28 Years Later

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123573446#Comment_123573446

Ireland was grand until the DUP demanded NI be treated the same as the rest of the UK!

speedboatchase

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123572411#Comment_123572411

I haven't seen the original. I was enthralled for the first half - absolutely nail-biting, exceptional film-making. It then became much more of a drama but I was still engaged. The ending is where it lost me but it was still a great cinema experience.

Dial Hard

Someone complained earlier about how stupid it was that the Alphas are having (uninfected) babies. I have a couple of thoughts about this, the first of which is that we need to remember that these aren't actually zombies in the technical sense - they're living, breathing human beings who are infected with a virus, so being able to get pregnant and carry it to term isn't as ridiculous as it might initially seem.

As for the babies being uninfected, my take on it is that as Rage is generally acquired, it's not without the realms of possibility that uninfected children can be born to infected parents. The mother could already have been pregnant when she was bitten, or it could just be that the placenta acts as a barrier, as Kelson theorised.

My theory about the babies is that the Alphas either deliberately infect them, or the virus is latent until, say, puberty, and then gets activated. In which case the Islanders are in for a nasty shock in a few years when Isla is a bit older.

All just speculation, obvs.

Sudden Valley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123574006#Comment_123574006

There is also the possibility that it was a late stage uninfected pregnant woman that was then infected. The giving birth scene did seem a bit odd, as was the alphas reaction after, but I guess the virus could be developing to allow the infected higher brain capacity. There was no scene to suggest that infected were now having sex or anything even close to having relations with each other

Dogsdodogsstuff

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123574006#Comment_123574006

I guess it takes a bit of time to get used to the idea of the infected sort of having a sort of tribe outside of infect the nearest person to you.

It actually makes biological sense that the virus would mutate to survive and have more opportunities to infect more. Trojan horse babies definitely makes sense. Biologically, sex is about reproduction so the virus piggy backing that is a no brainer.

You could imagine a movie where people went back thousands of years and met cavemen, might have a similar sort of feel.

Shred

Just back from it:

Loved it, the 2 hours flew by.

Alfie Williams is a cracking actor.

Notable mentions to Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes who were all excellent too.

The ending was nuts and out of step with what came before. But I'm happy to wait and see what that leads to in the next one before making a judgement. Looking forward to it too!

Dial Hard

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123574026#Comment_123574026

I did say in my post that an already pregnant woman could have been infected...

Bogey Lowenstein

I haven't seen it yet but from reading the thread and the train door posts I wonder if they are setting it up like Day of The Living Dead where Bud the zombie started to regain some human traits and old memories and maybe they will lean more into that in the next film.

Lecter8319

didn’t do it for me, had so much potential which was completely wasted. Absolute dogshit is the correct description.

The father going off shagging around with his sick wife at home didn’t seem realistic to me, then the little boy suddenly becoming an expert marksman towards the end, bunch of contrived nonsense.

Danny Boyle has gone off the rails

Banjaxed82

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123574580#Comment_123574580

Wasn't the dad shagging around one of the more realistic aspects? His wife has been physically and emotionally unavailable for however long. Not getting into the morals of it but it's a story point that actually makes sense. The fact that he's an alpha male type and a bellend too sells it for me.

Lecter8319

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123574598#Comment_123574598

Not in my opinion, especially in small closed off community like that, word would have gotten around easily of what he was up to. Thought Boyle might have created a character with a little more cop on that than.

Beechwoodspark

Big fan of the original “28 Days Later” so was really looking forward to this - trailer looked amazing, the press quotes shaping up all good - went to see it yesterday having kept away from reviews and spoilers.

Couldn’t wait to see what Alex Garland and Danny Boyle would dream up to show the world 28 years after the rage virus started ….

ABSOLUTE RUBBISH

Plot lines all over the place, silly characters arcs like Spike somehow becoming a master hunter after about half an hour, the “big swingin’ Mickey” alpha and the birth story -ffs. Give me a break.

A mixture of boredom and frustration with how sh1t is is for major parts of it.

Then to top it off the Poundland power rangers led by a young Jimmy Savile appear to do a “britains got talent” style acrobatic display …. WTFFFFFFF?!?

The film is a prime example of a director absolutely ruining the legacy of a classic original film.

I have no interest in seeing anything further from this “world”.

The only 1 who salvaged some honour from it is Fiennes and even that “mad doctor” character is beyond cliche.

0.5/10.

KillerShamrock

Didn't love it but didn't hate it the last 3rd was basically a different movie. Nothing wrong with it but felt different from the rest. Acting was good Alfie was great.

Ending was stupid imo.

Haven't seen anyone address it here, but I thought the filmed on iPhone part ruined it. the quality was poor it looks like it was filmed on a phone the focus was crap and the depth of field just the quality in general I hope it's not gonna become a thing in the future, I know the sequel will be though. The arrow bullet didn't do anything for me at all either

johnny_ultimate

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123574614#Comment_123574614

I actually thought Fiennes’ character was a welcome swerve away from the ‘mad doctor’ cliche. He had been driven mad for sure, but I for one was wholly expecting a malevolent turn that intriguingly never arrived.

Fysh

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123574959#Comment_123574959

Yeah, admittedly part of it is that Fiennes reading the flyer for your local takeaway would still be engrossing but even so - there was a lot more melancholic empathy to the character than I expected; contrasting the islander's retreat and attempt to protect a small, sad fragment of their former way of life with an acceptance of the cataclysmic change that has come about.

It's not subtle in terms of theme or how it fits in plot terms, but at the character level it's very well done (and tbh it's a credit to the film that even with daftness like the alphas running rampant the characters are all believable as individuals).

seanin4711

5/10 movie at a stretch.

disappointing- great up to the half way point then garland must have let an intern write the rest.

BuffaloTengo

Saw it last week and it’s still in my head so that is a good sign.

I really loved almost everything in this.

The energy of the filmmaking reminded me of the Boyle films from mid 90’s to about 2010 when it seemed every 2nd year Boyle was releasing a great film.

The world building was interesting, how the infected have evolved and we see different types in this film.

Loved the setting and the acting was all top notch, even got a brilliant performance out of the kid, and we have all seen terrible child actors lets face it

The ending worked for me, got a real buzz out of it and can’t wait for the 2nd part of the trilogy (with big reservations over the choice of director though)

Beechwoodspark

can I just ask what was the buzz you got out of the last 5 mins or so?

Tinter Box

I also enjoyed the end sequence. Completely out of whack with the earlier parts of the movie but will be interested to see how this group came to that point.

Banjaxed82

I think people are getting a little worked up about the ending. Yes, it's bananas, but this isn't a stand alone film that dropped this mad ending then said cheerio. It will be explained (whether to one's satisfaction or not). I think the time to criticise the ending is based on seeing the next one, when we actually have context.

BuffaloTengo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123576710#Comment_123576710

just that it came out of nowhere, totally different tone to the rest of the film.

Made me laugh and good set up for the next film. Yeah I was buzzing coming out of the cinema

Tony EH

Thought this was one of the dumbest movies I've seen in a long time. Every character does stupid things just to move the plot along and some scenes are just flat out awful.

Spoiler Warning

From the father bringing his 12 year old to one of the most dangerous places imaginable, to the mother with cancer who didn't bother telling anyone that she thought she had cancer, to the same kid bringing her to the most dangerous place imaginable to see a "doctor", to the infected having a baby that somehow wasn't infected, to the computer game "alpha" infected (ugh), and that ending. Also, Ralph Finnes character is remarkably left alone for decades on an island that's full of infected people?

Another issue is how are the infected surviving for so long? They're shown drinking water and attacking deer. But humans can't survive on raw meat. It seems like the writers forgot the message that '28 Days Later' gave us. That the infected will starve because they don't eat and that while they're mindless infected automatons that are consumed with a desire to kill everything, they're still human.

So, so, badly written that I was genuinely surprised at how bad it was.

The thing is, '28 Years Later' could have been a really great film. Truly flabbergasted at the positive write ups that it's getting.

Like '28 Weeks Later' the only truly good scene in the film was the opening, until that "judgement day" nonsense.

As an aside, the presentation in the IFI was terrible. The movie was in the wrong aspect ratio and it was projected at an angle! There was also a green light shone onto the screen from an exit sign. For 14 bloody Euros a ticket? It might be a long time before I head back there to see a film.

michael-henry-mcivor

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123577077#Comment_123577077

If someone needs to explain-

It's not worth listening to-

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123573945#Comment_123573945

While I though 28 Years was rubbish, the original is a very good horror movie that makes sense on its own terms. One caveat though, if you do sit down to watch it, don't be expecting high class film production values. It was shot on a potato and it looks dreadful.

Fysh

(Deleted because I forgot boards is shite on mobile if you need quote or spoiler text)

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123573446#Comment_123573446

Being not infected just felt unBritish to the DUP 😂

I enjoyed in the sense that it flew by and like most said it looked great. That bridge scene was great and I love that Fiennes was not panto evil.

But the very alpha willy wavey zombie was a bit slapstick Troma movie and the parkour nonce cult ruined the emotional ending. It was like a live action manga.

It's gonna take some serious skill to explain both where those kids got those tracksuits and what the baby is all about.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123574026#Comment_123574026

I thought they were making it pretty clear that the baby belongs to zombie Ron Jeremy.

ancapailldorcha

I really liked Fiennes character as well. Clearly built up to be a dangerous madman but actually almost the opposite.

The cancer thing I put down to her not wanting to face it and the husband knowing but keeping it to himself. I didn't have any real problem with the film save for the ending.

breezy1985

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123579590#Comment_123579590

Only thing about Fiennes is no matter how many times I Google it I can't not see him as the army leader in 28 Days. I know the internet says its Eccleston but Fiennes is fused into my brain.

Tony EH

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/123579590#Comment_123579590

Fiennes' character is…um…fine, but that's only because he's a great actor and can a make a role his. The problem is the issue with him living on the mainland where the majority of the population has become infected, yet he lives in an open field and is apparently not bothered by them for 2 decades? In fact he knows one of the "alphas" (again, ugh) for 3 years but hasn't put him down yet, despite the fact that he can neutralise them fairly easily? That's just bloody stupid considering how dangerous the film's story has made them out to be. It's simply bad writing.

Likewise Jody Comer is a great actress and she tackles her role with gusto. But the idea that she wouldn't have told her closest ones that maybe, just maybe, she had cancer (there's lumps on her breasts) is dumb. Just dumb.

There's another issue that I thought of today. The British isles are totally quarantined, so there would have been regular reconnaissance around them from the Scandinavians, the French, the Germans, etc, Europe…where the infection has been "beaten back", to quote the film. But nobody had made any attempt to get those people off of Holy Island? What?

It's a terribly written story.