Movie Review: 28 Years Later (2025)
Synopsis: Twenty-eight years after the Rage virus was released, the world has it contained to the British Isles, which are under quarantine with the remaining survivors cut off to from the outside world. Twelve-year-old Spike is one of those survivors and as a rite of passage, is taken into the wilderness by his father to learn how to kill the infected. When Spike learns a doctor lives in isolation among the infected, he takes his mother, stricken with an unknown illness, back into danger to try to get her help. Along the way, they end up with a newborn that was birthed by one of the infected but appears perfectly healthy.
Who's in it? The movie stars Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Ralph Fiennes and Chi Lewis-Parry.
Review: I'm not going to lie, even after trying to give 28 Days Later another chance, I just wasn't a big fan of that film. I didn't hate it, I just thought it wasn't as good as so many other zombie-themed movies and the sequel 28 Weeks Later didn't change my mind. Despite that, when I came across 28 Years Later on Netflix, I decided to give it a chance. Sadly, my opinion of the franchise remained the same and, in some ways, even worse.
My biggest problem with this movie is the same one I have with the rest of the films from this franchise; it was very dull. As I told my wife, for an island that is supposed to be overrun by Rage-infected monsters, there seemed to be very few Rage-infected monsters. It sincerely made me wonder why they bothered quarantining the British Isles when a well-planned military operation probably could have just eradicated the few remaining people with the virus.
This film also left me with oh so many unanswered questions. For one, why was nearly every single Rage victim naked? It was starting to feel like I was watching a very bad porn film. And, before you try to tell me it was for realism, they were well-groomed naked zombies.
The biggest question though was the whole pregnant Rage victim and her uninfected child. Was she pregnant before she was infected or do the Rage victims breed? If it's the latter, was Samson (Lewis-Parry) the father?
Ultimately, the answers to those questions don't matter. This is the type of film that shouldn't have me asking them in the first place and, had there been more action, I probably wouldn't have cared as much.
Oh, and don't even get me started about the unsatisfying way this movie ended, which was 100 percent about setting up a sequel rather than providing even a hint of closure after Spike's (Williams) journey ended in the most pointless way possible. I'm sorry, but that sequel is one I likely won't even bother watching as a result.
Final Opinion: I know this franchise has fans, which is why they revived it after a long absence. However, I just don't see what's so great about it and this movie didn't change that.
My Grade: D
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Here are some reviews of other zombie movies:
Movie Review: Day of the Dead: Bloodline (2018)
Movie Review: Zombie Hunter (2013)
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