28 Weeks Later

Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller, War

Robert Carlyle	Donald Harris
Rose Byrne	Maj. Scarlet
Jeremy Renner	Sgt. Doyle
Amanda Walker	Sally
Shahid Ahmed	Jacob
Catherine McCormack	Alice Harris
Garfield Morgan	Geoff
Emily Beecham	Karen
Beans El-Balawi	Boy in Cottage
Harold Perrineau	Flynn
Imogen Poots	Tammy Harris
Mackintosh Muggleton	Andy Harris
Meghan Popiel	DLR Soldier
Idris Elba	Gen. Stone
Stewart Alexander	Military Officer
Philip Bulcock	Senior Medical Officer
Chris Ryman	Rooftop Soldier
Tristan Tait	Soldier
William Meredith	Medical Officer
Matt Reeves	Bunker Soldier
Harold Perrineau Jr.
Allon Reich

Director	Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Producer	Bernard Bellew; Danny Boyle; Andrew Macdonald; Enrique Lopez Lavigne
Writer	Rowan Joffe; Juan Carlos Fresnadillo; Enrique Lopez Lavigne

As an exercise in pure, unadulterated terror, 28 Weeks Later is a worthy follow-up to its acclaimed predecessor, 28 Days Later. In this ultraviolent sequel from Spanish director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (hired on the strength of his 2001 thriller Intacto), over six months have passed since the first film's apocalyptic vision of London overrun by infectious, plague-ridden zombies. Just when it seems the "rage virus" has been fully contained, and London is in the process of slowly recovering, an extremely unfortunate couple (Robert Carlyle, Catherine McCormack) is attacked by a small band of rampaging "ragers," and the cowardly husband escapes while his wife is attacked and presumably infected. Their surviving children (Imogen Poots, Mackintosh Muggleton) fall under the protection of a U.S. Army sharpshooter (Jeremy Renner), but nobody's safe for long as 28 Weeks Later goes into action-packed overdrive, with scene after blood-gushing scene of carnage and decimation. The film's visuals follow the look established in 28 Days Later, this time with bigger and better scenes of a nearly abandoned London on the brink of utter destruction. The military subplot gets a bold assist from Harold Perrineau (as a daring helicopter pilot) and Idris Elba (in a too-brief role as the military commander), and their firepower--not to mention the efficient lethality of helicopter blades--turns 28 Weeks Later into a nonstop bloodbath that's way too intense for younger viewers and guaranteed to leave hardcore horror fans gruesomely satisfied. That's all there is to it--this film is almost plotless and dialogue is minimal throughout--but as a truly terrifying vision of survival amidst chaos, 28 Weeks Later honors its origins and qualifies as a solid double-feature with Children of Men. Could there be another sequel? Thanks to the "chunnel," the answer in this case is definitely oui. --Jeff Shannon