28 Years Later

I strongly feel like we were punked, and this was not the real film because I was expecting so much more than what I watched. However, I will say that the beginning started off great, but not with the intensity of the first two films. Then the follow up gave the film high hopes, but instantly came crashing down. Do not enter the theater thinking that you are about to watch a 28 days later trilogy because I don't know what the overarching message was behind what I just watched.

Nevertheless, fans of this genre will find some way to appreciate a different direction in which this film tries to take, but I sincerely think he should have stuck with the formula that made the prior two films cult classics.

I truly don't think this is the story the writers wanted to tell. Something interfered or tampered, perhaps the studio executives forcing it to be a trilogy. I think this was originally intended to be one story but the writer and director were forced to change it. While the first act was strong, the second and third act just felt odd, both rushed and stretched out at the same time. The characters just make weird, fruitless decisions. A plot device happens in the third act that is completely pointless and adds nothing to the depth of the story, and for what the previous installments were there isn't really a climax. At some points I felt like I was watching the Walking Dead where the infected are secondary to the plot. Idk, I just hope Cillian can redeem the series in the next entry.

As a huge fan of the first 2 films, it's pains me to say it but I found this really disappointing.

Should have guessed from the 15 certificate that it would lack the horror and the edge of the earlier films. I don't want to spoil the plot but there are 2 or 3 plot lines that really don't make sense. The ending I felt was particularly bad.

I get that the story is a very blunt metaphor for Brexit and the theme of rebirth (literally in one case) is very clear but just didn't gel or work as a story for me.

If you are looking for a continuance of the earlier, darker, scarier films I fear you may also leave the cinema disappointed.

This one will really divide the audience. Some will relish the stress inducing horror of the trip to the mainland, others will wonder if Alex Garland suffered a brain hemorrhage while he was writing the screenplay.

It looks pretty fantastic (strangely the colouring reminded me of Garland's Men) and, contrary to what a lot of reviews claim, the acting is solid, particularly from Jodie Comer and Alfie Williams. The mixing in of archive clips isn't a particularly groundbreaking move, but it's effective.

It's hard to define exactly what subgengre this film belongs to, but there are strong folk horror vibes throughout, and that plays well with the satirical edge to the film (what is it about zombie movies and satire?). As a political statement about 21st century British decline it isn't as over egged as I feared it might be- it's subtle to the point where I wonder whether it can be fully appreciated viewers who aren't familiar with our strange little island.

It's easily as tense and bloody as the other two films (although this one is rated 15 which shows you how times have changed). There are some genuinely tense moments throughout.

The ending. All I'll say is that however you imagine the last 5 minutes will go, you're wrong. If this is to be the first part of a trilogy, it's going to get batshit crazy (although again, anyone not familiar with British pop culture will not appreciate quite how bizarre the ending is).

I went into 28 Years Later genuinely looking forward to it, especially after hearing some of the glowing reviews. There were certainly flashes of what made the original films so memorable - a few tense, edge-of-your-seat moments and some solid action sequences. But as a whole, I found the story disappointingly uneven. The narrative felt clunky and at times weighed down by overly sentimental scenes that didn't quite land emotionally. It seemed unsure of what it wanted to be, and by the final act, it became clear that the film was less about telling a complete story and more about setting up whatever comes next. That left me feeling a bit short-changed. It's not without its strengths, but for a film I had high hopes for, it just didn't deliver.