I saw this last night in an almost empty theater. It was interesting to say the least... really focused on the human element more than the infected. They did drive the story forward appropriately enough. I was really hoping to see what life was like outside the quarantine zone, but not much added there. The last 45 min of the movie was very different. I understand they filmed a sequel at the same time this movie was being filmed. Very interesting setting and character... looking forward to seeing that explored more. 7/10
No spoilers, but the last 2 minutes almost seemed to belong to another movie. I wouldn't say it ruined the movie for me, but it was completely out of left field. I know they'll explore that in the sequel too, but less excited for that. 1/10
Went to see it yesterday, it was very quiet in the cinema.
I enjoyed the fact this film did something a bit different to the other two films. I think we got the real shoot 'em up type entry into the 28 franchise with the second film, 28 Weeks Later that very American, guns and gung ho type film. I think 28 Years Later told a more human story and it worked well.
I agree the last few minutes were a huge tonal shift. I think I will have to wait for the next film to really decide whether it works.
I love these movies and also saw the film in an almost empty theater. My biggest question is how are there still any infected left in Britain? It's been 30 years of quarantine so there shouldn't be any new people to infect. Realistically I think they all would have died off long ago. But that's a nit-pick with every zombie movie but this one in particular since the infected are trapped on an island.
I saw this a couple nights ago, a late showing, with the standard crew of theater employees who I've become friends with, also in an empty theater.
I freaking loved this movie and haven't stopped thinking about this since.
This was a genuine surprise and I came in kind of lamenting the fact there was another entry to follow "28 Days Later". I consider "28 Days" a perfect film and never needed a sequel, especially one so lack-luster, mediocre, and forgettable like "28 Weeks Later". "Days" is so impactful and influential that in the years since its initial release, all kinds of zombie stories have come out and exhausted the concept to the point where there's nothing left to do with it. So going into this, I wasn't expecting anything at all and bore little excitement.
Then the movie plays and while it remained throughout the movie that I really didn't care much for the characters or story, I was floored by the bold and wild swings this movie took just to stand out from "28 Days Later" and all the zombie movies that have come out since. I think the filmmakers also realized that "28 Days" didn't need sequels (even 'hand-waiving' away "28 Weeks" was a funny touch) and to do one and keep it interesting for them was to throw the standard tropes (ones they helped make) out the window and just go big and silly but still dropping nuggets of humanity in there. The cinematography and editing gives the movie such live and palpable energy that I really didn't care that it was a bare bones survival story. It's not very scary (what zombie property is now?) but it makes up in tension, continuous tension that's broken by moments of peace and calm, moments of fun and unexpected, and moments of genuine beauty; the bone temple being the stand-out piece of the entire movie. Nobody makes movies like Danny Boyle, especially when he's at his most creative like here, and it won me over, to the moon and back, man. This movie is pure punk and I loved it.
If the original movie was "Evil Dead", then this movie is "Evil Dead 2" and it's setup the sequel(s) to be "Army of Darkness" and I can't wait to experience more of this mayhem. "28 Days Later" doesn't need a sequel and I think it's better that it never had them, but the fact that it did get sequels, and this kind of sequel, answers the age old question of 'what do you do when you have to make sequels to a perfect movie that doesn't need one?' You go nuts.
My biggest question is how are there still any infected left in Britain? It's been 30 years of quarantine so there shouldn't be any new people to infect. Realistically I think they all would have died off long ago. But that's a nit-pick with every zombie movie but this one in particular since the infected are trapped on an island.
If we're gonna really be picky, the biggest problem of "Days" is how was anyone able to quarantine if the virus was spread as rapidly as it did? People get infected and change immediately if any infected blood enters their system. There wouldn't be time for anyone to react quickly enough to enforce quarantine procedures. Furthermore, it wouldn't have been able to spread far at all if it only spread by blood entering victims as the infected would just all be shot and killed immediately once word got out. It spreads host to host without pathogens or any other form of carrier; it being entirely self-contained to limited hosts makes it very easy to eradicate. But, it's a movie, let's not try to think about it too logically. It's not why movies exist.
While it's never directly stated in "28 Days Later", the ending highly implies that the virus and the infected eventually dies off on its own. Those infected just rage until they wear themselves out physically and die of starvation and exhaustion (all those skinny and emaciated zombies on the road at the end). They don't eat, they don't sleep, just chase and vomit until there's nothing left of them. By that measure, this is why "28 Days" is a perfect movie because it is wholly self contained and kind of set up that there wasn't going to be any more story; that was it.
The sequel (28 Weeks Later) kind of throws this out the window and repeats what the first did, only without the flash and style that Danny Boyle possess. This is also where it implies that you can be an asymptomatic carrier of the "rage" and can pass it on with saliva (kissing in this movie) or any kind of excretion.
"28 Years" throws all this out, baby in the bathwater, and makes up complete silly nonsense because "who cares?" "Years" not only disregards "Weeks" but "Days" and shows they continue to live even when they're bloated, rotting corpses eating worms and wild animals to keep sustained; the virus acts like a steroid turning some into muscle bound, hung-like-an-elephant, super-zombies with some limited intellect; it even implies these zombies have sex and have babies. This movie doesn't care, it makes up its own rules to be its own thing and it does it in the name of having a good time. I was all for it.
The ending was set up in the beginning of the movie with the kid being a fan of "Power Rangers". How it ends is so surprising and fun and unexpected as a pay-off for a set-up literally in the first minute of the movie, and the way it was done was so goofy and silly that I couldn't help but have a laugh. It was so punk. Honestly, the rest of the movie is as silly as how it ended but it was still a surprise. I don't know how people couldn't love it.
