28 Weeks Later
release year: 2007
genre: zombie/horror
viewing setting: home DVD, 2/25/2008
synopsis: Several months after the events of the first movie, London is clear of zombies and in the process of being repopulated. Take a wild guess what happens.
impressions: This was okay, but as with almost every movie of this genre, it collapses into utter disaster due to the actions of not zombies but regular, healthy, surviving humans. Another name for this movie might have been "Watch as two idiotic children singlehandedly cause the destruction or re-infestation of the entire United Kingdom!". I'm not kidding - it was basically that direct a link. Rather than obey the adults during a time of crisis, and despite being old enough to know better, and despite being told not to do so, these two highly annoying siblings venture out into the unsecured area, and set into motion the complete and brutal downfall of their homeland (and perhaps neighboring countries.) As if that wasn't bad enough, while they're out "exploring" we get to watch their grim, determined little faces and listen to tone-heavy music that's supposed to be haunting. The only thing that haunted me during that scene was the utter and total stupidity of these two children. The entire sequence of events was just preposterous. A more technical problem: fast camera panning and bad lighting during action scenes = difficulty in knowing what exactly is happening onscreen.
something this movie has that no other movie has: A person contaminating himself with the rage/zombie virus despite having all the facts to know better. They put these people in quarantine for a reason, you know.
acting: It's probably not the actors' faults, but here goes. Robert Carlyle is the cowardly, stupid father. Imogen Poots and Mackintosh Muggleton are his children (and also living, breathing testimonials as to why children should not be allowed to roam freely in crisis situations.) On the other hand, Jeremy Renner (as a sharpshooter) and Rose Byrne (as a military doctor) both did good jobs as sensible characters; likewise for Harold Perrineau as a military helicopter pilot..
final word: A mess. Watch it if you want to learn what NOT to do when the zombies are running amok.
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