I’m so happy to see my review of “28 Years Later” (2025) appear today over at The Piker Press.
Thanks, as always, to Managing Editor Sand Pilarski for allowing me to be a part of this fun creative community!
Tag Archives: 28 years later
A review of “28 Years Later” (2025)
Perhaps predictably, I truly enjoyed “28 Years Later” (2025). It wasn’t a perfect film, but it was damned good; I’d rate it a 9 out of 10 on the Nolan scale. Screenwriter Alex Garland and director Danny Boyle are still the dream team for stylish, breakneck-paced action-horror. (It was their incendiary creative alchemy gave us the classic 2002 original film, “28 Days Later.”)
The movie has beautiful acting across the board, kinetic action sequences, decent makeup effects, convincing sets, a resonant theme and some gorgeous cinematography. (I keep reading that the film was shot with … iPhones? All of it? Really?)
Jodie Comer and Ralph Fiennes absolutely shine; Aaron Taylor-Johnson is also quite good. But I particularly enjoyed the performance of 14-year-old Alfie Williams, whose character’s coming-of-age comprises the human story of the film.
On the downside, “28 Years Later” has some problems with pacing and structure — although things like those are especially subjective, and other viewers will hardly notice.
Several characters make decisions that are … baffling. (Yes, I do realize that Williams’ character is supposed to be 12 years old, and that this is a horror movie. But … seriously, wtf, kiddo?) And there are some larger plot questions that I can’t really expand upon for fear of spoilers.
Finally, an abrupt change of tone at the end of the film left me feeling a little nonplussed. It might make sense in a larger context — the next “28” installment is due out in only six months, and the hard left turn we see in the final moments might be validated where the next movie picks up. For now, though, I have mixed feelings about this ending. (I want to know why a lengthy, somber meditation on mortality should end like a Saturday morning cartoon.)
I cheerfully recommend this! It is obviously not for the faint of heart, but it is highly effective action-horror that still manages to catch the viewer off guard. And Boyle delivers it with oddball, feverish finesse.
There’s another trailer out for “28 Years Later.”
Actually, it’s been out for a while now. It again makes use of Rudyard Kipling’s “Boots.” (I do mean the poem by that title; none of the actors are wearing the man’s actual boots.)
What is that strange poem in the trailer for “28 Years Later” (2025)?
If you’re a horror fan like I am, then you were delighted with the news that Danny Boyle, Alex Garland and even Cillian Murphy have reunited to present the world with “28 Years Later” (2025). And the trailer to which I’ve linked below is the real one. (I positively loathe the abundance of fake movie trailers to be found online — especially when their incorporation of AI makes them seem authentic.)
The creepy military cadence that you hear in the background, I have come to learn, is Rudyard Kipling’s 1903 poem, “Boots.” I pasted it below for your perusal.
Postscript — am I an OCD psycho if it annoys me that we didn’t get a “28 Months Later” before a “28 Years Later,” just for consistency? There were one or two fan films that appropriated the title. Maybe we could collectively vote to simply decide that at least one is canon?
“Boots,” by Rudyard Kipling
We’re foot—slog—slog—slog—sloggin’ over Africa —
Foot—foot—foot—foot—sloggin’ over Africa —
(Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin’ up an’ down again!)
There’s no discharge in the war!
Seven—six—eleven—five—nine-an’-twenty mile to-day —
Four—eleven—seventeen—thirty-two the day before —
(Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin’ up an’ down again!)
There’s no discharge in the war!
Don’t—don’t—don’t—don’t—look at what’s in front of you.
(Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin’ up an’ down again);
Men—men—men—men—men go mad with watchin’ em,
An’ there’s no discharge in the war!
Try—try—try—try—to think o’ something different —
Oh—my—God—keep—me from goin’ lunatic!
(Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin’ up an’ down again!)
There’s no discharge in the war!
Count—count—count—count—the bullets in the bandoliers.
If—your—eyes—drop—they will get atop o’ you!
(Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin’ up an’ down again) —
There’s no discharge in the war!
We—can—stick—out—’unger, thirst, an’ weariness,
But—not—not—not—not the chronic sight of ’em —
Boot—boots—boots—boots—movin’ up an’ down again,
An’ there’s no discharge in the war!
‘Taint—so—bad—by—day because o’ company,
But night—brings—long—strings—o’ forty thousand million
Boots—boots—boots—boots—movin’ up an’ down again.
There’s no discharge in the war!
I—’ave—marched—six—weeks in ‘Ell an’ certify
It—is—not—fire—devils, dark, or anything,
But boots—boots—boots—boots—movin’ up an’ down again,
An’ there’s no discharge in the war!
Eric Robert Nolan, Author 