Salt in Wound

4.5 stars out of 5

28 Days Later came out 23 years ago and all I remember is that it was scary and very good, and also that a couple of years earlier, Sandra Bullock had starred in a movie called 28 Days so that was kind of funny. When I recently learned that director Danny Boyle (not to confuse you, but he also directed 127 Hours) and writer Alex Garland were back for this belated sequel, and knew I could get to the theater in less than 28 minutes, I didn’t waste another second.

The night before, I finally watched 2007’s 28 Weeks Later, written and directed by different guys, though Boyle and Garland were executive producers. It was good! It was scary! And it was not necessary to watch to enjoy 28 Years Later!

For those just tuning in: 28 years ago, a virus spread throughout England, turning people into flesh-craving zombies. In part II, the U.S. military began allowing people back into the evacuated country. Whoops, the virus reappeared. At the end it seemed that the virus had reached mainland Europe, but very early in 28 Years Later, introductory text tells us no, don’t worry about that, it’s only England, we might’ve changed our mind about this next sequel but it’s been 18 years and we’re filmmakers and can do whatever we want.

We meet 12-year-old Spike and his dad and his bedridden, sick mom. They live on an island cut off from modern conveniences but also safe from freaking zombies. Instead of a bar mitzvah, dad takes Spike zombie hunting on the mainland which can be walked to during low tide. The townspeople hail Spike the returning hero but he’s not interested in that. He’s learned of a doctor on the mainland — they don’t have one on the island — and perhaps that doctor can heal his ailing mum.

Newcomer Alfie “What’s It All About” Williams plays Spike, and I’m very judgmental about child actors, but by god he does a real nice job of carrying the film. Alfie has an open, innocent face; he looks and behaves like a real kid. And he’s able to convey fear, bravery, wonder, rage, despair, and love. The doctor is a very surprising-looking Ralph Fiennes and he’s the other really key actor here. The doctor, isolated for a quarter century and surrounded only by death, has gained some hard-won wisdom that he’s able to sweetly pass along to Spike. I did not expect to get choked up by a zombie flick but there’s some real mature emotion delivered.

Don’t fret, there’s also thrilling undead action and scares and a little bit of comedy. With an unexpected ending sequence, I thought to myself “Bravo!” — this is a fully entertaining production. And since learning this is just part one of a trilogy with Boyle and Garland totally in and Cillian “Oppenheimer” Murphy returning from the original movie, I’ll be counting the days till the next installment. I’ll let you know when we get to 28.