Danny Boyle and Alex Garland collaborated 23 years ago and delivered the incredible cult-classic post-apocalyptic film, 28 Days Later. Neither of the duo was involved in the sequel, 28 Weeks Later, which received mixed reviews. Now, Boyle and Garland reunite to deliver what is expected to be a new trilogy, kicking off with 28 Years Later — one of the most anticipated horror movies of the summer.
When we meet Jamie, he has decided his son is ready to forge across the waters and conquer his first zombie kill. At home, Jamie’s wife, Isla, is suffering from some sort of sickness, and they are unsure of what’s happening. Jamie and Spike head to the mainland, where we see him execute for the first time. However, after seeing his father cheat on his mother and potentially finding out there is a doctor on the mainland, Spike sneaks his mother out to get her the help needed.
The script felt like it didn’t know what it was trying to accomplish. You start the story with a group of kids who are mortified at the zombie attack, with one kid escaping, which adds no significant relevance until the end of the movie. On top of that, Spike decides after a fight with his father to trek to the land with his mother to get her help, and his father doesn’t go after him? It was a jumbled mess.
Another massive issue was that the dialogue was often challenging to hear. I understand I am getting old at my ripe age of 39, but Aaron Taylor-Johnson and even Ralph Fiennes had several moments where they said inaudible words. Additionally, the sound of the entire movie didn’t feel cinematic. I never felt engulfed in this world, and it was a huge disappointment considering the first two did just that.
Performance-wise, I did like Aaron Taylor-Johnson as Jamie. Within the first act, you could see this father/son dynamic of Jamie and Spike with them going out on this first hunt, but it stopped there. Jamie’s disappearance in the second and third acts is still mind-blowing. Ralph Fiennes (Conclave) is quite incredible as Dr. Kelson, with him and Jodie Comer (The Last Duel) as Isla providing the lone bright spot within the film. It’s unfortunate, though, that Comer had various impressive emotional moments that felt like a waste due to how the arc was built.
Ultimately, 28 Years Later felt like a parody of what the original films brought to the table. Danny Boyle and Alex Garland had an opportunity to ramp up the stakes of this franchise and fell short with a script that makes absolutely no sense. Even if the next installment delivers more context, they didn’t do an adequate job of setting it up. Quite a huge disappointment for one of the most anticipated movies of the year.
28 Years Later releases in theaters June 20.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5
