28 Weeks Later is a 2007 science fiction horror film directed Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, starring Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau, Imogen Poots, Catherine McCormack, and Idris Elba.  Set as a sequel to 2002’s 28 Days Later, the plot depicts the efforts of NATO military forces to salvage a safe zone in London and the consequences of two young siblings breaking protocol to find their infected mother, and the resulting reintroduction of the highly contagious virus to the safe zone.

Positives:

• Good performances
• Great special effects
• Good story
• Great score
• Great cast

Negatives:

• Unlikable characters

Plot:  The story picks up after the aftermath of a virus that turns its victims into “zombies”.  Civilization returns to Britain when another epidemic occurs.  A really good side story is that the protagonists have to not only deal with the infected but also the military as well as their infected father. The military first try to contain but are ordered to exterminate everyone.  This ramps up the urgency for the characters. The ending leaves off with a pretty sweet cliffhanger, the infected running through an underground tunnel which opens up to the Eiffel Tower.  The story is a good one just not a compelling one. (3 out of 5)

Characters:  Been on the fence about most of these characters.  Really the two most humane and likable characters are Scarlet (Byrne),  a U.S. Army medical officer trying to find the cure to the virus, and Doyle (Renner) a Delta Force Sniper who defects due to him not wanting to kill innocents.  Everybody else is a soulless douchebag who gets people killed due to being selfish and reckless.  The main protagonists are siblings Andy (Muggleton) and Tammy (Poots) and their father Don (Carlyle).  Unfortunately these three cause the second apocalypse.

While breaking protocol Andy and Tammy go into the quarantine and discover their Rage infected mother, who is brought back and quarantined, and Don kisses her infecting himself and everyone in his path. The siblings would’ve been better had they not been directly responsible for the death and destruction.  Brigadier General Stone (Elba) is in charge of the safe zones security and operations and although tactical he sucks.  When things go down he just makes the worst decisions. Flynn (Perrineau) is a douchebag but an understandable douchebag. (2 out of 5)

Cast:  Despite some of the crappy characters the movies does have some talent behind it.  There are good performances including Robert Carlyle (Don), Rose Byrne (Scarlet), Jeremy Renner (Doyle), Harold Perrineau (Flynn), Idris Elba (Stone), Idris Elba (Tammy), and Catherine McCormack (Alice).  Also, there is Mackintosh Muggleton as Andy. (4 out of 5)

Visuals:  This is a pretty good looking movie.  The tone of some of the shots as well as wideshots do help to give the movie a look of starting over (at least initially).  The infected makeup effects look good.  The action is well action and definitely captures the intensity of the moments.  The best example of this is the moment where the civilians are running from the infected and the military just start killing everyone. Even with the underground scene and the characters are using the nightscope to navigate which helps with the tension.  (3 out of 5)

Score:  Love the soundtrack which gives the movie depth.  Two of the greats, John Murphy and Hans Zimmer give a great musical composition. (3 out of 5)

Writing:  The writing is pretty but there are things that could’ve been established better.  For instance, when the military was first notified of an outbreak, what was the first thing they did?  Crowd all of the civilians into one small area.  And what happens next? There’s another outbreak.  It really didn’t make any sense to put them all in one area.  It would’ve played out better had there been several quarantined areas.  But everything has to erupt into chaos some how right? Feels more like a terrible convenience than an authentic plot point that makes sense.  (2 out of 5)

The Verdict:  In the end, 28 Weeks Later is a good film but not as memorable as its predecessor.  Despite the unlikable characters and conveniences in the script, the film does have an awesome cast that give good performances, good use of special effects, great action, and a good score.  28 Weeks Later gets 3 out of 5.