Review of 28 Weeks Later

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The sequel to the 2002 film "28 Days Later" actually occurs six months before the Rage Virus ravaged Britain, leaving death and destruction in its wake. The film actually opens during the siege of the virus. We see a husband and wife living in a country house with four other people. Don (Carlyle) and Alice (McCormack) are extremely grateful that their two children have survived the epidemic, since they are currently on a school trip in Spain. During their meal, a frantic knocking on the door causes Alice to plead with the others to open the door - it is the voice of a young boy. Don reluctantly agrees to let the boy in, but it turns out to be a fatal mistake. Hordes of Infected have followed the child, and the group is quickly devoured. In a moment of cowardice, Don deserts his wife and escapes. Flash forward to six months later, the British citizens who were abroad during the time of the infection return, and among them are Don and Alice's children, Tammy (Poots) and Andy (Muggleton). While on a medical check up, the attending medical officer, Scarlet (Byrne), notices that Andy's eyes each have a different colour. Andy explains that he and his mum have the same feature. Tammy and Andy are reunited with their father, and when they ask what happened to their mother, Don replies that he did what he could to save her, but the Infected had already taken her. The children believe his story, that is, until Andy discovers their mother in a frantic and confused state in the second story of their former home. When Scarlet comes to examine Alice, she learns that Alice is a carrier of the virus, but a genetic quirk has made her immune to the effects of the virus. Tammy and Andy now realize that the story their father has told them was false, and they berate him for it. Don visits Alice, and in a moment of passion, they kiss. Unknowingly, Alice passes the virus to Don through her saliva, and since he does not have the same immunity as she does, he becomes Infected. He immediately kills Alice by pressing his thumbs deep into her eye sockets, and proceeds to infect everyone. The US military force led by Stone (Elba) have now declared a Red Alert; they shut all remaining survivors in a room while they deal with the escaped Infected. During the scuffle, Andy is separated from Tammy and Scarlet, who has realized that the two children may hold the cure to the virus in their blood. Andy is trapped in the same room as the other residents, but unfortunately, Don is also in the room and begins biting and mauling everyone. Andy escapes by climbing into an air duct, and as the people, both Infected and human, spill out into the streets, snipers poised at the rooftops are given to shoot and kill everyone and everything that moves, may these be human or dead. One sniper, Doyle (Renner), abandons his post and runs into Andy, Tammy, and Scarlet. The group then decides to head to safer ground, since the city will certainly be firebombed in order to contain the infection. Unknown to them, Don is following them, driven not by fatherly instincts, but by Rage.
I didn't really like this as much as the first, but it was still pretty good. I just was a bit apprehensive that they had to snuff off McCormack - I've held a soft spot for her ever since I saw her on Braveheart, but, well, if it fits into the storyline, so be it. Renner was the perfect sniper... too bad he had to die as well. Poots and Muggleton were able to work well together, and I didn't get annoyed by them unlike other child stars in horror movies. Carlyle still proved to be an efficient villain (Durza from Eragon, anyone?), and Byrne provided a fresh face to the film, even if it WAS about a zombie outbreak all over again. It's really up to you if you watch this film or not. :p