For all intents and purposes, “28 Years Later” is a zombie movie. And when it comes to zombie movies, all roads lead from “Night Of The Living Dead.” The classic from 1968 is directed by George Romero, and it set a terrifying template for all the zombie and wannabe zombie films that have followed.
Currently playing in theaters, “28 Years Later” is the sequel to the masterful “28 Days Later” from 2002, as well as the good, but not great, “28 Weeks Later” from 2007. You can legitimately question whether the new edition needed to be made. Although there are a few thought-provoking ideas being bandied about, and there are some well-made action sequences, “28 Years Later” never goes deep enough in a lot of its narrative areas and ends up flopping around like a beached salmon in the Scottish Highlands. You can’t help but think of the much better beginning of the series, which stars Cillian Murphy, who is an executive producer on the new entry.
The story’s narrative is uneven and too much of the dialogue comes across as forced. The plot has little connection to the previous entries other than the fact that it’s theoretically set 28 years after the “rage virus,” which turned London and the United Kingdom into a grotesque nightmare populated with aggressive and highly contagious zombies.
Directed by Danny Boyle and written by Alex Garland, both of whom are the clever creative gents behind the post-apocalyptic “28 Days Later,” the latest entry involves a small group of rugged survivors, who have taken shelter on a remote island off the coast of Scotland. They have turned themselves into hunters and gatherers. We will then follow a rambunctious 12-year-old boy named Spike (Alfie Williams), who lives with his father, Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), and his mother, Isla (Jodie Comer). She is bedridden with a mysterious illness. For no realistic reason other than the fact that Boyle and Garland need to get them off the island, Jamie takes Spike to the dangerous mainland to practice his archery. The targets? Infected lurching zombies, who would prefer not to be attacked and are vicious in their response. The gore is ratcheted to a visceral degree that may unnerve some moviegoers.
We’re eventually expected to believe – and accept – that Spike is smart enough to judge his father’s behavior with other women and savvy enough to take on zombies all by himself. This is a thematic stretch that doesn’t have the groundwork necessary to be believable. Another human is involved with this part of the movie. A doctor who is the epitome of being a loner may have a cure for Isla’s illness. He is cloaked in melancholy and is played by Ralph Fiennes. There is also an inconsistent tone to what Boyle and Garland choose to emphasize. Some moments feel rushed and poorly thought out.
“28 Years Later” unreels like a video game, and as the gratuitous violence rises, you start to realize certain things aren’t being properly and fully explained. After a while, logic is in short supply. There is tension because Boyle knows how to develop a sense of urgency with camera angles, jump-scare editing, and a number of extended chase scenes. The film was shot primarily with the iPhone 15 Pro Max and small drones, which give it a “you are there” immediacy. Unfortunately, the movie turns into a lumbering allegory and even includes some attempts at satire.
Not much else happens and any questions you may have could possibly be answered in the next sequel, “28 Years Later: The Bone Temple,” which will be released in January 2026. Both the current adventure and the upcoming feature were filmed at the same time. Should the audience feel cheated? Considering the unsatisfying basic framework that has been delivered, the answer is a resounding yes.
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HORROR UNDER THE STARS. For many moviegoers, there is most assuredly an added sense of fright – and fun – when watching horror films at a drive-in movie theater, and Peter Vullo, the showman behind “Thursday Night Terrors” at the Amherst Theatre, is bringing back his popular series “Terrors At The Drive-in” in July and August.
Vullo will again commandeer the Transit Drive-in on Transit Road in Lockport to showcase four of his favorite motion pictures that fall under the rubric of horror, science-fiction, and fantasy. Since 2016, Vullo has presented his selection of features with his well-honed visual and verbal style both indoors and outside.
This summer season, the choices include the director’s cut of the groundbreaking “RoboCop” from 1987 and the ultimate mean girls movie, “The Craft” from 1996.
As always regarding the drive-in series, Vullo pairs the pictures with finely considered cinematic cousins. These are thematic couplings that are clever and entertaining.
The complete schedule finds “Chopping Mall” (1986) joining the brave new world of “RoboCop” on July 17, and “The Faculty” (1998) paired with the malevolent high school ladies of “The Craft” on Aug. 14.
The Transit Drive-in’s gates open at 8 p.m. and the show begins at dusk. As always, local vendors are on-site to sell a wide array of themed merchandise, some of it created specifically for the outdoor event.