Hot Fuzz, 28 Weeks Later.

I've decided that I can recommend both of these movies, but not without reservation...

Both are lesser movies than their predecessors -- Shawn of the Dead tops Hot Fuzz as both a comedy AND as an example of genre film making -- 28 Weeks, although as well shot and directed as 28 Days, losses a lot of credibility with a much weak[er] storyline.

Some credit still should be given in both cases.

True: Shawn is a much better example zombie movie making than Fuzz is of action/cop movies (and I'd agree with the guys at Filmspotting when they point out that Shawn is even a better action movie than the action driven, Hot Fuzz...), BUT these filmmakers have done a pretty good job of not following in the steps of so many others... With the addition of more money, talent, etc., 'young' writers/directors can easily overlook their own, unique brand of work to try to create a conventional Hollywood blow-out of a movie... (Just take the boys at Broken Lizard who went from the awesome Super Troopers to the awful Club Dread.) Simon Pegg et al have seemed to pulled up short of selling themselves out, and it works.
Especially if you enjoy [way, way] over the top cop-action-drama.

28 Weeks Later was a little more disappointing... and actually that's mostly because it starts off so well... or maybe because I can't let things go. Hmm.

Anyway, the opening scenes are really great in 28 Weeks Later, and I found myself totally pulled into the story -- only to have it go off in directions I thought were below the 28 ___ Later franchise's vision... I feel like this movie has come out too recently for me to spoil any more of the plot for those of you still waiting to see it, so I'll pull up, saying only that kids usually ruin movies like this because it gives the director/writer too many outs. (Why did this character do that obviously dangerous and stupid thing? Oh, because it's just a kid... "Move in the out field. Easy out.")