It’s disappointing, but unsurprising, that director Danny Boyle has been somewhat inconsistent on whether his new film 28 Years Later is solely a direct follow-up to his 2002 zombie classic 28 Days Later or will acknowledge the events of 2007’s 28 Weeks Later. Even his recent assurances sound a bit dismissive. Maybe director and co-writer Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s sequel hasn’t been entirely excised from the franchise, but it’s clearly been pushed to the margins. By downplaying 28 Weeks Later, though, Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland are losing a perfect narrative bridge between their original film and the upcoming sequel trilogy.
While 28 Days Later drops its protagonist, Jim (Cillian Murphy), directly into the height of a zombie outbreak, 28 Weeks Later takes a wider view, with a bracing and grim vision of the messy business of post-apocalyptic rebuilding. It’s bleaker and more cynical than its already bleak and cynical predecessor, with equally strong performances (including from future stars like Rose Byrne and Jeremy Renner).
