28 Weeks Later has been a great success and has received favourable reviews in general. It hasn’t quite received the same praise and coverage as 28 Days Later has and you just wonder why this could be? I think that surpassing an original that has been such a hit is never going to be easy. 28 Weeks Later had a similar style, yet was missing the dark, edgy atmosphere that was so present in our first film. There was always an air of dread in 28 Days Later, it really captured the post-apocalyptic theme better than anything else within the genre and it always felt raw and real throughout. The shots of a desolate London were never quite on the same par in the sequel. Maybe we felt more for the characters as well, from both films it was Jim (Cillian Murphy) that became memorable.
Our central characters include Don Harris (Robert Carlyle) and Alice Harris (Catherine Mccormack) who live in a protected cottage with fellow survivors from the Rage virus. We later meet their children, Andy Harris (Makintosh Muggleton) and Tammy Harris (Imogen Poots) who had been in Spain during the time of the outbreak. The other main character is Doyle (Jeremy Renner) who we started to feel for as a character, which didn’t stop the filmmakers from orchestrating a grisly demise. The major running theme in 28 Weeks Later is that Andy and his mother Alice both have heterochromia, which makes them dormant carriers of the Rage Virus. The film flows well and is well structured - we have that dip near the end, which was the same case as the original, but Juan Carlos Fresnadillo has kept the franchise alive and has left a perfect setting for 28 Months Later, which will see the return of the maker… Danny Boyle. Summary: Stayed loyal to the first film, which I felt was important. John Murphy provided us with the same great music and we also saw the return of the Raged zombies, which were executed with the venom they had to be. 28 Weeks Later is not quite as impressive as the original that was artistic and raw, but I think it may just have the edge as far as the entertainment factor goes. There was a completely new team on board for 28 Weeks Later and I would have thought that the expectations would have been a little clouded, yet fans of the original I am sure would have been pleasantly surprised and this has been reflected in the general ratings from the critics and the general public. Kudos to the Spanish filmmakers, 28 Weeks Later has been a commendable sequel and addition to the horror genre.
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I write my essay about the film that has changed the way I see the world: 28 Weeks Later.
28 Weeks Later arrived in 2007 and on this occasion we had a new director in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo and the script was not this time constructed by Alex Garland, but this time by Enrique Lopez-Lavigne, Jesus Olmo, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (director) and and Rowan Joffe. Alex Garland and Danny Boyle did gage some input in the production side of things and this seemed to work a treat - the film was styled very much in the same manner as the original and this included an outstanding contribution from John Murphy with the music. Fans may have been a little sceptical… Juan Carlos Fresnadillo didn’t have the best track record to date and yet he was offered the task of succeeding Danny Boyle’s outstanding original. Did he manage to improve upon the first five years on? No, not quite, but it was still a very impressive instalment and now we wait for 28 Months Later which will be arriving in 2011. In a great homage to Danny Boyle, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo added Robert Carlyle into a starring role who you will remember from Danny Boyle’s impressive hit Trainspotting. The director this time changed proceedings from the beginning and started with a completely different cast - there was no Jim (Cillian Murphy) involved in this project and this makes us wonder what happened to our leading star of the original. Over 28 weeks, the Rage infected population has died out and Britain is now re-building from scratch. People tend to dish out the: “Oh, it’s far too Americanised!” Rubbish, an American-led Nato force are simply helping out their closest allies. History has taught us that if ever such an event should take place then our American friends would certainly be at hand. Most of the filming is carried out in London and other scenes were shot in Cardiff. The eerie atmosphere is not quite present, but we still have John Murphy’s well themed music and the Spanish team behind the film have governed everything together in a similar fashion to the original. The Raged zombies are adapted perfectly again here and within the first several minutes of the film we witness one of the most phenomenal openings, that kick started us again into the sheer talent that this franchise boards - I remember the original doing this, but it kinda lost rhythm as it progressed. 28 Weeks Later stayed low key after this major opening, but it did progress well and everything seemed to work extremely well. Was the Dawn of the Dead helicopter homage needed? Probably not, but the original took a few ideas from Romero’s Dead series anyway. |
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