28 Years Later (2025)
28 sequels later, apparently.
Presentation:
Danny Boyle and Alex Garland return to the 28 zombies series with commendable innovation. The series is known for introducing fast zombies and the rage virus, which doesn’t exactly create typical zombies but resembles the same thing. The film utilizes similar elements from previous installments including choppy frame rates to exaggerate ferocity, abundant dutch angles, gritty image quality and bleeding highlights. Although it is shot on iPhone, it surprisingly looks good and appropriate for the series largely due to the Super Panavision anamorphic ratio. I suppose this goes to show that the camera format really is irrelevant to the audience, proving lens choice is still king. There are also some innovations utilizing 20 iPhones reminiscent of The Matrix kick for zombie killshots. The CGI is poor and especially fake at night, likely a limitation of the sensor. It would nearly feel like a budget cable TV sci-fi film were it not for the impressive editing. The tone jumps around throughout the film, a little serious drama here, some Hollywood flair there, but ultimately BBC style in execution. The tension and pacing is compelling reminiscent of acclaimed British TV series, which is both a positive and a negative. There’s also a several British references and perhaps cultural history with Sweden that perhaps went above my head. Ultimately, the ending makes or breaks the reception.
Analysis:
Although we were waiting for Cillian Murphy to make an appearance, we instead get a few great alternatives instead. Ralph Fiennes makes a very cool appearance along with Jack O’Connell. I’m quite happy to see his career take off after Skins. Consequently, the film itself feels more like a British TV series as a result of its focus on character development and considered pacing. This is not an ordinary zombie film. It’s more thematic focusing on life and death and how to cope with the changing times. There’s nothing illegal about introducing themes into a zombie film, but I’m not sure Garland’s core zombie audience will have evolved alongside with him. It just feels a bit melodramatic and frankly absurd to euthanize your mother to the memoir of skulls (which is indeed totally insane to the contrary) and then you have the gang of Jimmies pushing a Mad Max dystopian universe. It all just feels very franchisey (like The Walking Dead) to keep us hooked for the next installment, oblivious to how inappropriate it is for the IP. The film was grounded on depravity and grittiness, I’m not confident how backflipping Cirque du Soleil acrobatics will improve upon future films. I don’t think any will watch the money grabbing sequels, this feels like Joker 2 all over again.
Conclusion:
A confusing film that ends on a huge cliffhanger that makes it difficult to interpret what you just watched. It feels incomplete and depends on the sequel to evaluate, but as a standalone film, there are peaks and valleys. On one hand, Garland can’t resist the temptation to insert art house metaphors and zany UK flair, which for long time fans might feel too much of a departure from the original series. On the other hand, this is quite innovative for a zombie film, introducing lore that lays a foundation to transition to a potential expansion of the genre. Slow zombies are sort of a betrayal to the universe, do they really need more zombie types for a future video game? I think for traditional fans of 28 Days Later, the zombies will feel weak, but I’d argue that it retains just enough core DNA while introducing new material to keep it fresh. Although I liked the development, there is nothing here other than well-paced storytelling that improves upon what we know and love from the 28 series. It abandons what predates it and focuses on innovation to the point where it crosses into silly parody territory. If you haven’t watched previous films, it isn’t bad nor is it good. If you have, it’s like you’ve been click-baited into a YouTube video which misleads you into something else, but maybe the 2 hours were entertaining so you don’t mind. In 2025, directors don’t even seem to be making movies anymore. These 2 hours experiences are unrecognizable. But at the end of the day, does the analysis matter if you enjoyed the movie?
Recommendations
28 sequels later, apparently.