28 Weeks Later - www.post-apocalypse.co.uk

Right, moving onto the good stuff, which should take considerably longer than the complaints above. This film is almost a perfect follow-on from the first, keeping the style and pacing of the original yet adding a whole new set of characters in a very different situation. Instead of continuing the original plot or retelling a similar tale of survival with different character they have progressed to a different kind of emergency. 28 weeks after the original incident, the infected have all starved to death and the UN has started the clean-up job. London is slowly under a process of decontamination and only one small section of the city is suitable for civilian habitation, of which approximately 15,000 citizens have moved back in. This area is fenced off and patrolled by the US Army who seem well-tooled up with military hardware. Upon the return of a group of British citizens, a tour guide introduction announces that the US Army has jurisdiction. I swear that 90% of the audience let out a little groan.

The opening sequence is informative and exciting. There's a lot of energy and a lot of emotion. This sets up Robert Carlyle’s character very well, someone who survived the original outbreak, but feels extremely guilty about an incident during that time. He does a great job throughout the film, although his role deviates widely from what you would expect.

The main plot centres on a brother (age 12) and sister (15?), Carlyle’s children, who were lucky enough to be abroad when the virus broke out. They become the first children to move back to England.

I doubt it will spoil anybody’s movie by saying the virus breaks out again, and the children struggle to escape, although they have help from a variety of people along the way. Of course the Americans react with force to the situation, even more than I would have though necessary, but as they say, ‘nature will always find a way’, and there's trouble keeping the infected contained.

There's a great mix of scenery here. London is a perfect choice of location as there are metropolitan skyscrapers, vast wide open streets and small claustrophobic alleys, suburbs of family houses and vast parks and open spaces. We get a taste of all of it throughout the perfectly timed 100 minutes. Even Wembley Stadium gets in on the act! The range of locations means that we get to see the Army attempt different techniques in different areas, keeping it fresh and bouncy. There are lots of unexpected things going off that stop it from getting boring at any point.

Musically, I imagine some people will be really pleased, it’s very similar to the first film and is perfectly scored, but very little stands out. There is one sorrowful little ditty that has continued over from 28 Days Later that gives some welcome continuity and it’s quite catchy too. As for sound effects there was a point near the beginning where I worried that the technique of lowering the volume and then hitting us with deafening zombie cries was going to be the film's main practice of frightening us, but it's not overused and the sounds are all great.

Original Title:	28 WEEKS LATER
Alternative title(s):	N/A
Year of Release:	2007
Duration:	99 Minutes
Country of Origin:	UK
Tagline(s):	There is No Escape - UK Quad Poster When days turn to weeks... US Poster Week One No Trace. Week Two. No Warning. Week Eightt.No Control. Week Sixteen. No Cure. Week Twenty-eight: No Escape. - UK Theatrical Poster
Reviewed Version:	UK Cinema Preview 18
Review: By Michael Petch 10th May 07	There are two reasons that you may not want to go see this. Firstly, if you don’t like blood, vomit, endless severed body parts and seeing innocent people getting slaughtered, then this is not for you. A few people walked out of the screening I was in for this reason. Now I know you lot are made of stronger stuff, so I assume that won’t put you off. Secondly, I have got to make a note of the shaky hand-held camera. I like the style, but this is blighted with over-use. Every time there's some action it's shaky camera and quick-cut time. This film would easily get an 8/10 if we had less of this. I do honestly like the technique (I would use it myself) but sometimes I want a wide shot so I know where we are and what the heck is going on. Right, moving onto the good stuff, which should take considerably longer than the complaints above. This film is almost a perfect follow-on from the first, keeping the style and pacing of the original yet adding a whole new set of characters in a very different situation. Instead of continuing the original plot or retelling a similar tale of survival with different character they have progressed to a different kind of emergency. 28 weeks after the original incident, the infected have all starved to death and the UN has started the clean-up job. London is slowly under a process of decontamination and only one small section of the city is suitable for civilian habitation, of which approximately 15,000 citizens have moved back in. This area is fenced off and patrolled by the US Army who seem well-tooled up with military hardware. Upon the return of a group of British citizens, a tour guide introduction announces that the US Army has jurisdiction. I swear that 90% of the audience let out a little groan. The opening sequence is informative and exciting. There's a lot of energy and a lot of emotion. This sets up Robert Carlyle’s character very well, someone who survived the original outbreak, but feels extremely guilty about an incident during that time. He does a great job throughout the film, although his role deviates widely from what you would expect. The main plot centres on a brother (age 12) and sister (15?), Carlyle’s children, who were lucky enough to be abroad when the virus broke out. They become the first children to move back to England. I doubt it will spoil anybody’s movie by saying the virus breaks out again, and the children struggle to escape, although they have help from a variety of people along the way. Of course the Americans react with force to the situation, even more than I would have though necessary, but as they say, ‘nature will always find a way’, and there's trouble keeping the infected contained. There's a great mix of scenery here. London is a perfect choice of location as there are metropolitan skyscrapers, vast wide open streets and small claustrophobic alleys, suburbs of family houses and vast parks and open spaces. We get a taste of all of it throughout the perfectly timed 100 minutes. Even Wembley Stadium gets in on the act! The range of locations means that we get to see the Army attempt different techniques in different areas, keeping it fresh and bouncy. There are lots of unexpected things going off that stop it from getting boring at any point. Musically, I imagine some people will be really pleased, it’s very similar to the first film and is perfectly scored, but very little stands out. There is one sorrowful little ditty that has continued over from 28 Days Later that gives some welcome continuity and it’s quite catchy too. As for sound effects there was a point near the beginning where I worried that the technique of lowering the volume and then hitting us with deafening zombie cries was going to be the film's main practice of frightening us, but it's not overused and the sounds are all great.
Final Thoughts::	Ok, there are a couple of key plot elements that I wouldn’t necessarily call holes but they will need a willing suspense of disbelief. I really want to write about them here but this would totally spoil the film for you. What I will say is that there are a couple of unexpected plot twists that are really good, but in general you are going to get exactly what you expect, and more importantly, exactly what you want. The story isn’t too slow, there's a lot of variety and there's plenty of action. I’m giving it a 7/10 (I gave 28 Days Later 8/10), firstly because there's too much damn shaky cam, and secondly because I feel it's missing just a little bit of the awe and gloomy vastness of the original. There are a lot of scenes filmed in the twilight, and I imagine some of them will be difficult to see on anything under a 26inch TV, so I highly recommend a cinema viewing. Besides, who wouldn’t want to see 50 zombies chopped into mincemeat by a helicopter's rotor?
Alternative Versions:	N/A.
Connections With Other PA's:	There's a shot that reminds me of the end scene of Rats: Night of Terror where bio-suited soldiers appear out of the gas, but no real connection.
Critic's reactions:	Very positive early reviews. I expect this to continue.
Regular Movie Goers Reaction:	Action, excitement and scares but quite brutal and hard hitting. If they can handle it then they will love it.
For the PA Collector:	Not PA. The UK is devastated but everywhere else is fine, although I imagine the 3rd film may well be (28 Years Later please).
Countries Released:	Worldwide.
DVD Release Info:	TBC.
Actual Budget/Guessed Budget:	I would take a guess and say this was more expensive than the first one. $10 to $15 million.
Our Score:	7 out of 10
Media
	UK Quad UK Standard US Standard US Preview UK Preview
Trailer:	Removed by FOX.
Comments:	Post your comments here: 28 Weeks Later
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