28 Weeks Later (2007)

Score: 5 / 10
Category: Movie
Platform: Disney+

One-line verdict

A sequel that ditches the rules that made the first film work and turns into generic zombie nonsense.

What worked

• The cast carries more than it should. Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne, and Idris Elba help keep it watchable.
• There are moments of intensity and scale that could have worked if the film respected its own universe.

What broke

• Lore inconsistency everywhere. It stops feeling like 28 Days Later and becomes a zombie flick.
• The infected suddenly feel near-immortal. People take ridiculous damage, half-shot to bits, holes in the body, and they’re still walking. That’s not “rage virus humans,” that’s magic zombies.
• Character decisions are brain-dead. No serious security watching the infected wife makes zero sense.
• The infected dad’s behaviour is inconsistent too. He waits, shows restraint, doesn’t attack when he should. The whole point is rage removes control.
• It’s inconsistent, illogical, and it breaks the internal rules hard.

What others are saying

• Often praised for its opening and scale.
• Often criticised for abandoning the grounded logic of the first film.
• Many people enjoy it more as a standalone zombie movie than as a proper sequel.

The section below discusses plot details.

Why this didn’t work for me

The original worked because the infected were still human, still mortal, and bound by reality. Here, the film makes them whatever it needs scene-to-scene. Then it stacks lazy character decisions on top to force the plot forward.

I wanted to give this a 6, but it doesn’t deserve it. This is a 5 mainly because the cast keeps it from being completely unwatchable.