28 YEARS LATER
What the heck even is a zombie movie-- Is it a splatter fest of gore and gnarly kills? Or is it a satire/metaphor on current events? Could it be humorous? Finding the absurd in what is a nightmare scenario. A good zombie movie can be some of these things, a GREAT zombie movie is all of these things plus a certain "je ne sais quoi". 28 YEARS LATER is a great fucking zombie movie.
Even if you don't remember 2003's modern zombie masterpiece 28 DAYS LATER, this sequel brings you up to speed real quick. The dreaded "rage virus" has completely decimated Europe, turning people into feral blood thirsty flesh eaters that RUN hella fast. London has been quarantined while the survivors are left to fend for themselves. One such group have made a little village for themselves on an island only accessible by one road during low tide.
Daddy Aaron Taylor-Johnson and his very sick wife Jodie Comer are parents to little 12 year old Alfie Williams. It's Alfie's time for his rite of passage, leaving the island towards mainland to make his first zombie kill. In one of many surprises the film deals with us, little Alfie is the main protagonist of the film and not any of the big Hollywood stars.
Danny Boyle, an Oscar winner and one of the coolest directors around returns with original writer Alex Garland and they mean BUSINESS. The movie is bursting at the seams with wild kinetic energy and just completely out of this world cinematography. Part of the films excitement is trying to figure out where the story is going.
It left me breathless in between squeamish scenes of zombie gore. The movie isn't really scary, it's just incredibly disgusting. Elements are introduced that I have never seen in a zombie movie before. It is completely batshit insane...until a takes a turn that I did not see coming. Somehow this is quietly the most devastating movie of the year.
Come for the wild action and magnetic performances by newcomer Alfie Williams as well as Jodie Comer and the always reliable Ralph Fiennes. But stay for the Alpha Zombie with a massive cock that is prominently on display every scene he's in. Honey, the "I Can Fix Him/Infect Me Daddy" crowd are going to lose it for this one. Very distracting, pure cinema.
I debated on the star rating and ultimately knocked it down a point for the cliffhanger non-ending that I assume leads into next years already filmed sequel. Threading that line between creating a new trilogy but making the entries a contained story is a challenge. Despite that I highly recommend this queasy, thrilling gut punch of zombie fest. It's beautiful and gross and haunting and actually quite touching.
Memento Mori
⭐⭐⭐1/2 out of 4