vvanpo

I liked "28 Days Later..." and while not exactly eagerly anticipating a sequel but if one came out, I would definitely see it.

Regrettably, I didn't like it as much as the first.

One of my favorite movies, "Aliens", contains a line to the effect "In case you haven't been keeping up with current events, we're getting our (bleep) kicked!" That's my main problem with "28 Weeks Later". There are too many situations where the characters aren't keeping up with current events. A savage disease had just ravaged mankind on the island of Great Britain where the infected had maniacally spread the disease by attacking the non-infected. I'd think that would serve ample warning to those trying to repopulate the island.

But, no. And the Harris children were the worst.

The story revolves around the Harris family. Father Don (Robert Carlyle) and Mother Alice (Catherine McCormack) found themselves stuck in England but the children Tammy (bright-eyed Imogen Poots) and Andy (shaggy Mackintosh Muggleton) were able to be shipped off to a refugee camp in Spain.

The opening sequence shows Don barely escaping an attack from the infected but Alice is not so lucky. Don makes to an area in London where, after all the infected have starved to death, a NATO operation led by U.S. troops begins the process of starting over again. It is here that he is reunited with his children.

Trouble starts when Andy craves a memento of Mom. So the he and his sis sneak off the area that's supposedly a fortress to keep out the infected should they happen to still roam the country. These two should have been scared straight about the risks they are taking.

That's just the first instance and it's not just with the kids. To me this spoiled the movie. I need this movie to give me sense and sensibility because it sure needs to overcome its gloominess.

Another pet peeve is the many scenes shot with a jerky hand-held camera. That style is played out.

The movie opens with Charlie (Jeff Daniels), a business man just finishing his lunch in a neighborhood deli. It appears he doesn't have enough cash to cover the check. Instead of reaching for his plastic, he furtively glances around to see if the coast is clear and ducks out of the place without paying. Unbeknownst to Charlie, "Lulu" (Melanie Griffith) had been observing him from the other side of the deli.

"Lulu" is decked out in what passed for cool back in the 1980's with a brunette page-boy cut. She follows him out to let him know that she saw what he did. He tries to deny it but can't escape her accusation. Thinking he's in it, Charlie is surprised when "Lulu" says she doesn't work for the deli and then offers him a ride back to work.

When she heads in the opposite direction, thus begins their cavorting across the Middle Atlantic Seaboard.

We're supposed to get titillated as thoroughly modern "Lulu" puts straight-laced Charlie into humiliating situations. It's all right when the two consenting adults get a little kinky in a motel room but off-putting when they wriggle out of paying the check at a family-style restaurant. Stealing the labor from hard-working people is not my idea of "wild". Charlie is a jerk.

"Lulu" is a loony jerk. She starts to pass off Charlie as her husband. First to her mom (who blithely tolerates the charade) and then at her conveniently timed 10-year high school reunion (an event used later by another too-cool-for-its-own-good movie "Grosse Pointe Blank").

The "marriage" comes as a surprise to "Lulu"'s real husband (Ray Liotta)who's just been recently released from prison for armed robbery. Ray gives the two a welcome comeuppance and shows them how nasty crime really is.

I can't add any irony by writing that I first watched this by sneaking in the movie theater. No, I don't do that sort of thing. I taped it off of cable TV and assure you I view it strictly in the privacy of my own home.

So I got to thinking why I taped it when I don't like it very much and conclude that 20 years ago I was on a reggae kick and the soundtrack of "Something Wild" does prominently feature reggae. The closing credits start with the treat of Sister Carol performing her version of "Wild Thing".