Club Benefits
- Rating: 4.5/5 stars
- Verdict: "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" is a rare sequel that surpasses the original. By trading the "sluggish" build-up of the previous chapter for relentless horror, it becomes the new gold standard for the franchise.
Coming out of the theater after watching "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple," I felt vindicated. Not even a year ago, I came out of a different theater, having just seen “28 Years Later," and I felt a bit underwhelmed. The movie was undeniably beautifully shot, and a clear cut above the forgettable "28 Weeks Later." But it felt almost ... sluggish at times. Like we were merely waiting for the propulsive moment of the story to happen, and it wasn't meant to come just yet.
It's also — and I can't believe I'm saying this — the best movie in the franchise. Yes, even better than "28 Days Later."
Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022, and owns a Japanese Blu-ray of "28 Days Later" because physical media is awesome.
This movie is '28 Days Later' cranked up to 11
Now, before you run at me fueled by the Rage virus, there are still some things I prefer about "28 Days Later." Aesthetically, it's the superior film. It feels distinctly like a horror movie thanks to its use of Canon XL1 digital video cameras and its mere $8 million budget. Objectively, the video quality is terrible, but subjectively, it's perfect.
By comparison, the $63 million "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" is visually polished. It looks more like a big-budget action movie than its post-apocalyptic horror predecessor. Again, it's far superior in terms of objective video quality, but subjectively, it takes away some of what made the first movie special.
However, while the bigger budget creates a more polished look, it also creates a more polished story, and allows writer Alex Garland to give director Nia DaCosta material to work with that he could have only dreamed of when making "28 Days Later." The movie's climactic sequence is something that could never have been achieved in the original film.
I'm not going to spoil that scene for you, but it could (and should) be enough to earn Ralph Fiennes an Oscar nomination for Best Actor at next year's Academy Awards. I love "28 Days Later," but I could never imagine it would spawn a movie that would have me think of Oscar gold.
It's not the only award-worthy performance in "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple," either. While Fiennes steals the show, reprising his role as Dr. Ian Kelson from "28 Years Later," Jack O'Connell is disturbing as Sir Jimmy Crystal. He and his satanic cult of Jimmys are the true horror of this movie, and their brand of evil is as terrifying as any jump scare.
Again, this is somewhere where "The Bone Temple" surpasses "28 Days Later." I happen to really like Christopher Eccleston, but his brand of evil in the first movie is tame compared to Sir Jimmy's disturbing acts of "charity."
It's clear that "28 Days Later" walked so that this movie could full-on sprint. From a storytelling perspective, it feels like Garland is at the top of his game, and DaCosta's execution is borderline flawless. The performances are a cut above what anyone could have imagined for this initially low-budget horror flick. Visually, it's finally getting the production values that the franchise deserves, even if I still prefer the almost DIY aesthetic of the original film.
I know there's still another chapter to come, and based on how this movie ends, it could be a stunning finale for the story that started back in 2002. But despite not being the end, "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" feels like the culmination of decades of love and hard work brought to life on the silver screen. That combination has produced something truly incredible and makes it the best movie in the franchise to date.
"28 Years Later: The Bone Palace" final rating (out of five): ★★★★1/2
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