28 Weeks Later (2007) Dir: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
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After recently rewatching the brilliant original, I felt it was time to watch the 2007 sequel, directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo. I wasn't sure how high or low to keep my expectations, as I had very little knowledge of the film or its critical reception prior to watching it.
The short answer, was to have had those expectations low. Horrendously shaky camerashots ruined a lot of the visuals, but not as much as some of the god-awful CGI, which thankfully was not that frequent. The result of all this was a film that felt very messy, uncoordinated and disorienting.
The story was a real let down for me. It started off so strongly, with a really intriguing opening that gave the story so much potential. However, the narrative slowly turned into a really basic zombie survival tale that lacked any real substance and completely underutilised so much of the work the first act did.
The unfortunate case is that the story was not satisfying at all. Characters were needlessly killed off, very jarring and unnecessary events happened, and the story felt like it needed more. It really could have done with an additional act at the end of the film to pay off at least some of the subplots.
I actually liked the way Robert Carlyle was utilised in the film. It was a big surprise and really interesting. I thought his performance was fairly decent, but he had a few moments where I wasn't so convinced. However, on the whole, he was pretty strong.
Imogen Poots had a pretty composed performance, and I liked how well she showed her emotions. I felt that she was quite believable, near enough the whole way through. She is one of those actors who, with retrospect, perhaps should have achieved more, considering her acting potential.
I was less enthused by the performance of Mackintosh Muggleton, who was, in fairness, given a pretty bland child character to play. Even so, he only had a few good scenes, and in those, he seemed to be elevated by Poots and Renner.
Jeremy Renner was the clear standout for me, in terms of acting. His character was also one of the most interesting, but was so wasted, in my mind. I really think the film would've been better if he'd featured a bit more.
The film also featured the likes of Rose Byrne, Harold Perrineau, Idris Elba and Catherine McCormack. I think Byrne and Perrineau lacked any significant personality, unfortunately. Whereas, I think Elba was severely underutilised.
Overall, this sequel does not manage to emulate a lot of what makes the original so effective. It feels far more generic, and lacks an intriguing story, instead focusing on the zombie tropes to make the film work. I think it's fair to say that, while there are some pretty good elements floating around, the film still fell short of what it could and should have been.
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