Film Review: "28 Weeks Later", 20th
Century Fox, 2007
The
idea of a sequel to cult UK horror flick 28 Days Later had us here at BFOF
immediately sceptical. It seemed to us like an unnecessary follow up to a
decent original out to tarnish its good reputation in the vein of Blair
Witch Project 2 or Jurassic Park XII: This time
the dinosaurs speak Welsh. It is the not-at-all-predictable
tale of the UK plague where angry folk roam around unintelligently searching
for non-infected characters to disembowel.
The zombies are back: but this time its just
impersonal mass slaughter on a national scale again. And 28 weeks
later as well, what a massive twist of fate. Cruel Coincidence, why do you
mock us British so?! As obvious and banal as the storyline is however,
(could it really have been anything else?) there is no doubting the class in
the way this film is produced.
Ambassador, what giant great green gashes you’ve got
With the “rage virus” infuriating those unfortunate enough to become
inflicted with the disease, the previously ravaged London and UK is bracing
itself for the return of the non-hopping mad.
It’s not a massive spoiler to say that the repatriation was not quite the
resounding success it was hoped, and it isn’t therefore the 120 gripping
minutes of speeches made by the UK ambassador to the UN thanking the USA for
its kind help in its time of need, that we were all hoping for.
So then, instead of international bureaucracy we get this: eyes being gauged
out and intestines going everywhere. And a lot of people spewing up blood
uncontrollably. So then, not a film which is going to win prizes for
originality. What it does deserve accolades for, on the other hand, is the
manner in which it goes effusively about its business. Plot twists
throughout are frequently less than expected; this is no Hollywood
save-the-world story of a hero single-handedly kick
boxing the un-dead to death.
"Shit!" : There is an awful lot of running away from stuff
in this film
Killing the atmosphere
What this film gets absolutely spot-on is the creation of an atmosphere
which, in spite of the obvious fact that it is completely implausible, is
both chilling and sinisterly horrendous. The unsettling scenes of
mass murder on the streets of London or
disturbing portrayals of the normal people being dispatched like flies leave
an unnerving impression. Likewise, the deserted city streets and eerie
silences really enhance the feeling of hopelessness and of the real
magnitude and grandeur of events.
This hauntingly atmospheric foundation would not likely have had half the
impact it does were it not for the superbly
gruesome depictions of violence and the equally striking special
effects such as the firebombing of London’s Canary Wharf safe zone. The
intensity of the attack scenes in which the central characters of the film
thrash around holding onto their increasingly unlikely lives is so finely
portrayed its physically draining to watch. Equally complimentary is the
frequent use of ghostly silence, interspersed with sudden bouts of very loud
music (usually when something particularly ghastly is happening to someone
on screen).
Scenes of killing barely let up the
whole way through, and as a consequence the impact does inevitably diminish
somewhat.
The film manages to find an admirable balance, being simultaneously serious
or genuine while employing the kind of loose, playful story telling which
makes it easy to overlook and not care about some of the more implausible
events which occur throughout, or the choppy and
dubious dialogue which sometimes rears its ugly blood stained
head. On a basic level at least, it’s an extremely entertaining film to
watch for those of us partial to prolonged representations of extreme
violence being played out in front of our eyes.
If the spooks don’t get you, the USA will
Meanwhile, the film’s makers are frequently happy wearing
political leanings subtly on sleeves. The
US army is seemingly unilaterally brought in to oversee the repatriation of
Britain (“meh, it was 28 weeks ago, surely the virus is gone by now, best
repatriate ASAP just to be on the safe side. Oh.”) Though the army is
depicted in an on-the-whole favourable light, it is striking to watch the
way they deal with the crises of the growing threat as it begins to
escalate, and in which they eventually resort to mass indiscriminate
extermination. This action is equally disturbing (arguably more so given
it’s connotations within the realm of the zombie-less real world) as
anything the acrimonious actions of the zealous plagued can muster.
Mind you, silver linings and all that. At least Chelsea FC got destroyed.
BFOF Rating: * * * *