In 2002 we watched in wide-eyed horror as the UK disappeared under the shambling mass of the infected and Cillian Murphy fought his way free in 28 Days Later. At the time, this was a pretty fresh take on the zombie theme and one man's gambit in waking up in the middle of said nightmare. It's now 2007 and with the release of 28 Weeks Later we get to watch as the US-led NATO forces begin to take back the city and repopulate London section by section.
As the title implies, 28 weeks have passed since the outbreak of the virus in the first film. All of the infected have died off from the natural progression of the virus and the NATO forces begin to clean out the corpses and debris left behind in modern day London. With safe sectors and high military presence, every precaution is taken against a second coming of the infected holocaust. As we watch the reunion of long separated father (the ever awesome Robert Carlyle) and his children, we get an up close look of a trauma-torn family getting back together and resuming a normal life after the loss of their mother. Soon there is a slip-up in security and all hell breaks loose once again, this time in the confines of a locked down London, with little or no possibility of escape.
As a big fan of the original I was indeed quite pumped up to see the sequel, especially since it had an entirely new cast as well as a different angle and time line. With the trailers promising a tale of more infected fuckery and the plight of a father attempting escape with his two beloved children, I pretty much expected the sappy side of the story with the over-dramatic plight of dad and kids, and the usual heartbreaking scene where the dad turns into a baddie just moments before their escape, forcing the kiddos to leave dad behind as he sacrifices himself for their safety. So heading in I was a bit apprehensive; this is pretty cliché territory as far as plot turns go, but I still had hopes because it had a flock of zombie-like goons tearing up London, and it had Robert Carlyle. Can't be all bad right?
Much to my surprise as the move clicked along; I found out at about the thirty minute mark that the trailers were in fact heavily misleading. It was then that I realized that they were going nowhere near the sappy territory I expected and it was also then that I realized, "this is going to be a pretty damn good flick!"
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