28 Weeks Later

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When I get my computer back tomorrow and everything's technologically jake (I hope, I pray), I'll bang out some kind of longer tribute piece about 28 Weeks Later (Fox Atomic, 5.11), which I saw this evening. (I'd write it now but the cyber cafe I'm sitting in on West 49th Street closes at 11 pm, and they're charging $11 bucks an hour. Hey, why not $15?)

28 Weeks Later is a "wow" second-act piece -- more of a continuation of 28 Days Later than a sequel. It doesn't thematically build upon or add intriguing new layers to Danny Boyle's original raging-zombies flick. It's not The Godfather, Part II, in other words -- it's The Empire Strikes Back, complete with a semi-cliffhanger finish that doesn't end the story it's been telling as much as bring to an abrupt close.

Which I was totally fine with. It's a wildly inventive, envelope-pushing, high-end jolt movie all the way. I was staring at it open-mouthed, amazed and thrilled and even half-stunned at times. (Honestly.) Anyone who liked the first will certainly feel satisfied (i.e., enjoyably throttled) by it. But it'll be up to whomever directs the third chapter -- the completion of the trilogy -- to really bring home the bacon. That isn't to say that 28 Weeks Later doesn't rousingly do what it sets out to do. You just have to process it as a "more of" thing rather than "heavier or stronger than." Which, for me, filled the bill and then some.

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Posted by Jeffrey Wells on May 8, 2007 at 7:03 PM

comment #1

Craig Kennedy says ...

Potentially great news. I'm looking forward to this one.

Posted by Craig Kennedy at May 8, 2007 7:37 PM

comment #2

tholl-yung says ...

Is the abrupt ending/cliffhanger new for movies? Because I like my beginning, middle and end in one sitting. I don't want to have to tune in next year/week. That's why I don't watch series, and because I don't get attached to tv characters, except if they're Flipper. I just bought Flipper, Season 1, I'm so excited.

Posted by tholl-yung at May 8, 2007 8:29 PM

comment #3

Dan Revill says ...

Can't wait for this weekend.

Posted by Dan Revill at May 8, 2007 8:42 PM

comment #4

DarthCorleone says ...

I don't get attached to tv characters, except if they're Flipper. I just bought Flipper, Season 1, I'm so excited.

lol

Aladdin>> You and me both. Unfortunately, I'm taking a trip and won't be able to see this until next week.

Posted by DarthCorleone at May 8, 2007 9:12 PM

comment #5

Daviddb says ...

Wow is right. It took four writers to come up with this lame setup...SPOILER ALERT!!!!

Anyone care to explain how Robert Carlyle can just waltz into a secured area armed only with a magnetic card to visit his potentially infected wife who's left conveniently unguarded and unmonitored. But even before that bonehead plot point, how do two kids manage to not only escape this allegedly secure mini-city but are left relatively unguarded and untracked so they can take a scooter tour of abandoned London....just so they can find their missing mum who somehow managed to survive an unsurvivable attack at the beginning of the film.... Oh, one more thing...that Robert Carlyle is sure one smart zombie...he manages to avoid hails of bullets, firebombs, poison gas, and must be equipped with the greatest GPS tracking device ever afforded a zombie...he can somehow find his kids in the middle of an abandoned London. That combined with his resiliency...send him to Afghan and let him track Bin Laden.

Posted by Daviddb at May 8, 2007 9:14 PM

comment #6

Devin Faraci says ...

Yeah, this is a really stupid movie, which is especially annoying considering that the first film was actually pretty smart.

Posted by Devin Faraci at May 8, 2007 10:36 PM

comment #7

PanTheFaun says ...

Hm. I see this one tomorrow and now I don't know what to think.

Posted by PanTheFaun at May 8, 2007 11:46 PM

comment #8

Ogami Itto says ...

Okay, so it's dumb and illogical, but is it entertainingly dumb and illogical? I really liked the first one and I like Robert Carlyle, so is it worth seeing for, say, matinee price?

Posted by Ogami Itto at May 9, 2007 4:57 AM

comment #9

jimjonesiii says ...

"Yeah, this is a really stupid movie, which is especially annoying considering that the first film was actually pretty smart".

Posted by Devin Faraci at May 8, 2007 10:36 PM

Considering this is from the guy who said The fountain "itÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s the best film of 2006", stupid could mean exactly the opposite.

Posted by jimjonesiii at May 9, 2007 6:05 AM

comment #10

Alan Cerny says ...

THE FOUNTAIN is the best film of 2006.

Posted by Alan Cerny at May 9, 2007 6:17 AM

comment #11

breadlymoore says ...

Jeff, come ON, man...

28 WEEKS LATER is yet another garbage pile from Fox Atomic, destroying any artistic merit Boyle created with the last film.

They've turned something fresh into leftovers - the sequel is simply a remake of the first film. Except now the acting is worse, the camerawork is un-fucking-forgivable, and the ending a money-sucking-whorish endeavor that is meant to stretch out this "franchise" for 10 more DTV sequels (28 MONTHS LATER, 28 YEARS LATER), not end the film on a nightmarish note.

Jeff, you're better than this. Don't praise such a hollow, angry production.

Also, how long before Stephen King sues the screenwriters?

Posted by breadlymoore at May 9, 2007 7:47 AM

comment #12

jeffmcm says ...

The Fountain is not the best film of 2006.

Here's hoping anybody other than Danny 'obvious and didactic conclusion' Boyle directed the third one.

Posted by jeffmcm at May 9, 2007 11:33 AM

comment #13

Dublin101 says ...

It is geting good buzz and now Jeff likes it. Considering how he's not much of a genre fan, that has to be worth something.

Posted by Dublin101 at May 9, 2007 1:41 PM

comment #14

PanTheFaun says ...

I don't really agree with Jeff or Devin. It's kind of mildly entertaining, has a handful of strong sequences and has some really interesting shots. Other than that, it's pretty dumb and not that invigorating. It's pretty good for a horror sequel, but that's about the farthest I can go.

I'd probably give it a B-

Posted by PanTheFaun at May 9, 2007 7:02 PM

comment #15