Just got through watching 28 Weeks Later.
I did like the original movie 28 Days Later, to an extent. I thought the first half was great -- and then hated the part once they reached the base and it turned into some other "save the girl flick". I thought it got cliche and predictable, by then and that the film lost some focus on the whole "survival" aspect the film was had going on from the jump-start.
I'll take 28 Weeks Later over the original. This sequel kept me on the edge, wondering what the heck was going to happen next, at all costs -- even by the end, I was not sure how the hell most of these characters, in a horror film that made you care about nearly every one of them, were going to turn out. Most of these type of horror films, you'll wind up caring for namely the main characters that happen to be there in a movie with an ensemble-sized card -- and well, not too much more than that, unfortunately; which is a big mistake for many of these films (Wrong Turn, anyone?).
Since 28 Weeks Later revolves around the virus basically trying to tear apart at an entire family and spending time developing that story and depth before eventually all hell breaks loose, you do care -- it's just the world being decimated just so happens to be there, as another part of the story. It's always this family and those helping the family, getting the center stage.
Ending Spoilers
And well, my only complaint with this flick here -- the ending after what should be the film's ending.
The last minute ain't gonna murder what was other-wise was...
...A very good film. And probably the best "serious" zombie movie I've seen since the recent remake of Dawn of the Dead.
I can't get enough of zombie movies... I'll watch a lot of bad ones, just because they are zombie movies. This was quite good.
I am very surprised by how well I liked it. It was superior to the original on all counts. Better direction, scarier, well paced, and a much better script. I agree with D, one of my favorite zombie movies. You guys need to watch this asap.
I did want to see this, but yes -- like you, I had my doubts going in, given how the first one fell apart in the last 1/3rd of the flick. But once I sat down and watched this, I was surprised -- pleasantly surprised.
And Rob Carlisle was awesome here. No doubt about it.
FUCK YEA!
I thought this was very cool and at times quite scary. A massive improvement over the original. I don't see the political stuff. Also Rose Bryne is very hot, even in uniform.
Okay, here's the Political Stuff....And this does spoil some of the movie's events, so if you ain't seen the movie but do plan to see it, AVOID it....
Okay, the political stuff goes back to the USA stuff. Basically, w/ London in shambles, the USA has intervened and decided to basically "police the foreign area," whether the people in this country really like it or not. This is pretty much a direct reference to -- oh, you probably guessed this one, once I said what I just did -- yep, The War In Iraq.
There's also the part where the "Homeland Security" notice goes to some sort of particular color -- I think it was either "Red" or "Orange", which is directly taking stabs at the USA's Color Code System For "Homeland Security" Emergencies. That part of the flick, as you'll notice, is when things go to their highest level, in which the soldiers just go into the mode where they are to shoot at anything moving -- regardless of whether it's an innocent or not. Doesn't matter if it is a child, female, their very own soldiers, or whatever; shoot away at anyone, just shoot like its target practice. Shoot first, ask questions either never or later.
There's also that part when the US soldier puts the scope on the boy and just doesn't shoot the boy and doesn't follow the orders his superiors gave him. Instead, he decides to try and save him, if possible. Yet, when he tries to save the boy, his own soldiers take shots at him b/c they are following their orders instead of their moral judgment. That is a direct aim at some past instances, in which soldiers have had to either decide to follow their superior officers' not-so-moral orders or their very moral beliefs; in which either way, the soldier feels like they are stuck in a dilemma, in which either way they feel they will lose. In one case, they feel they could be breaking their moral grounds and the Military's Rules of Engagement. On another hand, by not following their superior officer's order, a soldier might feel that they could be committing treason to their own country -- and might even be charged on those grounds, by a military court. There's been a great handful of movies to touch on such a matter; but one other movie I can think of off the top of my head is the movie Rules Of Engagement, which touched on such issues before -- on whether a soldier should be following their orders or following their own moral judgment.
I didn't see the movie as a shot against Americans. I suppose if you look hard enough some of that stuff is there but I don't think its intended to be some kind of agenda against American foreign policy.
Agreed. After being f'ed over by zombies it would have to be a foriegn country that comes in to pick up the pieces. I think people are just reading too much into this.
Otherwise I thought it wasn't as good as the first movie though it did do things a little better. I liked the US forces safe zone and the rebuilding effort I though it was an interesting different thing to have done - to show the rebuilding effort after a zombie outbreak. But once hell breaks out it was all by the numbers.
Once the group was put together they were picked off one by one, it couldn't have been more by the numbers