The Peanut Gallery Reviews 28 Years Later

Is 28 Years Later as good as its predecessors? It comes mighty close.

28 Days Later (2002) is among a trilogy of films in the early 2000s that changed my relationship with movies. The other two being Zack Snyder's Dawn of the Dead (2004) and Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg's Shaun of the Dead (2004). Before these films, I was never into scary or apocalyptic films. Since 2004 (when I first watched all three of these movies) I have been in love with the idea of zombies and zombie-like beings. I say all that to let you know how eager I was to anticipate 28 Years Later. The return of Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) as director and Alex Garland (Civil War) as the writer had filled me with high expectations. What I expected isn't what I got, but that is a good thing, as the movie had me on the edge of my seat throughout and never disappointed.

Cast Members

With the star power of Jodie Comer (Free Guy), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Bullet Train) and Ralph Fiennes (In Bruges), I was not expecting this film to be a vehicle for a young up-and-comer in Alfie Williams (His Dark Materials). Williams stole the show in this coming of age story that just happens to coincide with going out into the world that a rage virus has run rampant over. 

Ralph Fiennes's Dr. Kelson is the most interesting character introduced. Living in a village of bones with towers he built out of the skeletons and skulls of the dead, infected or not, he is a mysterious character with unknown motives who helps our protagonist before sending them on their way. With the title of the next film, The Bone Temple, I hope we get a deeper insight into this character.

Back to What Works

28 Days Later was unique in that it used handheld cameras to give the film a more realistic, gritty feel. 28 Weeks Later, with a different director and writer behind it, didn't have quite the same feel, though it was still a good movie. 28 Years Later is a return to form, as Boyle used iPhones and drones, along with a few other techniques to capture the same essence cinematically as the first film. The camera style only adds to the frantic, edge of your seat vibe of the story that makes you realize danger is always around the corner. 

Story Flaws

What hurts the film the most, is that it is an incomplete story. Yes, we are getting a follow up in January with the next installment, but along with the world building that the movie did, the story never moved past a certain point. The world building was, of course, necessary, as it's been 28 years since the rage virus outbreak and we need to understand what became of the island and how people live on it with the constant threat of the infected. The filmmakers do a very good job of introducing the small community and the threats of an evolved infected and the hierarchy of what they have become. The introduction of Alphas is both terrifying and an unexpected boon to help layer the story so we don't just get the same-old, same-old of infected and running from them. 

A Return to Form

28 Years Later made it clear that a lot has changed since the outbreak. A quarantined Great Britain, the evolution of infected that have formed a hierarchy of sorts, and the remaining people on the island trying to live their lives in very cut-off communities that do their best to survive and live a life based on fear. A very personal story that is extremely well-acted, it may not be as good as the original, but it comes very close. The sets, the grittiness of the film, and a world that looks like it has gone to seed is only enhanced by this coming-of-age story in a broken world. Definitely recommend you see it and best to do it at theaters.

PG Score: 7.25/10

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