28 Years Later

Tropic Sprockets by Ian Brockway

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“28 Years Later” is the second sequel from the dystopian franchise centering on the day-to-day struggles of a zombie pandemic. Though the blood and gore is sick-making and not for all, the film is lifted from the pulp genre by the strength of its performances and its haunting and contrasting images which speak of the sublime. 

It is 28 years since the initial zombie virus hit the Scottish Highlands, and small communities are huddled together. Spike (Alfie Williams) lives with his father (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and his ill mother (Jodie Comer). It is time for Spike to become an adult and be self-sufficient during a time of crisis and he voyages out to the mainland with his father.

Numerous dirty, blood-soaked creatures of the dead attack them. Spike learns the best way to fend for himself aiming for the neck using a bow and arrow. Blood gushes forth. There is even projectile vomiting of blood.

While this is too much, there are beautiful shots of a towering skull monument against a vast blue sky. Rolling fields of verdant green play host to multitudes of the Undead who gambol over the vast emerald spaces like unhinged Pinocchios. Footballers mad and spastic engage in a Berserker game of chaos with no goal except for kicking a dismembered head and spinal column.

After being horrified by his father’s toxicity and ego, Spike takes his mother on the road in the hopes of healing her through a doctor.

A blond and blue-eyed NATO soldier (Edvin Ryding) attempts a rescue, but after some necessary saving, he grows distant and self-centered.

Ralph Fiennes gives a striking singular performance as an eerie faith healer, one half shaman, one half cynical Saint. As Doctor Kelson, Fiennes struts about on pale legs as his bloodshot eyes bore and burn—a Doomsday rooster.

While it is true that the tense story depends on loud percussions accompanying every jump scare, the initial Orwellian voiceovers specifying instructions for survival will send shivers to your limbic system. Not to mention the monochrome newsreel footage presented to look like marches during the Nazi regime. This chapter makes a solid and entertaining addition to the franchise.

Write Ian at ianfree11@yahoo.com