Movies 28 Years Later

[Crazy Jamie]

Just saw this last night. I'm a big fan of 28 Days Later, and whilst 28 Weeks Later clearly isn't as good, it had some good horror moments and the world building was decent, and I enjoyed this too.

Critics seem to really like 28 Years Later, though the audience reaction is really split. I'm quite gutted to say that I'm on the negative side of that line. The general world building is very good again, and the first half or so felt like a good start, but I just feel like it went downhill from there. I felt like the tension disappeared (mainly because the main character received some outstanding plot armour), they tried to introduce too many plot mechanics that didn't really gel together, and I ultimately just couldn't maintain the willing suspension of disbelief (even in a zombie film) that I needed to be convinced by the way in which the story went. And then the ending felt just utterly random to me.

I've just listened to the Weekly Planet review of it and they both loved it. The do acknowledge why others might not, and it does seem the difference is whether or not you were taken in by the way in which the plot went. They liked that it didn't turn into a 'run for your life' sort of horror film, and whilst I don't have an issue in theory with the fact that it wasn't, I didn't think the way that it did go made much sense either (again, for a zombie film).

They've already filmed the sequel and have plans for another one after that, and I'll certainly watch them both. But yeah, disappointed with this one. Happy to go more into spoiler territory if anyone else has seen it.

 

[Excalibur]

Saw this last week. Like you, I love 28 Days Later. I liked the start of 28 Weeks, but I think it lost the plot pretty quickly with too many contrived coincidences and idiot ball behaviors, so while OK it's not my favorite.

28 Years Later ended up being nothing like what I was expecting, and in a good way. I actually have the opposite feeling as you did — I though the first half, while solid, was run of the mill and would've been another solid but unexceptional zombie movie. When the plot changed in the second half, I was actually surprised in a good way. I really enjoyed the way it explored certain themes such as growing up, becoming a man, the expectations put upon us, and most importantly, what sold me on the movie was its exploration of death, most notably the differences in how his father and mother deal with it, plus Spike and the doctor. The movie also set up some interesting questions about the world that I'm curious if the sequels will explore. Especially that weird as fuck ending.

I have my issues with it — I think it's bogged down with some odd scenes and pacing plus a bit of the same plot armor that bugged me about 28 Weeks — but I think this one swung big and was very interesting to think about in the same way the OG 28 Days (still by far the best of the three) did with its third act.

 

[Crazy Jamie]

That's all fine. It's one of those films that seems to really divide opinion, but that also means that I can understand why you liked it even if I didn't.