Alex Reviews "28 Years Later"

True to the title, 28 Years Later is set just short of 30 years after the Rage Virus outbreak in the United Kingdom and while the rest of the world was able to prevent exposure, Britain has become its own hellscape of an island prison. Survivors struggle to survive the infected, the elements, and (worst of all) other survivors.

After 22 years, the original duo (Danny Boyle and Alex Garland) behind the shock hit 28 Days Later are back to continue their “RVU” with multiple films beginning with 28 Years Later and, for a two-hour movie, it is denser than iron in the groundwork it has laid.

Knowing that this is intended as a base for future films will definitely improve the watching experience as Danny Boyle is at his most fever dream inspired when working on a project of which he has ownership, and this might be his most over the top since Trainspotting. It is jarring at times to flip between modern high definition and what felt like a 1997 handicam, though that could be the point of showing the technological point the survivors would be anchored at when the virus stopped their world. Maybe I am giving too much credit there, but Boyle is absolutely the director that would do that, even if only for style. Years from now, we might find out that this (intended to be) trilogy started with a lot of drugs leading to fleeting thoughts scribbled on bits of paper being dropped in front of Alex Garland where he is told to make it a script. I assure you that reading that last sentence is the grammatical equivalent of how watching this often felt.

I look forward to learning about how this return came to be as Boyle and Garland have both come to be known as major film players compared to their last outing. While Boyle has his Oscar, Alex Garland is still working his talent towards his first win. He was nominated for Ex Machina though many wonder if his unique viewpoints and stories could prevent his mainstream appeal from truly breaking out.

Putting these originals back on a project with no guiderails has led to a chaotic and intense film that feels oddly inconsistent from one section to the next. Another member of the press corps mentioned that they loved all the tributaries the story could take with the next picture. While that is very positive, know that those tributaries exist in a blender where we will have no idea what speed it is being set from moment to moment. The first section of 28 Years Later plays like a shock-value, grindcore horror. The second section becomes an overly emotional drama. Then a third style (which I do not wish to describe) is teased to close the picture. Along with insane visuals, there are narrative beats that will be among the most divisive that will occur in film this year. Good or bad will be solely on the viewer.

Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson do not know how to act poorly and again crush their sections. However, I tend to be overly critical of child actors because I do not adjust my judgement for age and Alfie Williams was awesome as Spike. With the amount of talent in the cast, it would be easy for a 13-year-old in his first lead to be overwhelmed. It is also incredibly risky to make someone so young and green the thread to tie together your trilogy, but he thrived in every scene regardless of what nightmares he had to work with or the emotional depth he was asked to deliver. If only for him, I will look forward to rest of the series.

It is difficult for me to blanket recommend 28 Years Later or its impending sequel(s?) as the film is so maniacally unique that one person might wretch at the visuals and another might think it is the most beautiful art they ever saw. It definitely does push a lot of boundaries, but I definitely went to the movies in 2003 to see 28 Days Later and thought: “I wonder what these people would do with a huge budget?” The answer is a lot of gore, but a lot of depth, a LOT of prosthetic appendages, but a LOT of meaning. I bet I will like it better the second time around because the shock won’t be so jarring and I can focus on even deeper meanings.