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NEW YORK (OSV News) – The dramatic potential inherent in zombie movies has made them a Hollywood staple for decades. Thrill as the walking corpses slay some humans and turn others into creatures like themselves! Watch as all humanity edges toward the brink of apocalypse only to save itself by slaughtering wave after wave of predators!
It’s a wonderfully simple recipe for getting a rise out of an audience. And the last thing it needs is an overlay of specious philosophy or the introduction of questionable moral posturing. So it’s unfortunate that, as written by Alex Garland and directed by Danny Boyle, the horror film “28 Years Later” (Sony) comes burdened by a misguided outlook on death and killing.
This third picture in a franchise that began in 2002 is structured as a coming-of-age tale about a 12-year-old lad named Spike (Alfie Williams). Spike initially lives with his parents, Isla and Jamie (Jodie Comer and Aaron Taylor-Johnson), in the relative safety of a fortified English village.
Jamie has taught Spike how to use a bow and arrow to hunt for the sometimes-naked zombies who prowl outside this snug environment. But Spike subsequently sees Jamie cheating on Isla, which destroys their relationship.
To add to Spike’s woes, Isla is suffering from cancer. So he undertakes a perilous quest into the outer regions, searching for a treatment, with Isla in tow.
Along the way, they encounter a zombie woman giving birth to a non-infected infant, which leads to some discussion about how that biological wonder occurs. Eventually, they end up in the lair of Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) who, like the inhabitants of Spike and Isla’s home community, has managed to keep the zombies at bay.
It’s in the interaction between Kelson and Isla that the script goes adrift ethically. While the fictional situation may be far removed from reality, this plot development remains not only wrongheaded but unacceptable from a Christian perspective.
Boyle and Garland build up the splatter factor almost as an afterthought. They succeed in finding a variety of spectacular ways to destroy zombies, including immolation at a gas station.
On the plus side, the screenplay questions all manner of human smugness in a dystopian world in which only the most nimble survive. But the “gentle” doctor’s death fixation pushes the story into strangely ugly fatalistic thinking, making this journey into a grim future a trip on which thoughtful moviegoers will not want to embark.
The film contains skewed values, pervasive gory violence, full nudity in a nonsexual context, a couple of profanities and frequent rough language. The OSV News classification is O – morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R — restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.
Kurt Jensen is a guest reviewer for OSV News.
