28 WEEKS LATER (BR-DVD/WS-1.85/ENG-SP SUB/ENG-FR-SP DUB/CP/SM) DVD

28 Weeks Later
The devastating rage virus that annihilated the British Isles mysteriously resurfaces in Goya Award-winning director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's sequel to the Danny Boyle-directed horror hit that terrified audiences worldwide by offering a breathless new take on the familiar zombie mythos. Six months has passed since the rage virus caused British residents to indiscriminately murder and destroy everything in their paths, and now the U.S. military has declared victory in the war against the rapidly spreading infection. As the reconstruction process gets underway and the first wave of refugees return to British shores, a family separated by the devastation is happily reunited. During the initial outbreak, Don Harris (Robert Carlyle) and his wife Alice (Catherine McCormack) sat holed up with a small band of survivors in a remote farmhouse. Their kids well out of harm's way at a remote boarding school, Don and Alice's outlook for the future is decidedly bright until all hell breaks loose in the country and Don just barely manages to escape the clutches of the infected. The joy of later seeing his son Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton) and daughter Tammy (Imogen Poots) as repopulation efforts get underway in London is short-lived, however, when an innocent bid to reconnect with the past sets into motion a tragic series of events. Now, just as society struggles to sort through the rubble and rebuild London from the ground up, the virus that nearly destroyed a nation strikes back with a vengeance. Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne, and Harold Perrineau, Jr. co-star in the frightful sequel, which highlights the dangers of declaring victory in the calm before the storm. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Cast Robert Carlyle as Don Harris Rose Byrne as Scarlet Jeremy Renner as Sgt. Doyle Harold Perrineau Jr. as Flynn Catherine McCormack as Alice Mackintosh Muggleton as Andy Imogen Poots as Tammy Idris Elba as Gen. Stone Emily Beecham as Karen Shahid Ahmed as Jacob

Crew Dennis Schnegg - Art Director Patrick Rolfe - Supervising Art Director Shaheen Baig - Casting Bernard Bellew - Co-producer Bernard Murphy - Co-producer Jane Petrie - Costume Designer Toby Ford - First Assistant Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo - Director Masahiro Hirakubo - Editor Chris Gill - Editor Danny Boyle - Executive Producer Alex Garland - Executive Producer John Murphy - Composer (Music Score) Konnie Daniel - Makeup Anthony Parker - Makeup Special Effects Dave Bonneywell - Makeup Special Effects Mark Tildesley - Production Designer Enrique Chediak - Cinematographer Andrew Macdonald - Producer Allon Reich - Producer Enrique Lopez-Lavigne - Producer Enrique Lopez Lavigne - Producer Glenn Freemantle - Sound/Sound Designer Simon Hayes - Sound/Sound Designer Jesus Olmo - Screenwriter Juan Carlos Fresnadillo - Screenwriter E.L. Lavigne - Screenwriter Enrique Lopez Lavigne - Screenwriter Rowan Joffe - Screenwriter Sean Mathiesen - Visual Effects Supervisor Framestore - Digital Effects Animal Logic Film - Digital Effects Chocolate Lab - Digital Effects LipSync Post - Digital Effects Prime Focus - Digital Effects The Mill - Digital Effects Rushes Post Production - Digital Effects Senate Visual Effects - Digital Effects Rainmaker - Digital Effects Rising Sun Pictures - Digital Effects

28 Weeks Later
The infected are back, and with them the core creative forces behind the surprise international hit 28 Days Later, as director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo picks up the torch originally sparked by Danny Boyle to offer a true rarity in the world of horror sequels -- a film that nearly eclipses its predecessor on all counts. While die-hard Boyle fans may initially balk at this sequel due to the fact that the visionary director opted not to reprise his role at the helm, a quick glance at the credits reveals that not only did he remain onboard as executive producer, but original producer Andrew Macdonald, original writer Alex Garland, original editor Chris Gill, and even original composer John Murphy -- whose swelling score effectively drives home the emotion of the smaller, quieter moments while seamlessly sweeping the viewer up in the action scenes -- all saw fit to remain on board in order to keep the machine running smoothly. Throw into the mix a promising young director whose debut feature Intacto drew impressive reviews from international critics, and you have the perfect recipe for a sequel that impressively maintains the aesthetics and intimate feel of the original while subtly expanding on the mythology in a manner that, while impossible to discuss without resorting to spoilers, feels both fluid and organic. Most fans of the original will admit that while they do indeed like the film it does have its fair share of problems -- a reality that Boyle himself seemed to acknowledge while laughingly dismissing some of his more far-fetched ideas in the DVD extras -- and though the sequel too has a handful of eyebrow-raising issues, the overall result is a thinking person's "zombie apocalypse" flick that maintains an impressive emotional core while never losing sight of its genre roots. As a filmmaker Fresnadillo's abilities may not yet be honed to the fine point that Boyle's were by the time he took on the infected, though for his sophomore outing the Goya-winning director does display an impressive ability to conjure convincing performances from his players; Robert Carlyle in particular hits all the right notes as a survivor of the original outbreak whose fate is sealed by a particularly reprehensible act of cowardice, with Mackintosh Muggleton and Imogen Poots always convincing as his skeptical and fiercely independent children. Whereas Fresnadillo could be accused of relying too much on the eye-straining grand mal school of camera jostling when things take a turn for the worst and the infection reemerges, it's hard to argue that the technique effectively conveys the chaos that characters trapped between trigger-happy snipers and teeth-gnashing ragers would be feeling as bullets whizzed by their heads and adrenaline-fueled cannibals storm the streets killing anything that moves. Even when his technique is more restrained, however, Fresnadillo's uncanny ability to make viewer believe they have a grasp on the situation before pulling back to reveal that things aren't quite what they seem goes a long way in driving home the disorienting volatility of such an explosive scenario. In terms of screenwriting Fresnadillo (along with collaborators Enrique Lopez Lavigne, Jesus Olmo, and Rowan Joffe) do occasionally rely too much on exposition, though that fairly minor shortcoming is ultimately offset by the creation of characters that are identifiable and sympathetic, and unrelentingly tense situations that truly fray the nerves. Ever since Night of the Living Dead "zombie apocalypse" films have been rife with political subtext, and while it will be clear to many precisely what the screenwriters are getting at when the new arrivals pull into an eerily quiet London where U.S. soldiers stand at the ready on every street corner, 28 Weeks Later refuses to go for the obvious. The military forces in charge of reestablishing society more aren't evil, self-serving occupiers as much as they are inept, well-intending protectors who are ultimately consumed by a situation they just can't wrap their heads around. The subtle commentary on life within a "surveillance society," while never really explored in such detail, also provides compelling food for thought. In the end 28 Weeks Later is a film that's likely to be as polarizing for many viewers as it's predecessor was due to its outspoken politics and unique experimentation with genre standards, yet for those seeking out a stripped down summer frightener that doesn't take three hours to make its point, impressively expands on the ideas of the original while upping the scale and terror ante, and actually attempts to stimulate thought rather than insulting the viewer's intelligence, there's quite a bit to like about this vicious little summer screamer. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
 

(no awards)

General Specifications: Language Options: English, French, Spanish Subtitle Options: English, Spanish, Cantonese, KO Sound Processing: DTS: Digital Theater Systems (akin to 5.1) DD5.1: Dolby Digital w/ sub-woofer channel Additional Features: Commentary by director/cowriter Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and coproducer Enrique López-Lavigne Deleted scenes with optional commentary by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and Enrique López-Lavigne Code Red: the making of 28 Weeks Later featurette The Infected featurette Getting Into Action featurette Two animated chapters from 28 Weeks Later: The Aftermath Theatrical trailer DVD Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1: Theatre Wide-Screen MPAA Rating: R DVD Discs Included: 1 DVD Sides: 1 DVD DVD Region Code: A Content Length: 100 min