Don Reviews "28 Years Later"

Doomsday prepping has really come to the forefront of our consciousness starting right before the turn of the century.  It is estimated there are nearly $2.5 billion dollars annually spent by people on supplies that they believe they will need sooner or later with the way our world is going and honestly believe this is a solid investment. Add to that the huge number of zombie and post-apocalyptic movies, books, and television shows that are out there, movies like 28 Years Later tend to feed the ideals of these types of people. 

Danny Boyle is back in the director’s chair here, and he works with Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes, and Jack O’Connell. This is the third film in a series that started with 28 Days Later and begins with twelve-year-old Spike (Williams), who lives with his mother Isla (Comer) and father Jamie (Taylor-Johnson) in a protected community on a small island in the UK.  The virus from this series of films is rampant on the mainland UK, but it is contained there.  Spike goes on his rite of passage mission on the mainland with his father, where they find new information which may help his mother who is fallen ill and decide to brave the dangers of the mainland to save her.

This film has a different style than the previous two; they dealt more with the chaos of the virus as it hits the masses while 28 Years Later deals with how humanity is able to adapt and deal with the repercussions of the virus.  This one runs about two hours, and while though maybe ten minutes could have been cut, it did not feel too long.  My issue with the plot is while I did like it overall, I did not like the arthouse style scenes to represent the current events of the film.  It reminded me of all the add-on clips from Rob Zombie’s House of 1,000 Corpses, and my overall enjoyment would have been better with out all the extra stuff added to it.  However, the cinematography itself is very good, especially since they actually shot in the UK.

When it comes to acting, it is fine overall with Williams doing a very good considering his age and limited resume.  This film is very graphic, but that can be expected when the movie poster has a ton of skulls on it. They may have overdid it just a tad with the violence, but it was not too bad considering what the script entails.  I did like the main premise itself, with its dramatic elements and edge-of-your-seat moments, and while this film does go in a different direction from the original films it is not a horrible re-hash attempt. If you liked the original films, I think you may like this one, which is why I recommend watching 28 Years Later at matinee showing in the theater.