28 Weeks Later

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Fox Searchlight
R
Running Time: 1:40 (Previews to Credits)

28 days after the infection we witnessed the destruction now we gaze upon a return to normalcy some "28 Weeks Later."

After the outbreak, the horror has been contained and order is somewhat restored to the British Isle. The returning Brits find themselves in secure zones guarded by the US Army. Don (Robert Carlyle) awaits the return of his children Andy and Tammy ("I kid you not" Mackintosh Muggleton and Imogen Poots). He survived the initial onslaught by taking refuge with his wife Alice (Catherine McCormack) in a cottage with several other stragglers. An attack by "the infected", however, saw the demise of all save Don. Now he and the kids are reunited. A youthful indiscretion will change their lives, and those of countless others by turning what should have been a brilliant new morning into the blackest of night.

Under the watchful eye of sniper Doyle (Jeremy Renner) the children sneak across the river to find photos and other personal items at their abandoned home. They also stumble upon their shell-shocked mother Alice hiding in the attic amongst the remnants of their life. Alerted by Doyle, the army shows up and returns the 3 back to base where Alice undergoes testing which confirms that although she shows none of the signs of the madness, Alice is in fact a carry of the dread bug. Don finds his wife in the belly of the US base and due to his access as an employee enters her cell. An innocent kiss between the reunited ignites the flame of hell on Earth once more as Alice's immunity is not shared by her husband and he rages out of control escaping into the night.

The disease spreads quickly among US personnel and civilians. As the Army prepares to incinerate the entire zone, Officers Doyle and Scarlet (Rose Byrne) gather up the children and their most important genetic code and try to escape the newly infected and the Armed forces.

The "28" series began with a true gem. The marauding "infected" move like wide-outs and roar with the ferocity of a cornered panther. Certainly not your father's lumbering nightmare. This venture carries that same ferocity and solid direction by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. Fresnadillo uses wonderful overhead views along with silence and space to create his cinematic portrait. Of course, he then splatters that canvas with gallons of blood as he straps the camera to a rapid mongoose to give us a 360 degree nightmarish vision hell during the crazed's assaults.

The film's flaws also lie comfortably on his doorstep as he takes ½ of the writing credit. There were too many trite and clichéd moments and the film seemed to teeter on the brink of falling into the purgatory known as "formulaic Hollywood." Also, it borrowed just a little too often from the "Children of Men" storyline that moved us all only months ago.

I do highly recommend this one to those that enjoyed the first and those that revel in a truly intense movie experience. Beware of taking the wee ones as the violence is as bloody as it is savage. So catch "28 Weeks Later" for a frightfully good time and get ready for the next installment which I'm sure they started penning some 28 minutes after they finished the last reel. Enjoy and take care!