Film review: 28 Weeks Later

28 Days Later was an outstanding example of the zombie genre, which, along with the clever spoof Shaun of the Dead, meant that of late Britannia has ruled the zombie waves. 28 Days Later was raw, original, chilling, with characters that you cared about and a twist that blurred the lines between the zombies and the humans in a disturbing way.
28 Weeks Later retains a lot of the first film's techniques. The shots of an empty London are still there. What is it that makes these shots so captivating? Perhaps it's the creepy attractiveness of a city without people, which is an uncomfortable but fascinating thought. It suggests that zombies are really just a horrible representation of humans as we really are. 28 Days Later was good at digging up these feelings, especially at the end when the army soldiers show that they are even worse than the zombies.
However, the way these deserted city images are used in 28 Weeks Later demonstrates the major difference between these films. Whereas the original encouraged troubling thought, the sequel just seems to say 'Cool, check out empty London'. It is pretty cool, but the film does it too much.
28 Weeks Later tries to have some intellectual content. The premise of the film is that the virus has wiped out the British population and the zombies have now starved to death. The US Army enters the de-populated country and some obvious comment on the Iraq war is made. The American army's complacency costs them and the virus resurfaces. There is reference to 'friendly fire' in the film, but that is about as far as the political nod goes.
Really, 28 Weeks Later is an action flick. It's about a group of humans trying to escape the zombies and the US Army intent on wiping everything out as part of its 'Code Red' better-safe-than-sorry policy. There's a lot of big explosions and action sets, including an excellent helicopter scene. The main characters are two children who had been on holiday when the virus broke out and return once the country is prematurely deemed safe. They find their father alive but not their mother. The father, played by Robert Carlyle, had abandoned his wife to the zombies in order to save himself.
This family dynamic structures the film. It isn't very well handled, with the potential for an interesting study of Carlyle's guilt foregone as the film becomes a simple chase.
Two American Army officers, a female medic and a male sniper, become the principal defenders of the children, who may hold the key to conquering the virus. However, none of these characters is sufficiently fleshed out to make the audience care much about them. The action is fast-paced; and the climactic episode is atmospheric, but the twist is quite predictable.
A final disappointment comes in an ending that blatantly sets up a sequel rather than concluding the film. On the whole, the film lacks the tension of the original mainly because the audience doesn't warm to the characters. This is a reasonable 'chase' film, with some good action set pieces and plenty of gore. However, if you're looking for the subtlety and surprising warmth amid tragedy of the first film, look elsewhere.