By: Lana K. Wilson-Combs
The post-apocalyptic horror movie
"28 Years Later" marks a ferocious return to the nightmarish world first envisioned by director/producer
Danny Boyle ("28 Days Later" and TV's "Pistol") and screenwriter
Alex Garland ("28 Years Later: The Bone Temple").
This chilling third installment strikes vigorously. From the opening scene, Boyle wastes no time plunging viewers into a haunting and unrelenting landscape where chaos reigns and survival is more challenging than ever. The film shocks and awes with savage zombies, decapitations, and dark humor.
Twenty-eight years after the outbreak of the Rage Virus, scattered survivors have carved out fragile existences in the shadows of the infected. One such group has settled on a small, windswept island off the coast of Scotland that is tethered to the mainland by a crumbling, makeshift causeway. It is passable only at low tide and treacherous even then.
Life on the island is less a refuge than a slow rot. Supplies are scarce, trust is scarcer, and the infected still roam the mainland like ghosts with unfinished business. Yet amid the rot and ruin, this family persists. They are not safe--not really--but they are together. For a while anyway.
This is where we meet Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson, "Nosferatu," "Kraven the Hunter"), a hardened survivor haunted by years of loss. His wife, Isla (Jodie Comer, "The Bikeriders"), is frail and fading fast, ravaged not by the virus, but by time, grief, and cancer.
Their 12-year-old son, Spike (a sensational Alfie Williams, "A New Breed of Criminal"), carries a fierceness that belies his age. He is sharp-eyed and restless, raised on whispered warnings and the sound of distant screams.
Spike is forced to grow up fast. His father, (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), insists the boy follow in his rugged footsteps and becomes a fearless hunter, mastering survival, and learning to wield a bow and arrow like it's second nature.
Despite Isla's pleas to keep their son safe, Jamie takes Spike to the mainland, determined to harden him against the horrors of their world. What follows is a harrowing, eye-opening ordeal for Spike and one that shatters any remnants of childhood he had left.
But while Jamie wants to teach Spike how to kill, Spike is more interested in learning about the mysterious Dr. Kelson (Ralph Fiennes, "Conclave”)--a name spoken in hushed tones and who is rumored to be humanity's last hope. When Spike uncovers a painful truth, that his father's loyalty lies somewhere other than his mother, he makes a fateful decision. Disillusioned and furious, he takes Isla and sets out on his own mission: to reach Dr. Kelson before it's too late to save her.
Their journey is nothing short of a nightmare. Spike must summon every shred of courage and rely on the survival skills Jamie forced upon him because these grotesquely naked zombies are disturbingly fast and relentless as a telemarketer during dinner time.
Just when hope begins to slip through their fingers, Dr. Kelson emerges from the ruins and offers them refuge. But sanctuary comes with a cost. The prognosis for Isla is bleak, and Spike must face a grief that even grown men would struggle to bear.
With "28 Years Later," Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland, have crafted a film that hits a bit different than its predecessors. Although at times the movie stumbles with pacing, its vision, atmosphere, and overall gruesomeness make it a welcome addition to the series.
Editor's Note: Be sure to catch my N2Entertainment.net movie talk segment on the
Kitty O'Neal Show Fridays now at 5:17 p.m. and 6:47 p.m. on radio station KFBK 93.1 FM and 1530 AM.
Take a Peek At This Trailer For
"28 Years Later"
Lana K. Wilson-Combs is a member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA), The American Film Institute (AFI), and a Nominating Committee Voting Member for the NAACP Image Awards.
