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28 WEEKS LATER
Directed by: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo.
Produced by: Enrique López Lavigne, Andrew Macdonald & Allon Reich.
Written by: Rowan Joffe, Fresnadillo, Jesús Olmo & E. L. Lavigne.
Director of Photography: Enrique Chediak.
Edited by: Chris Gill.
Music by: John Murphy.
Country of Origin: UK/USA/Spain. 99 min. Rated: R.
With: Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Harold Perrineau, Catherine McCormack, Mackintosh Muggleton, Imogen Poots, Idris Elba & Emily Beecham.

28 Days Later was a thrill ride, plain and simple. In the lexicon of zombie cinema, it was a “fast zombie” movie. Its sequel, 28 Weeks Later, is still a thrill ride, but the scare isn’t the same and neither is the focus. The movie’s all the better for it.

When zombies attacked in the first film, it was terrifying and sudden. All of the attack sequences used horror clichés – proven editing gems that worked, but clichés nonetheless. In the sequel, the audience is constantly introduced to characters who are easy to get attached to in the 20 minutes or so they appear onscreen. And then they die. So instead of an endless stream of shocks and surprises, the attacks here are inevitable – but heart-wrenching instead of heart pounding.

The film opens with the segmented repopulation of mainland Britain, which has been quarantined since 28 Days Later. Occupied by American-led NATO forces, the country’s “Green Zone” in London’s East End is the only safe and functioning neighborhood in all of Britain. As you’ve probably figured out by now, the area is not as safe as it looks. The zombie-producing rage virus has not been contained, and when an outbreak occurs, it’s less horrific than it is tragic, with well-acted gravity and sentiment.

With American forces leading the fight, there are obvious parallels made. With that in mind, it shouldn’t be surprising to hear that not all of the massacres are caused by zombies, and the targets of the carnage are not always deserving of death. Like the jump from Night of the Living Dead (1968) to Dawn of the Dead (2004), it’s as though the filmmakers realized the potential symbolism and ran as far as they could with it. But the criticism of America’s international relations is less unbalanced than Dawn’s criticism of consumer culture and mall walking. The only white-and-black symbolism comes at the end, when we realize what the film might be trying to say: American armed forces can’t solve everything with guns and napalm. Zachary Jones
May 11 2007