28 Weeks Later DVD

28 Weeks Later

The virus is back.

Oh no, not again!

The brilliant film 28 Days Later by Danny Boyle showed us a world where humans get infected with a "rage" virus, turning them into bloodthirsty zombie-like creatures, and tearing up anything in their path. In short, London got wiped out, with the exception of a few surviviors. The sequal, 28 Weeks Later, continues the story where, supposedly, all the infected have died of starvation, and now London has been declared virus-free. So a NATO team led by the U.S. Army comes in and attempts to rehabilitate the city. But as we know, something always goes wrong in these kinds of situations. You can't help but notice the parallels between the U.S. troops patrolling London and the situation with Iraq. Not sure if the director intended to make that statement, but it's so hard to ignore.

So, survivors are shipped back into the city, with heavy monitoring done by the Army to prevent another outbreak (yeah right!). Now before I go on, there is a side story to this. There's a young boy who apparently has DNA that makes him immune to the virus. This boy Andy is extremely valuable, as he provides the only hope in finding a cure. But, there's another story about his family. In the opening scene, there are a group of survivors hiding out in a boarded up home. Two of these people are the boy's parents, with the dad being played by Robert Carlyle. Suddenly, the home is attacked by the infected, and in a state of panic, the dad leaves the mom behind and heads for the river to save his ass. Now, after the 28 weeks, when rehabilitation begins, daddy is reunited with his children, Andy and Tammy. What daddy failed to mention is that he left mom to die. Or did she? Well it seems that the mom is immune to the virus, and didn't die as the dad assumed. That would explain why Andy is immune to it. And as you would assume, it's only a matter of time before the outbreak occurs again. Without providing too many spoilers, let's just say mom is carrying more than vacation souveneirs! Soon, all hell breaks loose as the plan to rebuild London slowly breaks down. The infected are running rampant again and the Army has no choice but to issue CODE RED, total annihilation of the city. The rest of the film is a quest to stay alive by the two children, an Army sniper, and a medical officer. There are plenty of jumpy scenes to scare the hell out of you, along with this intense feeling of dread as you relate to the survivors. One other highlight for me was when the medical officer and two kids are moving down an escalator in a pitch-black London Underground. The only thing guiding them is the night-vision goggle wearing officer. That scene gave me a chilling feeling reminiscent to how I felt during the end of The Blair Witch Project.

Overall, this sequal didn't stray away from the story of the original. It stayed faithful while leaving room open for a third installment. The question is, will there be another sequel? I certainly hope so. Otherwise, France is screwed.