'28 Weeks Later' makes for an outstanding sequel

Just the other day, I finally got around to watching a horror/sci-fi movie that I’ve wanted to watch for some time, “28 Weeks Later.”

Released in May 2007 and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, this movie is the sequel to the 2002 movie, “28 Days Later.” It brought in gross revenues of $64.2 million against a budget of $15 million.

Many of you will be familiar with both movies, which are set in an England that has been struck by the highly contagious virus, “Rage.” This virus is easily spread by blood and saliva and turns people into raging, homicidal zombie-like maniacs.

“28 Weeks Later” stars Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Imogen Poots, Mackintosh Muggleton, Harold Perrineau and Robert Carlyle. None of the major characters from the first movie appear in the sequel, unfortunately.

As you would imagine, this movie takes place 28 weeks after the outbreak of the virus. Most of “The Infected” have died from starvation, and the U.S. Army has moved into London, where they’ve set up a safe zone. The Army’s mission is two-fold. They’re busy trying to find a cure for the virus and are controlling the reentry of British citizens who were outside the country when the virus struck.

Much of the movie centers on a young brother and sister who have returned to London after being on a very timely school trip to Spain. The brother has a rare genetic trait that gives him eyes of two different colors.
As it turns out, his mother has the same trait and she is immune to the effects of the virus. She becomes infected by the virus just like anyone else, but doesn’t display any of its horrible effects. Before it’s all over, she becomes sort of a Typhoid Mary and passes the virus on to her husband. Her husband, in turn, kills his wife under the effects of “Rage,” and begins rapidly spreading the virus inside the Army’s safe zone.

And I’ll stop right there to avoid spoiling the movie for those of you who haven’t seen it.

One thing about this movie that’s cool centers on the debate the producers had over what kind of sequel to make after the original. One idea that got tossed around for the second movie was to tell the story of a Special Air Service (England’s equivalent to the Navy Seals) unit that had to enter infected London on a mission to rescue either the queen or the prime minister. I think that a movie based on this scenario would be very entertaining, and I hope that the idea hasn’t been taken totally off the board.

In the end, I really enjoyed this movie. If you liked the first one or enjoy zombie-esque movies, then I think you’ll like it too.

How many of you have seen “28 Weeks Later”? What did you think about it? What did you like? Dislike? Let us know in the comments section below.