Director: Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Writers: Rowan Joffe, E. L. Lavigne and Juan Carlos Fresnadillo

Music: John Murphy

Starring: Imogen Poots, Rose Byre, Jeremy Renner and Robert Carlyle

England 2002. It has been 28 weeks since the Rage Virus killed most of the population. With no one left to feed off of, the contaminated individuals have starved to death. But now, with the help of the U.S. Military, a small island has been set up in the heart of London, and repopulation has begun. Those outside the country at the time of the virus outbreak are coming home.

Amongst the returning citizens are Tammy (Imogen Poots) and Andy (Mackintosh Muggleton), who are reunited with their father, Don (Robert Carlyle), who was trapped in England at the time of the outbreak. Their mother, Alice (Catherine MacCormack), did not survive the Rage Virus. As they try to settle into their new life under military watch, the country slowly rebuilds.

Until, out of pure chance, one last “infected” has been found. She can talk. She can think. And she carries the virus. Very soon the paradise carved out by the U.S. Military turns into an inferno of death and destruction, as once again: The infected walk the world…It all begins again.

I’ll say it right off the bat, if you saw “28 Days Later,” this sequel is not as good. That said, there are still some great things to write home about: mostly the acting. The two children, Tammy and Andy, are very capable actors, where child actors are always risky – sometimes they can make you root for the zombies to win. Not in this case. Scarlet (Rose Byre) and Doyle (Jeremy Renner) are by the far the most interesting of the characters, as the two military soldiers who take it upon themselves to get the children out of England. Also, I love the fact her name is Scarlet, like the virus.

The music is well suited for the movie, building slowly to the inevitable virus outbreak. My only gripe is the fact that it is basically the exact same John Murphy soundtrack from the first movie, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing – but was Murphy really paid twice to do the same job? Now for the bad – we’ll get to the plot issues later. The director, while very competent at interactive moments, is under the impression that the more the camera shakes, the more tension is increased. No – the more the camera shakes, the less we can see and the more bored we become. While I’m a huge fan of less-is-more in terms of horror movies, here less equals an inability to make out what it is you are looking at on screen, and that just doesn’t work for me.

Here’s a question for you: When do you know a sequel has misfired? When it doesn’t explain anything and assumes you’ve seen the first one. The fact the virus came from monkey bite doesn’t even come into it. What about our heroes from the first movie? You cannot watch this movie without comparing it to the predecessor. In that lies my biggest complaint: They missed what was so good about the first movie. It wasn’t really a horror film. Sure it had zombies and scary moments – who can forget the first time we see the “infected” sprinting at our heroes? But the film’s purpose wasn’t about scaring you out of your seat, it was about how we react to a postapocalyptic state; it was about solidarity and the darker side of humanity. There’s a reason that halfway through “28 Days Later” the movie basically stops involving the infected and focuses only on the military men holding our three heroes hostage. It was because it explained why it happened, not what happened.

Which leads me to my choice for the most bizarre problem: believability. Yes, I realize, it’s a zombie movie, but “28 Days Later” made you believe it could happen. How the civilians and military men reacted when faced with extinction all because of a simple monkey bite. This movie is just another zombie movie, lacking all common sense by the U.S. Military and by the civilians. What was once genius is now just a good zombie movie. Pity.

Best scene: The opening. It sets the tone for the rest of the movie nicely, but sadly never reaches this level of interest. They show their best hand too early, and after that it can only go downhill.

Overall: Lacking the brilliance of the first movie, this is only a good horror movie, nothing more. Never tiresome and always interesting, but leaving the doors too wide open for another sequel, which is not an appealing idea.

Three stars (out of four)

Oscar nomination chances: 2 percent

See it: Wait till it plays at the dollar theater.

Rated R: for strong violence and gore, language and some sexuality/nudity.

Running time: 91 min.

Tag line: It all begins again.