'28 Years Later' A Review

28 Years Later is a post-apocalyptic horror movie, the third in the series following 2002'a 28 Days Later and 2007's 28 Weeks Later. The rage virus has been contained to the British Isles which are under indefinite quarantine. A community of survivors live on an island village connected to the mainland by a tidal causeway. Jamie(Aaron Taylor-Johnson) takes his 12-year-old son Spike(Alfie Williams) on a coming-of-age hunt while his wife Isla(Jodie Comer) convalesces from an unknown illness.

Taylor-Johnson puts in a decent performance as does Comer but the family drama is the weakest and most convoluted part of the script and they both struggle to push through. Williams is a competent child actor but again the interpersonal issues in the family strain credulity and serve pretty much exclusively to distract from what the movie does well and Williams is too young to be able to juggle it all. Ralph Fiennes shows up half way through and he is so good, so locked in, it throws into contrast the leads short comings. Jack O'Connell pops up at the end to tease the sequel and he's equally excellent.

Visually the film has style, shot mostly on iPhone rigs with snappy, inspired cutting and evocative dream sequences, it recalls the grittiness of the original and raises the stakes artistically. The score is equally effective as is the make-up and zombie work, mostly all practical. There is a level of polish and depth with Danny Boyle back in the director's chair and Alex Garland penning the script. They build out the world both narratively and visually and there are bits of fun and excitement pretty much at every little stop along the journey. But the problem is that core bit of family conflict which is both not particularly believable as well as unnecessary. The idea of the rage virus evolving, a decades long quarantine, and what people would do to survive those two things is plenty. Putting a clichéd overbearing dad and a soap opera-esk mentally deteriorating mom in the mix is overkill and unnecessary.

Wild, ambitious, frequently thrilling but overly plotted.

Currently in theaters.

Rent It.