28 Weeks Later

Tetsubo said:
Which may well explain why I no longer read fiction or comic books...

If the movie had been set in an alternate universe where the current laws of biology didn't work I wouldn't have had a problem. But its set HERE. And in the real world, biology has very specific ways of doing things. .

Not that's there's any helping your suspension-of-disbelief impairment, but if the laws of biology work differently in the movie than they do for us, isn't that proof that it's set in an "alternate universe"?

Specifically, it's set in an alternate universe where the rage virus is both biologically possible and has already decimated the UK.
 

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Tetsubo said:
Which may well explain why I no longer read fiction or comic books...

I would suggest that a person who never reads fiction is very much not the target audience of this movie.

If you don't like this sort of movie, then you're not gonna like it. It's aimed at people who like this sort of movie.

I enjoyed it a lot. Some good, solid performances. Some genuinely creepy moments, and a good few "jump" moments.

It's a zombie flick.

This is why I love Kill Bill so much. It IS an alternate universe and it is completely internally consistent.

Kill Bill is as much an alternate universe as 28 Weeks Later. One has silly martial arts, the other has zombies. Neither should be mistaken for a scientific documentary.

It's clearly the middle part of a trilogy (28 Months Later, anyone?) with that ending. It's the Empire Strikes Back of the series - the one where everything goes wrong and, with luck, sets up the third movie for the final resolution.

Spoilers:
The virus has now spread beyond the UK, and the next movie will undoubtedly be more global in scale.
 

Arnwyn said:
Well, with the comments in this thread combined with the review of a trusted critic, I'm definitely giving this one a pass.

Funny thing is, I was initially going to give it a pass. It just didn't look that great to me, and I like (and own) 28 Days Later.

After reading this, I'm inclined to see it just to see exactly what kind of a train wreck it is. Will probably wait for the cheap seats, though.
 

hexgrid said:
Not that's there's any helping your suspension-of-disbelief impairment, but if the laws of biology work differently in the movie than they do for us, isn't that proof that it's set in an "alternate universe"?

Specifically, it's set in an alternate universe where the rage virus is both biologically possible and has already decimated the UK.

Nah, it's not an alternate universe, it's just magic, disguised as a virus to confuse people until it's too late. Blame Voldemort, who finally got clever. :)

It's funny when you think about it, though - the "rage virus" is so far out there, some of the tamer mutants from the X-Men universe are more scientifically plausible...
 

I was tempted to see this movie right up until the final two weeks when the studio started marketing this as a zombie movie again. I know its an old argument, but it urks me as a horror movie fan using a mutant movie as a zombie movie. FAst or slow these things are still alive.
 

DonTadow said:
I was tempted to see this movie right up until the final two weeks when the studio started marketing this as a zombie movie again.

*headscratch* So.. you're not going to see the movie because the studio's marketing campaign irked you?
 

Tetsubo said:
No I don't. Expecting me to do that is sloppy film making.

The writers used the disease vector concept in their script. Which means they should at least understand how the disease vector concept works. Which they obviously don't... if you base a film in reality, it should conform to reality. Otherwise just go make fantasy films...

So, it sounds like you're saying they should first hire a team of team of scientists to actually make the rage virus a reality, then make the movie, because making a movie about something that doesn't conform to reality is sloppy film-making.

Asserting that works of fiction can't take any liberties with science is pretty obtuse. Since your standards of credibility are impractical, and most folks don't have this mental inhibition, I posit that it would be sloppy film making for them to waste time catering to those standards.

Furthermore, your disposition that we actually know for an absolute fact all of this stuff that the body can and can't do belies the fact that there's still quite a bit that's unknown about human biology, particulary from a neurological point-of-view. We don't have an owner's manual after all. What we do know is largely based on observing the body as it's subjected to different conditions, and if it always seems to react the same way time after time, then it's regarded it as an absolute, which is convenient but sloppy. All it takes to break that absolute and get scientists all excited is that one new condition that triggers a different response.

But really, all of this is moot if you're giving George Romero's approach to zombies a free pass. A dead organism managing to get up and walk around and attack people without requiring any of the biological processes that allows it do so is pretty far-fetched too, so it sounds like you'll suspend belief if a movie's utterly preposterous, but not if it's merely a little preposterous.
 

WayneLigon said:
*headscratch* So.. you're not going to see the movie because the studio's marketing campaign irked you?
Yeah, i know silly, but it just really steams me up. But you're talking to a guy whom has George Romero's picture framed on a wall. It irks me to hear people talking about the first movie talking about how great a zombie movie it was when it wasa really good text book mutant survival movie.
 

Felon said:
So, it sounds like you're saying they should first hire a team of team of scientists to actually make the rage virus a reality, then make the movie, because making a movie about something that doesn't conform to reality is sloppy film-making.

Asserting that works of fiction can't take any liberties with science is pretty obtuse. Since your standards of credibility are impractical, and most folks don't have this mental inhibition, I posit that it would be sloppy film making for them to waste time catering to those standards.

Furthermore, your disposition that we actually know for an absolute fact all of this stuff that the body can and can't do belies the fact that there's still quite a bit that's unknown about human biology, particulary from a neurological point-of-view. We don't have an owner's manual after all. What we do know is largely based on observing the body as it's subjected to different conditions, and if it always seems to react the same way time after time, then it's regarded it as an absolute, which is convenient but sloppy. All it takes to break that absolute and get scientists all excited is that one new condition that triggers a different response.

But really, all of this is moot if you're giving George Romero's approach to zombies a free pass. A dead organism managing to get up and walk around and attack people without requiring any of the biological processes that allows it do so is pretty far-fetched too, so it sounds like you'll suspend belief if a movie's utterly preposterous, but not if it's merely a little preposterous.

Based on what we do know about biology, the Rage virus won't work.

I like the Romero version of zombies precisely because it IS magic. There is no lame scientific based explanation. It just IS. Once that premise is bought, the rest of the universe just unfolds. But once you start to try explaining things logically both the Romero universe and the Rage virus fall on their faces...

Either base the plot on science or toss it out the window and go whole hog fantasy. The half way point is just annoying.

Like explaining that The Force is caused by little beasties floating around in your blood...
 

Tetsubo said:
Based on what we do know about biology, the Rage virus won't work.

I like the Romero version of zombies precisely because it IS magic. There is no lame scientific based explanation. It just IS. Once that premise is bought, the rest of the universe just unfolds. But once you start to try explaining things logically both the Romero universe and the Rage virus fall on their faces...

Either base the plot on science or toss it out the window and go whole hog fantasy. The half way point is just annoying.

Like explaining that The Force is caused by little beasties floating around in your blood...

Eh, Warp Drive, Superman, Balrogs, Wire-fu martial arts, talking cars ... zombies. It's all the same.

If you don't like sci-fi and fantasy, that's a totally valid opinion; but criticising sci-fi and fantasy for being sci-fi and fantasy is kinda silly. Nobody demands that Superman's powers make sense, or that gamma radiation really would make you The Hulk, or that dilithium crystals can bend the laws of relativity; why should a zombie plague follow knonw rules of biology?
 

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