DVD review (region 2)
Directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo
Starring Robert Carlyle, Rose Byrne, Jeremy Renner, Imogen Poots, Mackintosh Muggleton
Release date 10 September 2007

London is gradually being repopulated after the events of 28 Days Later. But it’s not long before the city’s new residents fall victim to the Rage virus…

For the first 30 minutes, everything is pitched just right in this sequel to Danny Boyle’s effective 2002 chiller. An opening prologue, set before the narrative proper, sets up a fantastic premise – what if you had to leave a love one behind to a grisly fate, in order to survive?

It’s a cracking start and leads to a sense of genuine unease as our protagonist is left to explain his version of events to his kids. In fact, this emotional element manages to create a tension even greater than the threat of 'the infected' wreaking havoc again.

It’s sad, then, that the film squanders so many of its interesting ideas. For instance, a brief close up of an ID card is clearly intended to make us ponder the implications within our own world, but it's so awkwardly shoehorned in that it merely comes across as a token attempt to give a very clichéd zombie runaround more weight.

There are huge flaws in the film’s logic. The humans flee across London and are almost instantly tracked down by one particular infected character (Robert Carlyle, who clearly has to reappear as he is the big name of the movie!), while the idea of a cure is set up clearly and carefully, as if it was originally intended to pay off at some stage, but mysteriously dropped.

Similarly, despite Boyle successfully avoiding clichés in the original, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo piles them on, from characters who don’t answer when logic dictates that they would, to an ending that, in its indecent haste to leave the door open for a sequel, neglects to make any sense at all.

Much like the original, it’s a well-shot movie with deserted London serving as a beautiful yet eerie backdrop. It also contains some well-handled action sequences. But somehow, given the high standards set by the original this feels like a missed opportunity.

The extras are rather somewhat pedestrian with a commentary that offers little insight and a serviceable making of documentary. Only an animated comic that fills in some narrative blanks offers anything essential. Jonathan Wilkins

VERDICT: 5/10
Not quite a dead loss, but this sequel’s vital signs aren’t good.

Click here to read the original cinema review.