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28 Weeks Later
R3 - Hong Kong - Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Noor Razzak (19th October 2007). |
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The Film
 When a film hits it big you can almost always bank on a sequel getting fast tracked into production as the studios clammer to recreate the same spark and hopeful windfall in box office that the original managed to generate. "28 Days Later" (2002) was in fact a sizeable hit and thus "28 Weeks Later" was born and his time with a new cast and a new director. My initial response wasn't great, the immense changes to the cast was a sure sign of bad things to come and the fact that Danny Boyle wasn't going to return to the director's seat was another warning sign that this sequel could potentially stink and be another quickie attempt to squeeze more money out of a potential franchise. In 2005 Boyle commented that his responsibilities on "Sunshine" (2007) would not allow him to return but did stay on in the capacity of Executive Producer and also in fact shot second unit for the film, the task was to select a director and after having seen the thriller "Intacto" he chose Juan Carlos Fresnadillo who would make his English language debut with this film. This move would help calm the flames of rabid fans and the further casting news of Robert Carlyle (who incidentally turned down a part in the first film) and a few strong newcomers including Rose Byrne and Harold Perrineau from "Lost" (2004-Present) would start to quell the fire of doubt in my mind and chances are the film would probably be ok. Then the theatrical trailer hit...and my brain exploded. "28 Weeks Later" looked like a ferocious spectacle, and I was pumped and discovered rather quickly (about 5 minutes into the movie in fact) that the film would deliver in all respects, tight plotting, fine acting, intense violence and equally intense scares. The film takes place six and half months after the initial infection from the first film, the virus is all but destroyed and people are making the return home to London. The U.S. led NATO force has been mobilized to restore order and make sure the civilians are safe and that there is no further threat. Donald Harris (Robert Carlyle) and his kids Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton) and Tammy (Imogen Poots) move into District 1. Donald haunted by his wife Alice's (Catherine McCormack) fate tries his best to pick up the pieces with his children. But Alice also returns carrying the virus but totally immune and the virus once again re-enters the population and chaos ensues as Andy and Tammy run for survival with the help of Sergeant Doyle (Jeremy Renner) and Major Scarlet (Rose Byrne) Right from the start there are differences between this film and the previous, the first being that it was shot on super 16mm, 35mm film as well as some HD digital, while the first in the series was shot on digital, film gives the movie a necessary weigh and texture which the first lacked. The more prominent depth of field allows the filmmaker's to create a more hyper-real sense to the film and the production design gives the camera a lot of highly detailed chaotic set pieces to look at, this implants you into the scene and allows for total immersions into this post-apocalyptic urban landscape. I was also pleased with the story line and they way the filmmakers approached this sequel, looking at a broader canvas but still keeping the family at the core of the narrative. The further involvement of the NATO force also adds power and a certain level of edge-of-you-seat action to occur during the film's 100 minute runtime. They also stepped up the scares and tension, Fresnadillo proved his talents crafting thrillers and he manages to continually keep you glued to the screen as he sets upon challenge after challenge for these people to overcome in order to survive this ordeal. The two kids played by Mackintosh Muggleton and Imogen Poots do a great job of keeping the viewer interested and never veer off into that 'annoying-whiney' child performance that a lot of characters seem to go in horror films. Additionally Carlyle is simply creepy and manages to add another level to this already taunt film. Fans of "28 Days Later" won't be disappointed with this film, in fact if you're already nuts about the previous film then chances are you've already seen this one and probably have already purchased a copy. I certainly found it entertaining and exciting and dare I say even better than its predecessor. There may also be a third installment in the works to look forward to, let's hope the producers can carry over the same level of production value and quality, in any case we have 2009 to look forward to for that chapter.
Video
Presented in the film's original 1.85:1 theatrical ratio this anamorphic transfer presents the film accurately and in tune with the director's vision. The image is rather mixed in terms of quality due to the use of various film stocks and some digital photography, the film footage is very rough at times and possesses a lot of grain and darkly lit scenes tend to suffer from that as they can be quite noisy. This is of course the look the filmmaker was trying to achieve, the documentary style which lends itself to this type of production quite well. But be warned that the heavy grain is something that you'll have to get used to. Sharpness isn't always maintained but a lot of daytime exteriors look brilliant and the aerial footage of London is simply brilliant to look at in terms of the detail. Colors are also a bit patchy and leaning towards the gloomy palette but they rendered accurately.
Audio
Two sound tracks are include in English Dolby Digital 5.1 as well as a Thai Dolby Digital 5.1 surround track. For the purposes of this review I chose to view the film with its English soundtrack and found it excellent. Dialogue was clear and distortion free but the film's action and score are the best part of this aggressive and pumping track. The action scenes virtually scream off the screen and the score takes over in occasionally thunderous manner. The depth and range is excellent and is entirely immersive. Optional subtitles are included in English, Cantonese, Korean, Mandarin, Thai and Bahasa Indonesian.
Extras
Fox has released this film with an audio commentary, a series of three featurettes, deleted scenes, an animated graphic novel and the film's theatrical trailer. Below is a closer look at these supplements. First up we've got a feature-length audio commentary by the film's director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and producer/co-writer Enrique Lopez Lavigne. These two comment on the concept of the film and how it would be shot using a lot of hand-held camera to convey realism. They talks about the influence of submarine movies and how they wanted to make the film feel claustrophobic as well as add elements of surrealism. They also comment on the story and the rebuilding process of London, the use of the Army in the story and the survival elements. They also touch on the visual effects such as removing people and objects from backgrounds to create a desolate and empty city, the infected and their make-up and look is also covered in some detail as is the logistics of shooting in London and on how they wanted to improve on the first film and make a moody and action filled horror film. Next up are 2 deleted scenes, these can be viewed individually or with a 'play all' function and can also be viewed with optional audio commentary by the film's director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and producer/co-writer Enrique Lopez Lavigne. In the track they talks about the scene and why it was omitted from the final version of the film, the scenes included are: - "The Canteen" which runs for 2 minutes 52 seconds, Tammy gets hit on while being served food and the family joins Major Scarlet at a table. - "Andy's Dream" runs for 2 minutes 9 seconds, Andy dreams of embracing his mother on a subway car. The first featurette on this disc is entitled "Code Red: The Making of 28 Weeks Later" and runs for 13 minutes 6 seconds. This is an EPK clip covers the basics such as the filmmaker's wanting to continue the story in a sequel, on how they didn't want to repeat anything they had already done in the first and focusing on survival from a family perspective, plus looks at the shooting a genre film such as this on a small budget, shooting in London as well as casting the parts and working with the director, who everyone thinks is brilliant. The second featurette is entitled "The Infected" and runs for 6 minutes 57 seconds and is a lot more interesting and covers filming scenes with the extras hired to play infected people and also takes a closer look at the movement choreography and work shopping they did prior to filming in an effort to get ready for the production and also briefly touches on the make-up and costumes. The cast also comment on being around people covered in blood all day. The third and final featurette is entitled "Getting Into The Action" and runs for 7 minutes 13 seconds, this clip goes through the various key action sequences for the film and the amount of work and physical pressure that's put on the stars for the film as well as the use of handheld cameras which adds an intensity and realism to the film and a look at the 2nd unit production which was directed by Danny Boyle. Also featured on the disc is "The Aftermath" an animated graphic novel that includes 2 clips, these are taken from the comic of the same name and chronicle two stages that occur between days 29-32 of the infection and include: - "Stage 1: Development" which runs for 7 minutes 36 seconds. - "Stage 3: Decimation" which runs for 4 minutes 46 seconds. The film's original and very cool theatrical trailer follows and runs for 2 minutes 14 seconds. Rounding out the extras are some DVD-ROM content which consist of web links to the international Fox website.
Overall
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