? It’s been six months since a virulent plague turned Britain into a nation of bloodthirsty zombies. American military have occupied the country and herded the survivors into the supposedly safe “Green Zone.” But, inevitably, the Yanks get too cocky, mistakes are made, and atrocities are committed. Stabilizing the country may take much longer than expected. Along with a couple of the soldiers, the story focuses on brother-sister survivors and their dad (Robert Carlyle).
+ I liked several things about this sequel to 28 Days Later, not least that it doesn’t try to be a carbon copy of its predecessor, which you don’t need to have seen to watch this. You only need to know that sharing body fluids with an infected person (e.g., getting bitten) will quickly turn you into one of them. There’s a new director and writers, which is usually a bad sign, but here it means the story can go in a different direction, with as much emphasis on how the American NATO forces are confronting the virus as on the individuals facing it. The way that the virus is reintroduced is novel, but the overall vision is most compelling. The vision is people behaving stupidly, and fearfully, when they’re scared. With one notable exception, there are few heroics here. The infected are not the only ones to act cruelly, as tender instincts are obviated by the need to survive. There are some brutal scenes, but the violence feels disturbing, not thrilling as in a slasher movie. Handheld camera work gives the movie a docudrama feel at times.
- The characters are thinly drawn. Never explained is why one particular infected person is able to retain some memory of who he was as well as expertly stalk a particular group of survivors. The handheld scenes are as confusing as frightening.
= ***1/2 Children of Men stripped of pretentiousness.
[reviewed 5/11/07]
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0463854/
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