28 Weeks Later

Review in a Hurry:  Just when you thought it was safe to inhabit London, the armed struggle against the undead flares up again! Sadly, we are only armed with lackluster actors and a crappy screenplay. The result: a sequel that tarnishes the greatness of its predecessor.

The Bigger Picture:  The much anticipated follow up to Danny Boyle's surprisingly wonderful 28 Days Later is, to put it lightly, a total failure. Fans of the original will be annoyed that charming smarts and existential pondering have been replaced by flat characters, few thrills and the equivalent of daytime-TV dialogue.

The story picks up with London on lockdown, after NATO has sent in surly, crass American troops to contain a zombie virus that devoured most of England's population. The troops have secured a wide swath of the city and, six months after the virus originally hit, the Brits are being let back in.

A family with adorable accents is reunited, and all seems well—for about three minutes. Until the children scamper out of bounds and bump into their mother, who they thought was dead. Turns out mama is now a Mombie—half mom, half zombie. She gets back into the containment zone and, through a series of silly events, the virus busts out all over again.

The last hour is devoted to a tedious chase, with the role of villain—once handled by the hungry undead—now played by trigger-happy Americans. Some believe this twist is a clever political allegory. Those people are wrong, they are lying to you, and they wish to do you harm. There's more political commentary in my bowl of Cheerios than in this 90-minute test of patience.

The script never takes the time to develop any character worth caring about, and with the exception of the grossly underused Robert Carlyle, the performances are ordinary and obvious.

What's most frustrating is how seriously this movie takes itself. There's no humor, little wit, and it's not even that scary. By the end, I was cheering for the zombies, who could at least offer me the sweet relief of death.

The 180—a Second Opinion:  There are some unintentionally laughable parts, so if you go in with a light heart and low expectations, you may come out feeling satisfied.