red9

Watched 28 Weeks Later recently. I meant to see it in theatres because I thought it would be a better experience, but as often goes ended up just watching it at home. I have to say right away that I’m a fan of the first movie in the series, 28 Days Later, it was definitely enjoyable and managed to be dramatic, entertaining and action packed all in it’s own right. It was also smart, so I had high hopes for the second one in the franchise, despite the fact that I knew Weeks had a different director.

The opening scene that introduced us once again to the world we found ourselves immersed in was instantly amazing. It relayed nearly all of the information we’d need to know as a viewer, to the point where I felt if the average person had not seen the first movie, they’d be missing details and explanations, but would certainly quickly know the setting they found themselves in. It was dramatic, intense and thrilling.

Then we were once again thrown through a time lapse which brought us to the point where England was being repopulated (if you don’t know the premise of the movies, it’s rather simple, in the first one a man wakes up in a hospital all alone, a virus had spread through England which once infected with causes the person to resort to the most basic of instincts or the desire to feed and kill). We as a viewer, of course, know that something must go terribly wrong, that the repopulation is a mistake, but hey, that doesn’t stop us from enjoying the movie. And sure enough something, everything does go wrong and instantly my complaints begin to pile up faster then I can write them down on paper. I think the majority of them can fall under the serious plot hole issues category, so if you don’t mind that too much, and can pretend to be totally oblivious to them (and you’ll have to be) then it’s not so bad… but anyway, here are just some:

( SPOILERS ABOUND, YOU SHOULD PROBABLY STOP READING HERE IF THIS IS OF SOME CONCERN )

- How does just a random caretaker of buildings have access to all the key military areas?
- Why does the only person with a disease that wiped out an entire country have 0 guards and no supervision?
- After using his keycard to get in to a bunch of locked doors, how does one get out after being infected, since the infected are totally dumb?
- A lockdown area should probably not just have an entire door in the back that’s not even closed or locked?
- The door that’s actually locked to the lockdown area should probably not break if just some people push on it.
- If the code red order, which is kill everyone is given, shouldn’t it make accommodations for those who are totally not infected?
- A helicopter does not do that, it shouldn’t do that just to get you a gore scene.
- Characters should not die just for your convenience because it’s just their time.
- Characters should not just suddenly do stupid things.
- People don’t just vanish and not respond only to suddenly reappear.
- There’s one really, really smart zombie in this movie, that and he has like the greatest tracking device ever.
- Ok, seriously now, how does 1 helicopter not get shot down just flying around, or you know, leaving the island, given that everything else alive gets killed within minutes?

…and there’s more!

( SPOILERS END HERE FOR THE MOST PART )

But if I had to summarize my complaints in point form, it’s simple. Gore scenes for the sake of gores scenes. Plot holes everywhere! Characters that die not for a real purpose, but mostly because a really convenient coincidence caused them to do so. By the way, the first movie at least didn’t kill off the most interesting and most developed characters, and didn’t leave some really annoying ones behind.

But, stop you say, you liked the beginning. Well, yes I did! It also turned out that the director of Days was entirely responsible for the filming of the first scene of the movie and then it was done by the new director from there, I think I see where the problem might be coming from here.