Rating: 3.5/5
Hooptober X | 10/34 | Post-Apocalyptic 1/2
Don and Alice have holed up in their house with a few other folks — their kids went on a trip before the outbreak and are safe. To save a little boy, they accidentally bring a hoard of zombies in — Don must choose between saving his wife or himself — he makes it out alone
28 weeks after the breakout, the American military interceded, creating a green zone for the start of reconstruction — no signs of the virus
Don’s kids are back in London. Wanting to retrieve a picture of their mother (who they believe to be deceased), they cross the border into the red zone and go to their house. Sergent Doyle (Jeremy Renner) spots them crossing and alerts others for retrieval
In the house, Andy finds his mother still alive, but something is different about her. The military comes in close behind to rescue them. They examine the mother, who is infected but not showing symptoms. The mother is a natural carrier who could be the key to a vaccine or cure — a trait she could have passed down to the kids
Don, a full-blown moron we’re supposed to hate, I guess, sneaks away to see Alice, kisses her, and turns into a zombie, brutally murdering her and then rampaging — the virus is back, and it’s up to Doyle, Scarlet, and helicopter pilot Flynn (Harold Perrineau!) to get Tammy and Andy out of danger
As an action movie, this is better-paced and has better setpieces. But as a zombie flick, it doesn’t do much of interest with the material explored in the first movie
Seems like the ending was to set up a sequel. I know Danny Boyle has talked about doing 28 Years Later, but he’s been consistently disappointing for a while now, so hopefully he would let someone else do it
Overall, this is a solid, intense action flick and better than I anticipated
SPOILERS
- The dad surviving the firebombing magically so that he can chase down the kids took me out — we see it just flow right past him. If he had just made it elsewhere like other characters, it would work
- Using helicopter blades to kill a hoard of zombies is nuts
- The blindly navigating the Underground with only a sniper scope is great