The Oshkosh West Index - Carnage proves profitable 28 Weeks after theatrical epidemic

Volume 103, Issue 8

Online Features

Carnage proves profitable 28 Weeks after theatrical epidemic

By Dane Stenson
posted 11:25:58 AM CST, May 24, 2007

A stunning addition to the recent resurgence of apocalyptic thrillers has arrived as 28 Weeks Later breaches theatres, leaving moviegoers with blood coursing and hearts racing. Rated “R” for violence, gore, and language, the sequel to 2002’s 28 Days Later features as much action and suspense as its predecessor while still providing a unique plot and insights into the nature of death.

With an appropriately depressing soundtrack that borrows from the original, the only criticism of the movie is its tendency to stretch credulity. But this trespass can be forgiven as director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo gives audiences a new dimension of the “rage virus.”

28 Days Later featured a virus that caused anyone infected to erupt into murderous rage. Set in modern Britain, it featured a lone survivor who awakened in a hospital four weeks after the outbreak had destroyed nearly all the human activity on the island. Hope is offered at the end of the epic when it displayed the infected aggressors starving to death. It also suggested that Britain was the only area struck by the virus and that the rest of the world had quarantined it.

This notion is confirmed in 28 Weeks Later, which returns to London six months after the outbreak. Thinking the disease is long dead, an American-led NATO force attempts to begin the process of rebuilding the smog-aired city. Naturally, it is too soon—another infection emerges and devastates the quarantine zone.

The plot of 28 Weeks Later borrows from and remains true to the original, but still has enough weight for the movie to stand alone and make sense without its prequel. An inherent problem with a movie that blends action and horror is that it may rely too much on coincidences to drive the plot. Unfortunately, 28 Weeks Later suffers from this affliction. The story has a striking number of close calls and a few moments that will leave some audience members drawn away from the movie. Still, the other aspects of the story are strong and deliver to their potential.

Of these stronger elements, the acting is especially noteworthy. As Don, the father of two estranged children who were lucky enough to be out of the country at the time of the original infection, Robert Carlyle (Eragon) delivers a tragically helpless character in the face of suffering and death. Alice (Catherine McCormack, Spy Game), Don’s wife, is a scorned and ultimately doomed invalid with a strange ability to resist the effects of the disease. The emotion that punctures the moments of gore do well to portray the story of human beings trapped in unbelievable circumstances, and fated to unnatural deaths by the errors of humankind.

The soundtrack for 28 Weeks Later compliments the acting just as well as the visual effects compliment the action. The frenzied fleeing of survivors, when supported by an eerily calming crescendo, is simultaneously unsettling and terrifying. Meanwhile, the makeup of the fallen and computer generated explosions do well to support the story and enhance the mood. In addition to the effects, the cinematography is comparable to few others; innovative camera angles and chaotic shots will leave audiences biting their nails.

Overall, it is clear that Fresnadillo’s vision was strong in producing a film as thought provoking as 28 Weeks Later. The movie is shot and edited well, and the only complaint is that the plot is occasionally too driven by gore. However, the movie is solid, and ends with a heavily thematic question: is it possible that humans are the real problem?

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