28 Weeks Later

See the eyes, remember that!

I recently finished watching 28 Weeks Later after renting it from Amazon. I had heard of it from a friend and while vampires remain my favorite fiendish creature of the night zombies to have a place in my heart, but from what I heard about the 28 films their 'zombies' run. I am one of those fans who do not think that zombies should run. I think it was Simon Pegg (another LIST actor) who said (and I'm paraphrasing) that zombies are the embodiment of death and disease. Sure you could take one down, but soon they are everywhere, shambling behind you, then in front, until soon you are overwhelmed by them and either turned or killed....or both. I like that analogy and hold to it, which is what made me weary when I saw the creatures in 28 Weeks Later.
A friend of mine voiced that the first film 28 Days Later was not a good film (I may watch it just to answer a few questions I have), but he loved it's sequel and I got a chance to see it due to Robert Carlyle's starring role in it.
The film is the second in the series (apologies for being vague or wrong as I have said I haven't seen the first) where some kind of virus known as the 'rage' virus takes hold of Britain and in 28 days it kills most and puts others into hiding. This is 28 weeks later, where the creatures known as 'the infected' have died out and the US army has come in to help rebuild.

The doomed lovers

The film opens with Don (Carlyle) and his wife staying alive in a cottage owned by an old couple along with them and two others. They all sit down to eat dinner when a young boy knocks on their door, begging to be let in. Don lets him in and soon after a horde of infected attack, causing Don to close the door on his wife and run away, leaving her behind.
28 weeks after the virus was released there is a colony called District 1 where Don waits for his children to return from a school trip to Spain (apparently the virus was only in the UK, which I was glad it wasn't the US who were the cause of the apocalypse this time!). They return to him and have a joyous reunion as Don reveals that he has all access to the facility due to him being basically a glorified janitor.
The children miss their home, though and sneak out of the quarantine zone to get a few things from home (I will note that the daughter, Tammy, mostly gets shoes). The boy, Andy, goes upstairs to find his mother, still alive and not one of the infected....mostly.
Back in D1 she is scrubbed off and inspected. It is found that she is infected, but not showing symptoms due to a genetic immunity. The head doctor and the Commander argue about killing her as she is the possible cure for everyone and a carrier (she can infect others through blood of saliva) at the same time.
Just as the Commander heads up to kill her, Don goes to her, using his pass to get through any door. Of course no one is guarding the cure/carrier while her husband and she have a reunion.......and share one last kiss.

Does anyone else want these contacts??

Don quickly succumbs to the virus and becomes a mindless rage machine (the transformation is mostly beating the crap out of yourself with walls and windows which Carlyle did so well he got splitting headaches behind the scenes) and kills his wife. He continues on, biting many other people and releasing the virus again. A Code Red is issued and D1 is shut down while the inhabitants are locked in quarantine areas (which look like dark parking garages). The doctor, Scarlet, finds the kids and takes them, thinking that one of them may have the same immunity as their mother. Andy is separated from them and placed in a Q-zone. Of course this is the one his father breaks into (really those doors aren't thicker? One...just one of these things breaks in with a few bangs to the door! Yes, he didn't even have enough brains left to use his key card, just busts in! And of course everyone is outside looking for infected while no armed soldiers are in the Q-zones!) Like fish in a barrel Don bites a lot more people, spreading the virus. Andy gets away and finds Scarlet and Tammy.

Hawkeye tried guns first! Before budget cuts caused him to go more simple!

They are joined by Doyle, a sniper who almost killed Andy when the order to kill anyone on the street was given played by Jeremy Renner and a few others. They find out that the whole place is going to be burned to the ground by an airstrike. They move their way out of the blast zone. They escape that and walk to where a friend of Doyle was bringing a helicopter. The pilot does not want to lift out five people, though and after killing the infected in one of the coolest ways possible, tells Doyle to make it to a stadium where he will pick him up. Long story short, only the kids make it and they are lifted out of Britain all together.

Eat helicopter blades bitches!

Okay, we may not have started the virus, but the US are not the brightest in this film. The ARMY has a shit hold on the zone that is so bad, two kids were able to get away, they believe that the virus is dead just because reports showed that the last infected died months ago, before they even showed up! Then when they find a new survivor they want to kill her, despite being a possible cure and DON'T EVEN GUARD HER!!! This causes the virus to be released and their plan is to lock people up like sardines in a can with no protection so the infected can multiply and then for those who do escape get killed when it is too hard to differentiate between infected and human! Bombing the place was good, but they still missed a few and then THEY get out to hunt down any one who was lucky enough to escape (like our heros)!

Hi dad! Oh, shit!!!

Another thing I need to bitch about is Carlyle's character. Him as the human loving father is great as the chemistry between him and the kids is evident and his performance is very emotional especially when speaking about his wife (both about her death and reuniting with her). The problem I have is his infected character! They guy is SUPER-DEADMAN!!! This guy evades the US Army (okay given that they are idiots not a huge feat) busts through a door to a Q-Zone, survives the nuking of the place and hunts his kids like a freaking bloodhound until the end of the film! (He find the Zone his sone is in, appears later in the streets, I think he is seen in the field with the helicopter at some point, and finds them AGAIN in the Underground!).
Now, this is not a bash on Carlyle's performance. I love seeing him go nuts and it is a really fun looking job to play a crazed, blood soaked, biting creature for a few months, but every single time it seemed he was dead I just knew he wasn't. I kept saying 'you don't make a guy like this infected if you were going to kill him before the end!' and I was right. I loved it, it just seemed implausible. (I know implausible events in a horror movie, shocker, right?)

Two kids against the world

Aside from those issues the film is good with a few interesting scares and, while not zombies, an interesting creature that is pretty scary. The virus works fast and only takes a moment to take over. One bite and your parents could start wanting YOU for dinner!