The 313 Second Movie Review: "28 Weeks Later"

Welcome back to The 313 Second Movie Review. I'm Tom Barry (got that, Butch?). Last week, I kicked off a long period of summer movie reviews over many consecutive weeks. Let's keep this going. You might have heard me talk about how much gore was in "Zodiac," "300," and "Grindhouse." Well those movies got nothing on this one. This week, I bring you the British/Spanish film, "28 Weeks Later." The film stars Robert Carlyle as Don, Rose Byrne as Scarlet, Jeremy Renner as Doyle, Harold Perrineau, Jr. as Flynn, Catherine McCormack as Alice, Idris Elba as Stone, Imogen Poots as Tammy, and Mackintosh Muggleton as Andy. I'm assuming a lot of you haven't seen this film's predacessor, "28 Days Later," so I'll hit rewind and fill you in. A group of animal rights activists broke into a testing center at Cambridge University to free chimpanzees. They found out too late the chimps were injected with a virus known as rage, a contagious disease spread through blood and saliva that turns the victim into a living (not undead) zombie. The disease spread quickly throughout the United Kingdom, wiping out most of the population. The hero of the movie, Jim, wakes up four weeks later from a long coma to discover London has been turned into a ghost town. As Jim finds survivors, they go on a perilous trek to safety from the zombies, who, when in a group, are called the Infected. Fast forward. It's seven months after the rage virus broke out. Sorry, guys, but Jim is not in this film, even though he survived in the first (guess Cillian Murphy got tired of terrorizing zombies and wanted to terrorize Katie Holmes and Rachel McAdams instead). Start with the prologue. An elderly family, a married couple (Don and Alice), and a few other people are hiding out in a country cottage to avoid the Infected. They rescue a little boy, who tells of his harrowing encounter with the Infected. Soon after, the Infected start causing havoc in the cottage, killing almost everyone. Only Don and Alice survive the attack, but Don took the coward's way out and left Alice to die. Over to London (what's up, Victor Field). An American military unit has taken the United Kingdom and declared it safe for return. I know what you're thinking, so don't say it. The first batch of survivors from a refugee camp in Spain fly into Heathrow, and as they do, our heroine, Scarlett, is alarmed that minors are being let back in already. The two children she does notice are teenage Tammy and 12-year-old Andy, who are met at the train station by their father, Don. Don lets Tammy and Andy know that their mother didn't survive the attack from the Infected. Well, that's certainly going to bite (no pun intended) everyone in the ass. The American soldiers discover that there is a carrier of the rage virus who is not one of the Infected in London. Their efforts at quarentine fail, and the virus is back on the loose. Scarlett resuces both Tammy and Andy, as they may have something vital at stopping the rage virus. Meanwhile, as the streets become chaotic, the soldiers can't tell who's running for their lives, and who's with the Infected. General Stone then demands that the soldiers kill all, a scene that should become very controversial here following the massacre at Virginia Tech. One shooter, Doyle, and his helicopter-flying friend, Flynn, decide not take innocent lives and group up with Scarlett, Tammy, Andy, and other survivors of the carnage as they all plan on getting out of the country to avoid both the American soldiers and the Infected. As with every other zombie movie, this one sends a message. It may not be the swipe at commercialism demonstrated in both the original and remake of "Dawn of the Dead," but the message is loud and clear while pertaining to current events. While "28 Days Later" may have had more of a dramitic build to it, "28 Weeks Later" drops the drama and switches it up with sheer terror. Don't kid me wrong, I liked "28 Days Later," but "28 Weeks Later" had me jumping in my seat a few times. Oh, on a sidenote, Catherine McCormack, call me. When we're done with the fun stuff, I'll let you shower, dress, and eat breakfast at my place. The only people I won't recoomend this film to is those with weak hearts, stomachs, or bowal systems. Otherwise, give this movie a look. These Brits knew exactly what they were doing here.

By the way, there is good news from the sequal front. Danny Boyle, the director of "28 Days Later" and a coproducer for "28 Weeks Later," told an Irish radio station that Fox Atomic has given him the green light for a third installment. What will it be called? What else? "28 Months Later." Keep your eyes peeled for that one in the future. Now if you excuse me, I need a break from horror films for a while.

My time's up, you've been great. For the road: Fall Out Boy "This Ain't A Scene, It's An Arms Race"