28 weeks later......and I'm still waiting for a plot

[Dante]

My wife and I went and saw 28 Weeks Later this weekend.

It was mediocrely awful.  If you liked Dawn of the Dead (the remake) and people vomitting blood every 5 minutes, you will like this.  There were some tense build-ups and the beginning was promising, but it just devolved from there.

If you expected anything like 28 Days Later (i.e. a good movie with an actual plot and even character development and judicious use of gore), you will be disappointed.

You have been warned.

We saw the first couple reviews that said it was bad, then a whole bunch saying it was worth seeing, so we took a chance.  Ugh, save your money, go see "Once".

[Demonic Attorney]

I'm going to have to disagree.  I think 28 Weeks, as horror sequels go at least, was great.  What I like best about the film is the dichotomy between chaos (infection) and tyranny (the government/military), and how there's ultimately no difference between the two.  The people behind 28 Weeks definitely read their Hobbes and kept that motif alive in the sequel, with the innocent people having as much to fear from their "protectors" as from the infected.  Infection doesn't create or impose anything new; it just frees primal human aggression from the restraint that we impose.  On the other side of the equation is the mechanism of that restraint itself-- the strong arm of the government.  However, the government is populated and organized by human beings, host to the very same violent nature that is unleashed with infection.  So, no matter what you do or where you go, you can never be free of the terrifying aspects of human nature.

What's more, and I have to thank a friend for pointing this out for me, the film also depicts acts of kindness very cynically.  I won't spoil anything for would-be viewers, but the reward for altruism is consistently small throughout the story.  The parallel to militant fascism becomes very obvious in 28 Weeks where it was only hinted at in 28 Days.  Mindless bloodthirst doesn't have to be a fictitous virus that makes people spew blood and have red eyes; it takes subtler forms than that every day, like hypernationalism or religious fundamentalism.  And once you have an "outbreak," what do you do?  Responding to orgiastic violence with more of the same will just cause the plague to spread faster, but if you respond with kindness you risk being swallowed as it spreads.  Again, it's futile to resist part of the nature of your species.

I enthusiastically recommend the film, especially for those who appreciated the original.

[LordHomerCat]

Well, now I'm not sure what to think.  I loved the first one, I thought it was extremely well done and is definitely one of my favorite movies and is my favorite zombie movie (although Shaun of the Dead is close).  I guess I will have to see the second now as well, I was kind of wary of the previews which just showed lots of explosions and violence, and I worried it was just going to be a mindless zombie killing spree (Dawn of the Dead remake maybe?).  Honestly, if it is half as good as the first, I would be happy.  Thanks for the reviews guys.

[LotusHead]

Sorry for resurrecting this dead thread, but I rented 3 movies for the first time in over 6 months, and 28 weeks later was one of them.

I watched it twice, just to be sure I wasn't wrong the first time.

This movie sucked.  Anything good about any of the scenes in it were "redone scenes" from 28 days later.

I don't even remember the name of a major character.
\
Total Stinkbomb.

Even scenes where nothing is happening, the "scare factor" gets amped up just for the sake of having something happening on screen.

That being said, the first 5 minutes or so (pre-credits) were awesome and well done.

sigh.

(the other two movies I rented were the Tarantino/Rodriguez GrindHouse flicks. Both of which were less than stellar to me. (but both filmmakers usually have VERY good movies.)

Demonic Attorny wrote:

I'm going to have to disagree.  I think 28 Weeks, as horror sequels go at least, was great. 

I disagree.

[Zherbus]

28 Weeks Later, as a horror movie, is a bit lacking. As a sequel, it's okay but really felt incomplete. I really only liked the Helecopter scene where the blades lawnmowed a horde of infected. The rest of the movie was really a rush to the end.

[JACO]

I watched it twice, just to be sure I wasn't wrong the first time.

This movie sucked.

This is funny. Why would you watch a movie again if you thought it sucked? You must have a lot of time on your hands, or a really slow social calendar this month. ; )

I never saw the first one, but saw this one while staying at a hotel in NYC when visiting for the Rage/Wu-Tang concert, and I thought it was entertaining. I'm not sure any horror movies are actually 'good films,' but the whole Rage virus concept is much more believable than anything of the Dawn of the Dead/Friday the 13th/Nightmare on Elm Street ilk.

I would see the coming sequel (28 Months Later, I would assume), if it was free.

[Hi-Val]

but saw this one while staying at a hotel in NYC when visiting for the Rage/Wu-Tang concert

Was this Rock The Bells? Ashok and I were there too. We should have had a thread and met up and all gotten dehydrated in the hot sun together.

[JACO]

but saw this one while staying at a hotel in NYC when visiting for the Rage/Wu-Tang concert

Was this Rock The Bells? Ashok and I were there too. We should have had a thread and met up and all gotten dehydrated in the hot sun together.

Yep it was Rock the Bells, day 1 (Saturday). Two of my friends and I flew out from Chicago to NYC and stayed downtown. Not enough water at the concert, but plenty of free energy drinks being given out after the concert! After about 5 of those in 20 minutes I thought my body was going to explode. Pretty cool.

[LotusHead]

I watched it twice, just to be sure I wasn't wrong the first time.

This movie sucked.

This is funny. Why would you watch a movie again if you thought it sucked? You must have a lot of time on your hands, or a really slow social calendar this month. ; )

Well, I thought I might have missed something.  I thought Full Metal Jacket sucked the first time I saw it. I was wrong.