Line #18 YMMV/TwentyEightWeeksLater


1	* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Some view Don as a DirtyCoward for fleeing in the opening scene, while others value him for doing what he could for a good while and then finally [[KnowWhenToFoldThem (and narrowly) escaping instead of staying]] to face [[AlwaysSaveTheGirl a noble but impossible fight]] against the horde.
2	* ContestedSequel: While the film was generally well-received, there's a significant portion of fans who feel it paled in comparison to its predecessor.
3	* InferredHolocaust: [[spoiler:It's heavily implied the infection has reached the European mainland]] by the end. [[spoiler: And assuming Andy's the one who spread it there ([[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom and he probably is]]), he, Tammy and Flynn are likely dead.]]
4	* InformedWrongness: The film constantly criticizes Don for being a coward who left his wife to die at the first opportunity and didn't care about anyone but himself. But given that the Infected are incredibly contagious and extremely dangerous in close combat, Don had a practically zero percent chance of saving his wife. Killing the crowds of infected attacking the cottage was impossible because he didn't have any effective weapon and the only sane choice at that point was to flee or join everyone in dying a horrible death. In fact, [[HiddenDepths we see Don bravely fighting a group of infected]] with a crowbar only moments previously, [[HeroicSacrifice holding off the Infected as everyone runs for their lives]]. This all makes the film's characterization of him as a selfish coward feel a bit off; compare this to Selena in the previous film, who brutally but efficiently killed [[spoiler:Mark]] when he was infected and was justifiably treated as an unambiguous (although brutally pragmatic, a character flaw that disappears vía development) hero. There's also the fact that Alice herself had enough to run to another room, lock the door, run to a window and angrily bang on it while shouting, rather than, say, ''opening the window and escaping.''
5	* JustHereForGodzilla: Once the true nature of the film became well-known right before the premiere, a whole lot of people came only to see in full the opening sequence, set during the original outbreak. Unlike the rest of the film which had mixed reception at best and mostly forgotten, the opening is still considered head and shoulders above the rest of the story. It even became a minor internet meme years after release.
6	* RetroactiveRecognition:
7	** Imogen Poots is better known these days, but of course, this is the film that helped get her more attention.
8	** Jeremy Renner was rising in notability, but this was before ''Film/TheHurtLocker'', ''Film/TheTown'' and of course playing Hawkeye in the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse.
9	* TheScrappy: Andy and Tammy by virtue of being [[UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom Unwitting Instigators of Doom]], and not by bad luck or being at the wrong place at the wrong time, but by their own stupid choices. Not only were they largely responsible for the new outbreak of Rage Virus in Britain, but to make matters worse, [[spoiler: their selfishness and downright stupid actions causes the rest of the world to get infected, too]]. And yet through all of this, they still are [[spoiler: the only ones who make it out alive]]. Ask any group of people who have seen the movie, and you'll find at least one person who was angry that the kids didn't die for their bad behavior. Looking at the [[InferredHolocaust last shot]] in the movie, for all we know, they ''did''.
10	* SignatureScene: Don having to abandon Alice and running for dear life in the beginning. Despite the flaws of the film, the chase perfectly captures the fight or flight complexities of a zombie apocalypse and has become a memorable [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3d7y1YrPvg scene]].
11	* StrawmanHasAPoint:
12	** The American military, consistently portrayed as unnecessarily authoritarian and violent, end up [[spoiler:killing civilians by the truckload]] to contain the virus. Brutal? Of course. But if it had been completed, the continent (and possibly the rest of the world save for outlying islands and the American continents) would have been spared the rage infection. Instead, it's the compassionate turncoat who dooms humanity by giving the kids, [[TooDumbToLive WHO BROKE THE QUARANTINE FOR FUN]] and [[spoiler:became unaffected carriers of the virus]], a lift across the English Channel to safety. It's next to impossible not to root for the gun-wielding maniacs while this is going on.
13	** Incinerating the infected area is, in fact, the '''only''' sane method for dealing with a highly infectious ''quickly lethal'' disease spreading through a population. Once a virus (or other biological weapon-like disease) breaks out of quarantine into any substantial population, there's simply no other way to contain it. Physical geographic barriers (such as Britain being an island) can limit the possible spread, but, inside those limits, it's simply impossible to stop via normal selective targeting. '''All''' militaries use the methods described in the movie when dealing with that sort of situation, and it's not only the only effective strategy, it's also the only ''moral'' one - [[TheNeedsOfTheMany sacrifice some to protect many]]. Given the IdiotBall the US military had been holding up until then, it shouldn't have gotten to that point, but once it did, ordering the soldiers to kill everyone (including uninfected) was the only good option left.
14	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
15	** [[spoiler: The first half of the movie follows Don, who barely survives the initial outbreak by abandoning his wife, Alice, during an attack by the infected. After the US Army tries to repopulate London, Don reunites with his kids and lies to them about what happened with their mother. Alice is found alive and also the first person to show some immunity to the Rage virus. Instead of mining this interesting family drama or Alice's immunity, Alice infects Don through a kiss, Don kills Alice, and the story switches to a more generic group of characters in Don's children and several soldiers]].
16	** [[spoiler: Alice herself could have been an interesting character due to being the first human to be immune to the Rage Virus, and the film seemed to go in the direction of having her later on be used as a cure to either kill off the Rage Virus completely ''or'' have at least an antidote for it. That is '''thrown''' out the window and instead has Alice killed off by Don.]]
17	* ThisIsYourPremiseOnDrugs: According to Creator/JeremyRenner, a.k.a. Sgt Doyle, "It's everything I think [[Film/TwentyEightDaysLater the first one]] is, but on crack."
18	* TooBleakStoppedCaring: Part of the reason ''28 Weeks Later'' is so contested compared to ''Film/TwentyEightDaysLater'' is because the film focuses on characters that become increasingly less likable and eliminates those who could make a meaningful drama. Both Tammy and Andy are subject to multiple NiceJobBreakingItHero incidents that make it difficult to cheer them on. The film keeps treating Don like a huge DirtyCoward even though many viewers find him UnintentionallySympathetic, and despite being related to both protagonists, both him and Alice are unceremoniously removed from the plot in the second act. The rest is carried by generic survivors and the US military, none of which get impressive characterization. Thus, some audiences found no stakes in the movie and ignored it.
19	* UnintentionallySympathetic: Don. We're supposed to view him as a self-centered DirtyCoward for abandoning his wife, but as mentioned several times on this page, his options were ''very'' limited. It doesn't help that the movie makes it seem like something he should feel very sorry for, and yet his ''actual'' wrongful action that spells doom for everyone is made out of that very sorrow for that very thing!
20	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: Conversely, his wife, Alice, is viewed as an idiot by most people for feeling betrayed when her husband failed to do the impossible. Now, granted, it definitely wouldn't feel good to see someone you love and trust abandon you, but Alice herself never takes any proactive measures to survive beyond going into another room. A room that '''had a window''' she could've easily opened (or at worst smashed open) to escape. Instead, she threw away precious seconds banging her fists on the window and shouting her husband's name in despair, and essentially letting herself and the boy become victims of the zombies.
21	* ViewerGenderConfusion: Andy's long hair and youthful features made some viewers mistake him for a {{Tomboy}} at first. Even the name Andy could easily be a TomboyishName.
22	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: The movie was in production during the war in Iraq. George W. Bush famously declared mission accomplished even though there was an insurgency and all kinds of other unrest in the region making it anything but stable. Since the entire plot is driven by attempting to repopulate the island way too soon and horribly inadequate security measures it’s hard not to draw some parallel. The fact that it’s the American military makes it even more of a TakeThat.
23	* TheWoobie:
24	** Alice cannot catch a break in this movie. Her husband abandons her when an Infected separates them, and he just books it instead of trying to save her. She is immune, however, and flees back to her house in London where she stays in hiding for months. She is eventually found by the military, who bring her back to District 1 and plan on killing her to run tests on her corpse to find a cure. Beforehand, however, Don visits her to beg for her forgiveness for fleeing, then kisses her...[[spoiler: which causes him to become Infected and kill her in the most drawn out and painful death in the movie, all while she is strapped to a table. Then her body is lit on fire from the firebombing]]. Good lord.
25	** Don blames himself for [[spoiler: abandoning his wife to the Infected and then having to lie to his children about that. Add to the fact that he reunited with Alice, only to get infected, kill her, and chase down his children]]. Ouch.

Context YMMV / TwentyEightWeeksLater