Week Sequel

28 Weeks Later, Odeon Telford, Wednesday 23 May 2007, 5.20pm.

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's 28 Weeks Later is the belated sequel to Danny Boyle's britzombie hit 28 Days Later, in which the US military supervise the reintegration of the population into a UK given the all-clear after that dashed inconvenient plague we witnessed in the earlier film. Your correspondent feels it doesn't exactly spoil the plot to advise things go very hairy-pear-shaped before too long.

This sequel shares many of the strengths and weaknesses of the original - the photography, effects and acting are first-rate throughout and the action moves with commendable zip, but after a brilliant opening set-up, you find your interest steadily dissipating despite the steady gorestream of thrills, spills and faceaches. A major reason for this is the fact that none of the characters ever feel fully developed before they meet their icky end - although this builds suspense in one sense (you're never sure who's going to get infected next), ultimately it works against the film's effectiveness by breeding apathy in the viewer for the fate of the individuals concerned.

The cumulative effect feels like being immersed in a technically impressive live-action shoot-em-up video game, and after a while the audience becomes inevitably deadened to the viscera and entrails flung at them with increasing frequency. You couldn't really blame any of them for hankering for some interaction and popping out for a Wii.