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"28 WEEKS LATER" (2007) (Robert Carlyle, Jeremy Renner) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons Minor Extreme Heavy *Extreme Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Mild Moderate Heavy *None Extreme Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Extreme None Heavy Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Horror: Things go horribly wrong when military forces try to reintroduce people into London 28 weeks after a zombie infestation ravaged the land and killed everyone. PLOT: It's been 28 weeks since a sudden zombie infestation wiped out the entire population of England. With all of the zombies having previously died of starvation months ago, and NATO forces setting up shop to make sure the coast is clear, authorities have started reintroducing people back into one fortified part of the British Isles, just across from London. Among them are siblings Andy (MACKINTOSH MUGGLETON) and Tammy (IMOGEN POOTS) who were previously shipped off for their safety and are now reunited with their dad, Don Harris (ROBERT CARLYLE), who abandoned his wife Alice (CATHERINE McCORMACK) during one of the earlier zombie attacks. Ashamed about what he did, he lies to his kids about what really happened, and although shocked and saddened, they accept it and try to get on with their lives. Kids being kids, they break the rules and sneak over to London to return to their former home where they unexpectedly discover their mother, alive but not so well. Previously bitten during a zombie attack, her immune system has somehow stopped her from turning into a zombie, although she's a carrier of the virus. That's drawn the attention of Scarlet (ROSE BYRNE), a medical researcher who believes Alice might hold the key to creating a vaccination for the malady, but her military commander orders that the infected woman be killed just to be safe. Before that happens, however, Don goes to see her, ends up becoming infected, and then escapes from the building, thus spreading the zombie virus once again. The military, including sniper Doyle (JEREMY RENNER) and chopper pilot Flynn (HAROLD PERRINEAU) try to contain the outbreak, but it quickly becomes apparent it's too late. Led by Doyle, Scarlet, Andy, and Tammy then try to make their way to safety and avoid both the swiftly moving zombies as well as the military that has orders to kill anything and everything in the city. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of the first film ("28 Days Later"), zombie films, and/or anyone in the cast, they probably will. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For strong violence and gore, language and some sexuality/nudity. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: ROBERT CARLYLE plays a father who's happy to be reunited with his kids, but still feels guilt over abandoning his wife during a zombie attack. He uses strong profanity and eventually becomes a zombie. CATHERINE McCORMACK plays his wife who is abandoned to the zombies, but somehow survived. JEREMY RENNER plays a military sniper who has a change of heart regarding his orders to kill everyone. He then tries to lead the kids and Scarlet to safety. He uses strong profanity. HAROLD PERRINEAU plays his friend, a military chopper pilot who tries to rescue him. He uses strong profanity. ROSE BYRNE plays a medical researcher who realizes Tammy and Andy must survive since they might have the answers to a zombie vaccination in their bodies. IMOGEN POOTS and MACKINTOSH MUGGLETON play siblings who must contend with the zombie and military attacks on them, as well as what occurs to their parents. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: Here's a brief summary of the content found in this horror film that's been rated R. Profanity consists of at least 27 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. Some brief, sexually related dialogue is present, as is the brief and distant view of a sexual encounter (woman on top intercourse, with partial nudity), while a woman is partially seen nude as she's showered by another in a decontamination procedure. Violence consists of zombies attacking humans, as well as humans killing them via various means (including gunfire and a helicopter's spinning rotors), while deadly human on human violence also occurs. Most of that has extremely bloody and/or gory results, and those sensitive to that sort of material might find all of that, as well as various moments of potential peril as unsettling, suspenseful, or possibly downright scary. Various bad attitudes are present, as are tense family scenes involving kids hearing their mother is dead, finding her alive, and then presuming she's dead again, while they must also contend with their father being a zombie who's trying to kill them. Finally, there's brief alcohol consumption. If you're still concerned about the film and its appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home who may be interested in seeing it, we suggest that you take a closer look at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, lights start flashing in a building and they approach near strobe intensity. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, a tremendous amount of shaky, handheld camerawork occurs in the film. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE Don brings out a bottle of wine for him and a few other survivors to have with dinner (we see one man tasting it). There's talk that there's even a pub in the green zone of safety (never seen). BLOOD/GORE Various zombies and their victims are bloody during an attack sequence (including views of blood running from zombies' mouths, and in a body of water). Andy says that everything smelled of "piss" in the refugee camp. Andy has a nightmare showing his mother with some blood on her face and then seemingly pulling off part of her face, revealing even more blood. Tammy finds a partially decomposed corpse on the floor. She recoils in horror as some bugs move around on the body as she grabs some keys off it. We see a needle being inserted into skin and then blood filling a vial from that. Don passionately kisses his strapped down and infected wife, thus causing him to become infected. We see blood run down from his eye and then him having convulsions and such as he turns into a zombie. As he pounds on a window, we see blood smear and spray there, and he then attacks Alice, repeatedly punching her, biting her, and then gouging out her eyes in a very graphic, bloody and disturbing fashion (seen in close-up, with sounds of her screaming and cutaways to her feet kicking in agony). We then see her dead and bloody body. As Tammy and Andy watch from behind a protective glass window, a zombie suddenly blasts through a door across the room and then attacks the window, spreading blood on it. Its head then explodes in a bloody mess, a result of Scarlet shooting it dead. Now a zombie, Don is very bloody (including from his mouth), as are those he attacks. Zombies attack many people, with bloody results. Snipers then shoot many of the zombies from above, killing them (with bloody results, including head shots). The military is then ordered to shoot everyone (humans and zombies) and thus they do so (with sniper rifles and machine guns, all with bloody results). Don the zombie comes at Andy in an aggressive manner, but is shot, with his bloody splattering all over Andy. We see some blood on Scarlet's pants leg from where she was earlier shot. Seeing the approaching zombies, Flynn flies his chopper low toward them, blade angled down so that it hits most of them, shredding the zombies with very bloody and gory results (we see limbs and heads come off or rolling along, etc.). Back in the city, Doyle has the kids and Scarlet jump into a parked car as both zombies and a cloud of poison gas come at them. The zombies attack the car (and spread blood all over it, including one spewing blood all over a window). Using a sniper rifle's night-vision scope, Scarlet tries to lead Tammy and Andy (who are in front of her) down a long and otherwise pitch black subway escalator filled with decomposed bodies. Tammy is panicked and eventually trips and tumbles down the escalator and all of those bodies. A zombie repeatedly bashes a woman's head with something on the floor, with very bloody results. Don the zombie attacks Andy and then comes at Tammy who riddles him with gunfire from a sniper rifle (all with bloody results). We see a person's eyes become bloodshot from being infected by the zombie virus. Tammy and Andy are bloody following their encounters with zombies, etc. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE The zombies obviously have bad attitudes for attacking everyone who's not a zombie. In a panic during a zombie attack, Don abandons his wife to what seems to be her certain death. Don lies to his kids about what really happened to their mom during the zombie attack. Bored, Doyle spies through various windows with his sniper rifle scope, including seeing a couple having sex in bed. Breaking the rules, Andy and Tammy sneak out of their apartment, make their way across a bridge and enter the forbidden zone of London. A military commander orders that Alice be killed despite Scarlet's objections to keep her alive for studying. He later orders that everyone be killed, regardless of whether they're infected or not (he does so to try to stop the spread of the zombie infection). FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" and "Blood/Gore" may be unsettling, suspenseful, or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. As Don and a few others are holed up in a cottage, there's loud pounding at the door. They then find a boy there who's desperate to get inside as he says his parents and others (zombies) are trying to kill him. A woman peers out through a small opening in a barricaded window, with a zombie suddenly appearing there and blasting its arm through the wood. It then grabs and attacks her (with bloody results), with her then attacking and bloodying another person until Don hits her on the head with something. More zombies then rush in, with Don, Alice and others scrambling for safety. An older man is grabbed and attacked, and his wife is yanked down off a loft ladder as Don tries to help her. He then runs and tries to find Alice who's trying to find a boy, with the spouses separated by zombies. Don then panics, jumps out a window, and flees, looking back to see Alice pounding at a window before she's pulled away and presumably attacked. Don then continues running as many zombies pursue and close in on him. He makes his way to a dock where he yells for another survivor there to start the boat. The man unties it from a dock and Don tries to start the motor as many zombies jump onto the boat or into the water to try to attack them. The other survivor ends up in the water, but as Don tries to pull him into the boat, the zombies pull him back into the bloody water. Don then starts the boat and repeatedly kicks one zombie on the edge of the boat until he dislodges him and can speed off. We see workers throwing filled body bags onto burning piles of the same. As Flynn listens to some music in his chopper, a figure suddenly "attacks" him, but it's just Doyle joking around (he then repeats that a moment later). In deserted London, Tammy goes inside a shop to look for some keys to a motor scooter, reacts to the smell inside, and then spots a leg on the floor. She recoils in horror, and then goes back to get the keys off the partially decomposed corpse on the floor. She recoils in horror again as some bugs move around on the body as she grabs the keys. Tammy and Andy return to their former home in London and start gathering up some of their belongings. Andy goes into one room, sees maggots or similar worms in a bowl, and then thinks he sees a figure hiding from him. He slowly goes to look and we see that a person is there (figuring it's a zombie), and it's his mother. She's bruised and has a bloodshot eye and slowly approaches him. She then hugs him, but that turns painful for the boy who then escapes with his sister as the military arrives with their guns drawn. We see a brief flashback of Alice running from the zombies in the past. A military commander orders that Alice be killed despite Scarlet's objections to keep her alive for studying. Don passionately kisses his strapped down and infected wife, thus causing him to become infected. We see blood run down from his eye and then him having convulsions and such as he turns into a zombie. As he pounds on a window, we see blood smear and spray there, and he then attacks Alice, repeatedly punching her, biting her, and then gouging out her eyes in a very graphic, bloody and disturbing fashion (seen in close-up, with sounds of her screaming and cutaways to her feet kicking in agony). We then see her dead and bloody body. As Tammy and Andy watch from behind a protective glass window, a zombie suddenly blasts through a door across the room and then attacks the window, spreading blood on it. Its head then explodes in a bloody mess, a result of Scarlet shooting it dead. During a panic and stampede, Andy ends up separated from Tammy and Scarlet. Don the zombie comes at Andy in an aggressive manner, but is shot, with his bloody splattering all over Andy. Andy ends up slowly wandering through a dark warehouse and encounters various survivors. Doyle abandons his post (for being ordered to shoot non-infected humans) and then tries to lead the kids, Scarlet and others to safety through the dark streets (where zombies roam and the military have been ordered to kill everybody). As they proceed, a sniper shoots several in the group dead, and gets Scarlet in the leg. Flynn informs Doyle and his group that they have to get out of the city as the military is going to napalm everything. Doyle wants one survivor with them to act as bait by running a zigzag pattern across a street to draw the fire of a sniper and thus reveal his location. The man is reluctant, so Andy goes running across the street, with the sniper repeatedly firing at, but missing him. Doyle then pops out from around the corner and shoots the distant sniper, killing him. Andy sees his dad the zombie across the street, but when he looks back, he's gone. Military jets fly across the city and drop napalm that engulfs entire blocks at a time, and we see a fleeing group of people as they're blasted by the flames. Doyle and his group are in a tunnel when another blast sends a fireball headed their way. They run and get out just as the flames erupt behind them. We see Alice's dead and strapped down body engulfed by flames as the city is napalmed. Flynn calls Doyle to tell him he's on his way for a chopper rescue, but we see a line of zombies headed their way. Doyle then has his group crouch in the tall grass field, but when Flynn arrives he's reluctant to pick up anyone but Doyle (since he figures they'll be shoot down for holding potentially infected people). One man then jumps on one of the chopper's landing rails, with Flynn then flying off and trying to shake the man off, with the chopper seemingly poised to crash. Seeing the approaching zombies, Flynn then flies low toward them, blade angled down so that it hits most of them, shredding the zombies with very bloody and gory results (we see limbs and heads come off or rolling along, etc.). Back in the city, Doyle has the kids and Scarlet jump into a parked car as both zombies and a cloud of poison gas come at them. The zombies attack the car (and spread blood all over it, including one spewing blood all over a window), but the gas then kills them. Doyle then sees gas mask wearing soldiers approaching with flamethrowers and tries to start the car. When that doesn't work, he gets out in the gas to push the car, hoping it can be jump-started that way. Military men hit a survivor with flamethrowers, thus engulfing him in flames (he stumbles about and then collapses to the street -- all seen by the kids in close-up). Scarlet tries to drive the kids to safety, and must avoid clouds of poison gas that are coming down most every street. She avoids that, but a chopper then fires its machine guns at them from above, riddling the street around them and forcing her to drive down the steps into a subway station. Using a sniper rifle's night-vision scope, Scarlet tries to lead Tammy and Andy (who are in front of her) down a long and otherwise pitch black subway escalator filled with decomposed bodies. Tammy is panicked and eventually trips and tumbles down the escalator and all of those bodies. A zombie repeatedly bashes a woman's head with something on the floor, with very bloody results. Don the zombie attacks Andy and then comes at Tammy who riddles him with gunfire from a sniper rifle (all with bloody results). Andy runs off into a dark subway tunnel, with Tammy panicking and then following him. Flynn aims a machine gun at Tammy and Andy as they approach him (but he doesn't fire). We briefly see footage of another zombie chase. GUNS/WEAPONS Machine guns/Sniper rifles/Handguns/Napalm/Poison gas/Flamethrowers/Choppers/Tanks: Seen, carried, and/or used to threaten, wound, or kill zombies and humans and/or cause property damage and destruction. See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "It's all f*cked," "F*ck that," "F*ck you," "FUBAR" (f*cked up beyond all repair -- or something along those lines), "I'm gonna get the f*ck out of here," "Where the f*ck are you?" "What the f*ck are you doing there?" "You're out of your f*cking mind," "F*ck em" (nonsexual), "Sh*t-hole," "Or am I losing my sh*t?" "Serious sh*t," "Bloody hell," "You can kiss my ass," "Shut up," "Bastard" and "Why the hell are you here?" The fighting and other stunts might be enticing for some kids to imitate. JUMP SCENES A woman peers out through a small opening in a barricaded window, with a zombie suddenly appearing there and blasting its arm through the wood. As Don tells his kids what happened to his wife (a quiet scene), there's a sudden flashback to the attack, accompanied by a burst of loud sounds. As Flynn listens to some music in his chopper, a figure suddenly "attacks" him, but it's just Doyle joking around (he then repeats that a moment later). As Tammy and Andy watch from behind a protective glass window, a zombie suddenly blasts through a door across the room and then attacks the window, spreading blood on it. Its head then explodes in a bloody mess, a result of Scarlet shooting it dead. A zombie is suddenly at a car window. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) A heavy amount of ominous and suspenseful music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None, but there's a rap song where we couldn't fully hear and/or understand the lyrics, thus presenting the possibility of them potentially containing objectionable material. PROFANITY At least 27 "f" words, 12 "s" words, 1 slang term using male genitals ("d*ck"), 2 hells, 1 ass, 2 uses of "G-damn," and 1 use each of "For God's sakes," "God," "Jesus" and "Oh my God." SEX/NUDITY Don and Alice passionately kiss (clothed and standing) before being interrupted. Some snipers joke about spotting a guy "jerking off" in the bathroom (we don't see the man). They then make various joking remarks about his "d*ck," "hand to hand combat" and such, all related to masturbation. Bored, Doyle spies through various windows with his sniper rifle scope, including seeing a couple having sex in bed (the woman on top, with movement, and a view of her bare back and possibly the side of her bare breast, but the overall image is rather small). We see Alice being scrubbed down in a shower by military personnel, and see brief glimpses of the side of her bare butt and breasts as she screams in agony. Don passionately kisses his strapped down and infected wife, but that causes him to become infected. SMOKING None. TENSE FAMILY SCENES In a panic during a zombie attack, Don abandons his wife to what seems to be her certain death. Andy is worried that he'll forget what his mom looked like, and that he doesn't have any photos of her. Don lies to his kids about what really happened to their mom during the zombie attack (which is when they first learn she's dead). Tammy is mad at her dad when she realizes he lied about their mother's demise. Don the zombie comes at Andy in an aggressive manner, but is shot, with his bloody splattering all over Andy. Andy sees his dad the zombie across the street, but when he looks back, he's gone. Don the zombie attacks Andy and then comes at Tammy who riddles him with gunfire from a sniper rifle (all with bloody results). TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT Zombies. The spread of infectious contagions and how governments should respond to such emergencies. The film's allegorical look at the military occupation of Iraq. VIOLENCE Due to the footage often being incredibly bouncy, shaky, and/or just moving about in a rapid manner, it's often hard to tell exactly what's occurring in some of the following scenes. A woman peers out through a small opening in a barricaded window, with a zombie suddenly appearing there and blasting its arm through the wood. It then grabs and attacks her (with bloody results), with her then attacking and bloodying another person until Don hits her on the head with something. More zombies then rush in, with Don, Alice and others scrambling for safety. An older man is grabbed and attacked, and his wife is yanked down off a loft ladder as Don tries to help her. He then runs and tries to find Alice who's trying to find a boy, with the spouses separated by zombies. Don then panics, jumps out a window, and flees, looking back to see Alice pounding at a window before she's pulled away and presumably attacked. Don then continues running as many zombies pursue and close in on him. He makes his way to a dock where he yells for another survivor there to start the boat. The man unties it from a dock and Don tries to start the motor as many zombies jump onto the boat or into the water to try to attack them. The other survivor ends up in the water, but as Don tries to pull him into the boat, the zombies pull him back into the bloody water. Don then starts the boat and repeatedly kicks one zombie on the edge of the boat until he dislodges him and can speed off. As Don tells his kids what happened to his wife (a quiet scene), there's a sudden flashback to the attack, accompanied by a burst of loud sounds. Don passionately kisses his strapped down and infected wife, thus causing him to become infected. We see blood run down from his eye and then him having convulsions and such as he turns into a zombie. As he pounds on a window, we see blood smear and spray there, and he then attacks Alice, repeatedly punching her, biting her, and then gouging out her eyes in a very graphic, bloody and disturbing fashion (seen in close-up, with sounds of her screaming and cutaways to her feet kicking in agony). We then see her dead and bloody body. As Tammy and Andy watch from behind a protective glass window, a zombie suddenly blasts through a door across the room and then attacks the window, spreading blood on it. Its head then explodes in a bloody mess, a result of Scarlet shooting it dead. Zombies attack many people, with bloody results. Snipers then shoot many of the zombies from above, killing them (with bloody results, including head shots). The military is then ordered to shoot everyone (humans and zombies) and thus they do so (with sniper rifles and machine guns, all with bloody results). Don the zombie comes at Andy in an aggressive manner, but is shot, with his bloody splattering all over Andy. Doyle abandons his post (for being ordered to shoot non-infected humans) and then tries to lead the kids, Scarlet and others to safety through the dark streets (where zombies roam and the military have been ordered to kill everybody). As they proceed, a sniper shoots several in the group dead, and gets Scarlet in the leg. Doyle wants one survivor with them to act as bait by running a zigzag pattern across a street to draw the fire of a sniper and thus reveal his location. The man is reluctant, so Andy goes running across the street, with the sniper repeatedly firing at, but missing him. Doyle then pops out from around the corner and shoots the distant sniper, killing him. Military jets fly across the city and drop napalm that engulfs entire blocks at a time, and we see a fleeing group of people as they're blasted by the flames. Doyle and his group are in a tunnel when another blast sends a fireball headed their way. They run and get out just as the flames erupt behind them. Flynn calls Doyle to tell him he's on his way for a chopper rescue, but we see a line of zombies headed their way. Doyle then has his group crouch in the tall grass field, but when Flynn arrives he's reluctant to pick up anyone but Doyle (since he figures they'll be shoot down for holding potentially infected people). One man then jumps on one of the chopper's landing rails, with Flynn then flying off and trying to shake the man off, with the chopper seemingly poised to crash. Seeing the approaching zombies, Flynn then flies low toward them, blade angled down so that it hits most of them, shredding the zombies with very bloody and gory results (we see limbs and heads come off or rolling along, etc.). Doyle shoots various zombies as he tries to lead the others to safety while being pursued by zombies. Back in the city, Doyle has the kids and Scarlet jump into a parked car as both zombies and a cloud of poison gas come at them. The zombies attack the car (and spread blood all over it, including one spewing blood all over a window), but the gas then kills them. Military men hit a survivor with flamethrowers, thus engulfing him in flames (he stumbles about and then collapses to the street -- all seen by the kids in close-up). Scarlet tries to drive the kids to safety, and must avoid clouds of poison gas that are coming down most every street. She avoids that, but a chopper then fires its machine guns at them from above, riddling the street around them and forcing her to drive down the steps into a subway station. A zombie repeatedly bashes a woman's head with something on the floor, with very bloody results. Don the zombie attacks Andy and then comes at Tammy who riddles him with gunfire from a sniper rifle (all with bloody results). Reviewed May 9, 2007 / Posted May 11, 2007

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