28 Years Later

***SPOILERS/STORY SUMMARY REVIEW*** What I will say about this movie is it's not all bad. This first half was really good, with an opening that was reminiscent of 28 Weeks Later. Afterwards though, it cuts to completely different characters for basically the rest of the film. Which would be fine and all, just showing a snippet of how the infection was 28 years before the start of the movie, but it does a weird call back in the ending scene that feels extremely out of place compared to the rest of the film. Aside from that, the first half is really good and the tension of survival of a father and son feels heavy and suspenseful, especially with the addition of a new type of infected: the alpha. This new infected is basically a 'roided up super infected that is both smarter and stronger than normal ones. It's only after making it back to the safe village does the movie noticeably change mood to a more coming of age feeling movie, oddly reminding me a bit of Stand By Me. It's at this point, my enjoyment of this movie kinda began to fall. This latter half just ends up with the boy and his mom going out to find a doctor. The whole trip, it kinda feels like things just happen. And sure, the second half is about accepting death, but it feels so paved over when the boy has a more violent reaction to his dad cheating than the guy who actually kills. It feels so jarring when that scene happens cause it doesn't really fit how the character acted beforehand. After all is said and done, boy stays outside of the safe village and wanders where it ends in a bizarre scene of him running into a pack of survivors which one turns out to be the kid from the opening scene. It's so weird cause it a group of 5 who at first I mistook as a gang of grannies doing par-core and brutalizing some runner infected all while some trash metal was playing in the background. I did get a laugh at the fact that I wasn't the only one in the theater wondering what the hell was going on when that scene started. TLDR: Movie is good and really suspenseful up until they return to base in witch it turns more into a bad attempt of a coming of age story that finishes off with a power rangers type end scene. This whole movie reminds me of what happened with Longlegs. Advertising made the movie seem like a much different movie vs the actual viewing experience. Don't know how the next to films are gonna be like (if they even release), but seeing how much this first film feels like a filler movie doesn't give me much hope that they'll be good....

FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://talkingfilms.net/28-years-later-review-ambitious-and-beautiful-but-struggles-with-narrative-overload/ "28 Years Later is an imperfect but undeniably bold movie - a worthy addition to the saga. It's more technically polished, features excellent performances, and even if some of its narrative risks don't pay off, the thematic ambition is admirable, despite struggling to bring all of its elements into a cohesive whole. Danny Boyle and Alex Garland are commenting on the state of the modern world - from national identity crises to the ethics of human survival - delivering moments of high intensity, morally relevant questions, and striking visual filmmaking. Though not entirely satisfying, the film leaves us with a firm curiosity about the direct sequel arriving in just a few months." Rating: B

CinemaSerf

6/10

6/25/2025

It’s almost thirty years since Cillian Murphy wandered around in his hospital gown; the so-called “rage” virus still shows no sign of abating and with Britain effectively quarantined from Europe there are few outposts untouched by it’s madness. Protected by the tides, the small island of Lindisfarne is one such bastion and that’s where “Spike” (Alfie Williams) lives with his dad (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his poorly mum (Jodie Comer). It’s a big day in the place when “Spike” is taken to the mainland by his father to make his first kill. That’s not least because he is barely twelve years old and because he has never seen anything of town nor land as far as the eye can see before. He’s also never seen any of the infected before, either. With this trip being fairly fraught and eventful and with one of his family friends at home telling him of a doctor “Kelson” (Ralph Fiennes) who might be able to help his increasingly disturbed mother, the newly emboldened “Spike” comes up with a daring plan to see if he can help make her better. It’s all pretty standard zombie fayre this film but though there is quite a decent effort from the confident young Williams and Comer does lethally equipped confused well too, the rest of it just lacks much for originality. There’s plenty of action, but there was that in “Shaun of the Dead” (2004) too - and at least that was funny. This is just all a bit intense, with the psycho-babble “up and down again” commentary and some inconsistently incorporated archive from old Robin Hood or Olivier films that seem to suggest something of the recurring nature of history, but also of this plot. Sure, it’s only part one of a trilogy and the iodine-bedecked Fiennes does introduce a little quirky intrigue for what might come next, but I was really quite disappointed with this over-hyped and all too often quite episodic horror, sorry.