experience, instead of simply an exploitative followup aimed at capitalizing on the profitability of its predecessor. It was great that they also decided not to just remake the first movie or continue the story but, in a way, sought to reinvent the franchise it had created. A third movie is reportedly in the works and I'm sure it will have just as unoriginal of a title. I'll just have to see what new direction they take with the the third one.

Grade: B+