'28 Years Later' Review: A Brilliant Re-Animation of The Epic
Danny Boyle and alex garland reteam for an effective return to their 2000’s classic
So much of the current ‘tentpole’ film landscape is dependent upon existing IP, whether that be sequels and continuations of existing franchises, reboots, remakes, or in the case of Danny Boyle’s 28 Years Later, a sort of re-animation, or reinvention, so to speak. As the title would suggest, the film is a legacy sequel to Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland’s 28 Days Later, an early digital era zombie-thriller with an enduring legacy. However, 28 Years Later is an entirely different beast. While sharing the same principle setting, idea, and title of its predecessor, Years, due to both its expansive ambition on both narrative and franchise fronts, trades in Days’ ‘road-movie’ structure to create a new epic in the post-apocalyptic United Kingdom.
It’d be possible for new audiences to come into Years without having seen 28 Years, or 28 Weeks Later, due to how distinctly singular the film becomes. Much credit must be given to the two lead creatives for this bold new vision, not just for its originality, but for how it’s willing to skew expectations and use new approaches to telling the story. 28 Years Later follows a 12-year old boy named Spike (newcomer Alfie Williams), and his family in their secluded English island community, safeguarded from the rage virus that has ravaged all of the UK. Spike has known nothing but a life within the zombie-free enclave, and his journey into the not-so-great outdoors serves as the narrative catalyst. Without giving away too much, the first third or so of the film plays like a very tight, intense zombie survival thriller, accentuated by the newness of the situation to young Spike. While this is familiar territory for the franchise, and genre at large, 28 Years Later is able to find new nuances and ways to make the landscapes of fear even more fearsome. Aaron Taylor Johnson turns in career best work as Jamie, Spike’s father who must guide his son along a violent path. Johnson slides between proud father and cumbersome prick with ease, playing against the young, ‘hot guy’ types he’s been in for most of his career.
Loss is a theme inherent with a post-apocalyptic film. It’s a very present theme in both of the Boyle-helmed 28 films, and takes a very different form in how it affects the narrative in 28 Years Later. Where Days takes a more haunting, isolated approach to the subject, Years opts to use the theme in a more life-affirming manner. Though the 2 films share the same writer, director, cinematographer, and world, the feel of Years is so distinctly different. Both films have been seen as many audiences and critics alike as films that are emblematic of their times. Days and its haunting, urban, early digital aesthetic being allegorical of post 9-11 madness, and Years being emblematic of the more post-digital rural, isolative, and divisive nature that society experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. In this way, Years does not disappoint.
Spike’s mere existence as a young man born into a lost nation is an incredibly interesting idea, and one that the film thankfully explores with enough weight. The story of Years is very much an epic in its own right, with Spike traversing the barren environments of large scope and large danger, but is also an emotional epic. Spike’s journey is about preventing loss, for himself, and for his loved ones. His journey is not defined by how long he himself can survive, nor is it based on how many action scenes can fit around it. Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes are superlative in their roles, turning the off-kilter and morose nature of their characters into genuinely profound and moving roles, ones that are at the heart of the film. Alfie Williams, at such a young age, is able to carry on the legacy of the franchise, as a genuinely sharply written protagonist, whose continuing story is one that audiences will surely want to see more of after 28 Years Later, and will be able to do so with the 2 upcoming sequels.
Boyle and Garland prove again to be a stellar creative pairing who bring out the best in each other, with Garland’s cerebral themes and world-building work in tandem with Boyle’s emphasis on emotional stakes and visual/formal playfulness. Boyle’s knack for comedy also comes in handy, using comedy in this film in an expository manner, helping to build the world further, while also creating some much needed levity. Cinematographer Anthony Dod Mantle is able to experiment with a variety of new camera angles and approaches that really help to accentuate the film, and very clearly relishes the new environments he’s privy to shoot in this entry. The choice to shoot many portions of the film with a variety of setups on iPhone cameras feels like a natural (and equally aesthetically effective) decision and evolution from the first film’s hazy DV video look. As a whole, 28 Years Later proves to be a more-than-worthy return to the franchise, bringing ample new ideas and thrills to the table.