The year of the zombie continues on a high note with last weekend's release of 28 Weeks Later.
I think it's impossible to talk about any sequel without comparison to the original, and in that vein, I do have to report that 28 Weeks Later isn't as good as its predecessor. Days was a visceral, stunning piece of filmmaking, while Weeks feels (understandably) more derivative. It is strongest in its opening moments (moments that, I suspect, belonged to Danny Boyle's second unit directing work, rather than Fresdanillo himself), but remains a solid film throughout, highlighted by several truly haunting and beautiful moments that elevate it above its summer blockbuster counterparts.
Robert Carlyle is fantastic as ever, definitely having fun with the role, throwing himself into it with unabashed glee. Early in the film, he is forced to recount the horrifying opening moments to his children, and the camera lingers on his face as he speaks, his agonized intonation harkening back to his stellar work in Ravenous.
Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, and the children Mackintosh Muggleton (greatest name ever, btw) and Imogen Poots falter somewhat in Carlyle's tremendous shadow, but still to a very fine job in depicting a survivor's role in a world gone mad. The quartet is believable and well-acted, and do their best to bring life to their characters in the short spans allowed between action sequences.
The action sequences themselves are well-paced (and frenetically so), and full of tension. Not for the squeamish, 28 Weeks Later ups the gore factor considerably. I won't ruin the surprise by identifying them, but when Fresdanillo gets it right, he really gets it right.
(Note: Spoilers below the cut. Proceed with caution.)
My sole complaint? The trigger for the events as they unfold. I make no secret of the fact that I think kids in movies are irritating, and often serve as kind of cheat. As mentioned above, the young castmembers of 28 Weeks Later prove the former false. The latter, unfortunately, holds true. That two traumatized, and seemingly otherwise sensible, children would willfully sneak from their father's home the day after their reunion felt both false and forced. That they were successfully able to sneak from the quarantine itself was beyond dubious. And Carlyle's subsequent carelessness upon his reunion with his wife was just plain lazy.
While I understood and appreciated the urgency of discovering that the children potentially held the cure (I enjoyed that element of suspense far more than the usual "oh nos! childrens! save the childrens!"), there were countless other ways that they could have introduced this notion that wouldn't have involved seating them as the direct cause of the potential downfall of the entire civilization. With the heavy screening process, they could have discovered the gene then, and had a separate, less convoluted, breach. If they wanted to keep it in the family, the teams sweeping the houses could have discovered the mother instead.
Luckily, that element isn't dwelled upon to a great degree, and the rest of the film was strong enough to make up for that one shortcoming. While it may not hold the same place in my heart that the original does, 28 Weeks Later is an awesome film. I loved it, and I recommend it without reservation.
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