28 Years Later review

28 YEARS LATER: 

DANNY BOYLE’S GLEEFULLY GORY RETURN TO HIS ZOMBIE FRANCHISE! 

By Nico Beland

Movie Review: *** ½ out of 4

COLUMBIA PICTURES

The infected are back in 28 Years Later

 

            The zombies have returned to terrorize the UK once again in 28 Years Later, the new film from director Danny Boyle (Trainspotting 1 and 2, Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours) and writer Alex Garland (Ex-Machina, Annihilation,Warfare) and the third installment of the 28 Days Later film series which began with Boyle’s 2002 zombie horror classic of the same name. This also marks Boyle’s first directing effort since 2019’s Yesterday so, he went from directing a movie about The Beatles being erased to going back to zombies, makes perfect sense to me! 

            I was looking forward to this movie, I loved 28 Days Later and found it thoroughly suspenseful with clever uses of the slow burn, not overly relying on cheap jump scares, and compelling lead characters. The movie is also visually unique compared to other zombie movies as it has a bit of graininess to the quality to I guess give it that grungy, independent look. 

            The 2007 sequel, 28 Weeks Later which was not directed by Boyle but serves as an executive producer is also a solidly crafted zombie movie though this one goes a more traditional route with tons of gore, grotesque zombies eating people and spitting blood, but is also balanced out again with likable and endearing characters that aren’t just human meat-sacks for the undead. 

            Now we have 28 Years Later released 18 years after the last film and the first not to be released under 20^thCentury Fox/20^th Century Studios or any of its subsidiaries with Sony Pictures helming this entry. I doubt 28 Years Later will have the cultural significance as the 2002 original, but damn this movie was fun! 

            It’s a zombie movie that delivers exactly what you want to see from a film like this, lots of carnage and blood spurting out while also expanding upon what was set up in the previous films and having strong character moments in-between the zombie terror. Also, this movie makes Teletubbies references almost as much as Bullet Train made Thomas the Tank Engine references. 

            The film is set in Lindisfarne 28 years after the second outbreak of the Rage Virus and follows a young boy named Spike (Alfie Williams-His Dark Materials) who is taken to the mainland with his father, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson-Kick-Ass 1 and 2, Nowhere Boy, Kraven the Hunter) to hunt the infected as part of a coming-of-age ritual. However, it turns out Spike’s mother, Isla (Jodie Comer-Free Guy, The Last Duel, The Bikeriders) is dying from an unknown illness so, the two of them sneak off into the mainland in hopes of finding Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes-Harry Potter franchise, The Menu, Conclave) to give Isla treatment while also fighting off the horrors along the way. 

            The film also stars Edvin Ryding (Young Royals) as Erik Sundqvist, Christopher Fulford (Immortal Beloved, Joyeux Noël, Queen of the Desert) as Sam, Stella Gonet (The House of Eliott, Holby City, Spencer) as Jenny, and Jack O'Connell (Money Monster, Ferrari, Sinners) as Sir Jimmy Crystal. 

            Overall, 28 Years Later adds another gory, thrilling, and well-crafted entry in the 28 Days Later franchise and a welcome return for Danny Boyle. Granted, there are some shortcomings with this movie and I don’t think it’s quite as good as the first film, but I was entertained throughout and invested in the characters and their arcs. 

            It does start off like a typical survival horror premise with aspects of The Road, The Last of Us, and even A Quiet Place, but as it goes on and becomes essentially a coming-of-age story with Spike seeking treatment for his sick mother that just happens to take place during a zombie apocalypse, it gets a lot more interesting. I’m not super familiar with Alfie Williams, but I thought he did great here as Spike as one of the best kid characters I’ve seen in a movie since probably Julian Dennison from Deadpool 2. 

            At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to like the idea of a kid being the main character of this movie, but through Williams’ performance and effective emotional moments between him and Jodie Comer, he won me over pretty quickly. He portrays a kid who understands the seriousness of the situation he’s in and just wants to save his dying mom, it’s a rare time where a movie made for adults is carried by a child performance and Williams does it perfectly, he’s got a bright future ahead of him. 

            Aaron Taylor-Johnson starts off as the standard dad character you’d see in something like this, but he becomes more and more flawed as the film goes along. Needless to say, it’s a huge step up from Kraven the Hunter. 

            Ralph Fiennes is a standout as the doctor Spike and Isla find in the mainland as he delivers the most humor and a surprisingly poignant moment with Williams’ Spike about the best deaths being the peaceful ones where you leave with love. Honestly, an entire movie could have been made about him and his skull tower. 

            The infected (zombie) sequences are blood-drenched, fleshy goodness with plenty of creatively gory kills and neat camera tricks, some of which use that jittery frame rate from the first movie, other times they’ll have a 360° camera motion accompanying the gruesome kill. A lot of the time, the infected will do full-on Mortal Kombat fatalities like ripping someone’s head and spinal cord out, Predator-style and smashing another person’s head with it, this movie certainly doesn’t slack off when it comes to gore. 

            I also think this is the best-looking out of the 28 Days Later movies in terms of the cinematography with tons of wide shots of landscapes as the characters are venturing out into the world. No other way of putting it, this IS a big screen movie and the best way to experience this film is in a theater. 

            The ending however, gets pretty silly and is clearly tacked on to set up the next movie which is scheduled for release in January of next year. Compared to 28 Days Later and 28 Weeks Later which are the first and second installments yet they both feel very self-contained movies that can be watched on their own merits and the same can be said for this until you get to the end in which it sequel-baits with the most ridiculous uses of Teletubbies references and Death Metal I’ve ever seen. 

            Despite its goofy ending, I had a great time with 28 Years Later and fans of the earlier films will likely enjoy it. It’s easily Boyle’s best film since T2: Trainspotting and I’m looking forward to seeing where he and this franchise will go next.