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The film starts six months after the Rage virus has spread throughout the city of London. The United States Army has restored order and is repopulating the quarantined city. But a peculiar carrier of the Rage virus enters London and unknowingly reignites the spread of the deadly infection, wreaking havoc on the entire population. Would we have a movie otherwise?

Some of my friends are sequel haters, but I’m just not one of them. Sure, a lot of sequels are wastes of time and simply look to cash in on a built-in audience. But when someone tells me that 1986’s Aliens was unnecessary, and just “the same thing all over again,” I just about fly out of my chair. “Aliens was a well- done continuation of the first film!” I cry. I hoped for the same thing with 28 Weeks Later, and I think it delivers.

Instead of following one character’s journey, Jim (what a great name!), from the first film, this sequel follows a family who (mostly) escaped the virus and try to relocate in London. Both films certainly grasped the theme of “if this virus were real, our story is a realistic possibility,” which helps to erase unnecessary supernatural elements. It elevated the story and the characters’ plights above cheesy zombie fare. This sequel also plays its cards right by focusing on a relatively ordinary family in extraordinary circumstances played across-the-board by strong actors playing empathic roles.

28 Days Later was sheer chaos; in 28 Weeks Later, people have a strong idea about what they’re up against and have a plan in place to overcome it, similar to Aliens. But since it’s obvious that everything is going to get out of control, what we behold is how the planned defenses come into play against another outbreak. And the family becomes the link that pulls us into the drama.

I must admit that much of the film retreads the core theme of the first film, which asks the question, how would we try to survive and overcome a violent viral outbreak such as this? But consider that just because movies were made about World War I, Hollywood shouldn’t and didn’t ignore movies about World War II. There was no fear of repeating similar themes.

I liked this film partly because I’m a sucker for survival films where people are running for their lives, but also because I liked the family and found myself rooting for them to survive. In fact, a few of the characters that sacrificed themselves for others really drew me into the pathos of the film. The plot is strong and involving, despite one unrealistic scene in which some characters get separated (in life, they would not have).

Yes, there is brutal violence and lots of bloodshed, executed with quick-cut editing, for which I was thankful. And a defensive move by a helicopter against some infected victims is sheer kick ass. But beyond being a flashy action horror show, be aware that this is a grim, grim film that feels possible.

The Video: How Does The Disc Look?

The film’s theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1 is presented in anamorphic video. Video quality is purposely very rough. The first explosive scene almost looks like it was filmed in 16 mm, especially during chase sequences; the director wanted to make a “horror documentary” and it shows. Dark scenes limit chroma to a drab assortment of browns, blues, and dirty greens, which certainly evokes the grim survival tone of the film. Some exterior sunlit scenes become more vibrant with colors looking more naturally saturated, but that doesn’t last. Such scenes are best to judge small object detail in backgrounds and they are nicely visible. Unfortunately, that is also when minor edge halos become apparent. There are quite a few close ups, and when they are static – during a down time – finely grained textures of the actors’ hair, skin, and rough clothing appear clear and fairly sharp.

The chase and rage sequences are extremely rough, handheld, you’re-in-the-action and engender the roughest film grain I’ve seen in years. Sometimes it became more distracting rather than compelling, but admittedly, it was very gripping. This rough style also wreaks havoc with contrast ratios. In fact most of the film’s exterior daylight scenes appear a bit hot with crushed, but extremely deep, blacks, and whites that bloom slightly. Dark action scenes can appear a bit faded and lack good grayscale range. Yet some day for night shots look clean and very alluring. The compression artifact of macroblocking emerges on a few occasions. The intended rough style has its benefits of making the film look interesting and tough. But the costs certainly degrade the picture quality, which can be so distracting that it makes the film less involving. I can’t give the transfer a poor score, simply because the picture quality appears to be what the filmmakers intended.

The Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

The disc’s Dolby Digital 5.1 track has a solid front soundstage with airy highs, rich lows, and some involving stereo panning. Dialogue is very clear, although some accents are so strong I had to turn on the subtitles more than once. The film makes great use of low frequency effects that kept my subwoofer busy; a scene with a swooping helicopter vibrated my pant legs. Midtones are clean and decently rendered throughout much of the madness. Surrounds are frequently active, have a nice dynamic range, and certainly enhance envelopment especially with the throbbing score. However, the surrounds can be very mushy, ill defined, and with imperceptible discrete effects. I engaged EX decoding for grins, and it simply surrounded me with mushier surround. The audio mix is certainly sufficient, but more precise detail in the nuances would have been welcomed . . . and creepier.

A stereo track with English audio for the visually impaired is included (and interesting) as well as French and Spanish Dolby Surround 2.0 tracks. English Closed Captions are included as are English and Spanish subtitles (the latter two worked on my DVD player, but not my computer).

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

We begin with an audio commentary by Juan Carlos Frensnadillo and Enrique Lopez Lavigne. Both are enthusiastic about the film and they admire its predecessor. They discuss some of the technical attributes they employed and why, as well as casting and production challenges with a film on a tight budget. Both men spur each other on and make this a great commentary.

Next is deleted scenes with optional audio commentary by Juan Carlos Frensnadillo and Enrique Lopez Lavigne. The scenes are The Canteen (2:59) and Andy’s Dream (2:21). The quality is rough and a bit faded. I thought both scenes were cool and should have stayed in the film; they add more character development and would have made the sacrifices later in the film more potent.

Code Red: Making of 28 Weeks Later is a featurette (13:06) with behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with principle cast and filmmakers. Discussions about budget restraints, casting, infected status, and story linking between this and the first film are interesting. The AIDS reference regarding stronger tolerances against the strain by some people and how the filmmakers incorporated that fact into the film was a brilliant move.

The Infected is the next featurette (6:58) with lots of fun discussion and behind-the-scenes-footage of the extras in “infected rage” costume design and attitude. It’s rowdy great fun as most would expect. It’s interesting to note that many dancers were employed as “the infected” to give the zombie’s a more fluid, exuberant presence.

Getting into the Action is the last featurette (7:14). Lots of clips from the film are included as well as behind-the-scenes footage. Actors talk about the energy required to exhibit fear and run for their lives. Juan Carlos Frensnadillo talks about how he focused on the film as a real “horror documentary.”

There is also a website with the trailer, story, photo gallery, and an infected game.

The 100-minute film is organized into twenty-nine chapters.

Exclusive DVD-ROM Features: What happens when you pop the disc into your PC?

There are no DVD-ROM features on this DVD.