As it was released way back in 2002, it’s entirely possible that a whole generation of moviegoers never saw Danny Boyle and Alex Garland’s 28 Days Later. That would be a shame. More than even Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead, it was responsible for the resurgence of the zombie horror on the big and small screen, even though there are no actual zombies in the movie. It was followed in 2007 by the less well-received sequel, 28 Weeks Later, with an entirely new creative team. But now, the franchise is back with 28 Years Later, and considering Boyle and Garland are back in the fold, this one feels like a true and proper sequel that, like the original, goes in directions completely unexpected for the genre.
As the title suggests, the story picks up 28 years after the release of the Rage Virus that decimated the human population, turning them into crazed savages. In the U.K., only small pockets of humanity remain in tight-knit communities that have learned to survive on minimal resources. With some pretty big names in the cast, most will be surprised that the actual lead belongs to Alfie Williams, who plays 12-year-old Spike. Aaron Taylor-Johnson plays his father, Jamie, a tough, resourceful hunter and killer of the infected. Jamie Comer plays Spike’s mom, Isla, bed-ridden with sickness and psychologically broken.
Spike has never known a life without the infected in it, and he is really our window into how humanity is going to survive this infection for the long haul. 28 Years Later is, at its heart, a coming-of-age film, and that might be surprising for those coming in expecting all action, gore, and bloodshed. You do get that in the grisly first act, as Jamie takes Spike on his first excursion out to the mainland. There, Spike, armed with a makeshift bow and arrow, makes his first kill, while awkwardly handling an actual life-or-death situation when they are spotted by an Alpha and his pack. The Alphas are bigger, stronger, and take a lot more than just arrows to kill. This one particular Alpha, nicknamed Samson, will become a recurring threat, almost like the Terminator.
The second half of the film is quieter, smaller, and more of an adventure film as Spike takes Isla to find a mysterious doctor, Ralph Fiennes’ enigmatic Kelson, who lives alone among the infected. Looking like a wild man, his peculiar treatment of the infected and the dead has made Kelson more like a local myth than anything else. This part of the film, while beautiful in its story of a son trying to save his mother, also loses some of the momentum of the first act. These are just two very distinct acts and they might’ve worked better as separate movies. Certainly, considering this is a trilogy, that’s an idea that must’ve been on the table. I could’ve used more time watching Jamie teach Spike how to fight and survive in such a cruel world. Taylor-Johnson practically vanishes in the second half of the movie. I also could’ve used more time spent with Spike and Isla. Garland gets to the sensitive core of their relationship, and Fiennes’ Kelson adds to it by being so much more than he appears to be on the outside.
28 Years Later feels a bit incomplete, though, ending on a huge cliffhanger setting up the next film. On the other hand, it’s a successful film because we want to see where these characters are headed and how the world’s plight evolves. That’s one thing you can continue to say about this franchise is that it is constantly evolving. The first movie is wildly different from the second, and the third is very different from them both. We can assume the next one will take us places we least expect.
Sony Pictures releases 28 Years Later on June 20th.
