Seems I can’t really get away from the zombie genre lately, and the Sci-Fi Chronicles let me catch up on the sequel to Boyle’s classic 28 Days Later, 28 Weeks Later, which obviously, picks up 6 months after the events of the first film.

This one is packed with recognizable faces and names, Jeremy Renner, Robert Carlyle, Idris Elba, Rose Byrne and Catherine McCormack. And much like the first film, this one rockets along, though it also puts its own unique spin on the story by introducing the possibility of genetic immunity from the Rage Virus, at least for one family.

I loved the opening sequence for this film that sets the tone for the rest of the film, as we are introduced to a group of survivors, amongst them the husband and wife team of Don (Carlyle) and Alice (McCormack), and what happens when the infected attack.

It’s fast, brutal, and unlike most zombie films, the change in instantaneous…

Don does the unthinkable and makes a break for it on his own.

We then catch up with him again in London, now quarantined, and split into districts as the UK, with the help of the U.S. Army, attempt to reclaim the city. They’ve started returning UK refugees to their home country, quartering them in these districts while the outbreak is theoretically contained and eradicated. The U.S. operations are overseen by Stone (Elba), with Scarlet (Byrne) serving as a med, and Doyle (Renner) as a sniper (again).

Don’s children, Tammy (Imogen Poots) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton) are reunited with him, but on one of their forbidden escapades around the city, they visit their old home, and discover a horrible truth… and from there, it’s only minutes before the Rage Virus breaks out again.

As things fall apart, Doyle and Scarlet are trying to help the kids get out of London, and across the Channel, because we learn, fairly quickly that they may in fact be immune to the virus… but does that mean they aren’t carriers?

This one blazes along through its 100 minute runtime, and there’s probably a commentary that can be made on family dynamics, and even something specifically about fathers, but then we get into super spoilery territory, and you know me… no spoilers.

But I quite liked this one, and I love how, yes it’s in the zombie genre, but everything is faster, and more violent… that opening sequence with Don is great, and the final half hour of the film, is just one solid blood-bath filled chase, and the helicopter sequence… Fantastic!

It’s also shows that there is still life in this genre, if it’s done right. And, of course, you can use it as an analogy for society, family, culture… it’s all there, well depending on the films, and those making it, but this one like its predecessor is good, bloody entertainment. Strongly executed, and love that shot at the end…