Movie Review - 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE

Last summer, Director Danny Boyle and Screenwriter Alex Garland returned to the world that they created in 2002 with 28 DAYS LATER with the 3rd in the “rage viruse” series, 28 YEARS LATER. They hinted that this film was going to be the first in a new trilogy and with 28 YEARS LATER: THE BONE TEMPLE, the series has already come out with the middle chapter of the trilogy.

Focusing on the most interesting character in the 28 YEARS LATER film, Dr. Kelson (played by Ralph Fiennes), THE BONE TEMPLE digs deeper into his character, his attempts at understanding the rage virus and to deal with an unhinged cadre of survivors…and it works fairly well (whenever he is on the screen). The film, unfortunately, falls apart when he is NOT on the screen.

That is thanks, of course, to Fiennes portrayal of Dr. Kelton who shows a depth of knowledge and compassion under a veneer of bizarre and crazy that just might be his defense mechanism. It’s a powerhouse performance by Fiennes and this performance in and of itself is worth the price of admission to this film.

Which is good, for the rest of the film is somewhat bland and boring, including (most disappointingly) the unhinged cadre of survivors led by Jack O’Connell (UNBROKEN).

One has to wonder how long writer Garland had this new trilogy in his mind and how much time he took to write the unique and interesting screenplay that is the first 28 YEARS LATER film. It looks like he might have rushed the 2nd screenplay a bit, for once one looks through the lens of the infected, you find that there is not much there - besides Fiennes performance.

Boyle turned the reigns of this franchise over to director Nia DeCosta (THE MARVELS) and she doesn’t bring a unique visual style to this film that elevates it above the norm. Her direction and pacing of the film is professional and workmanlike, but not much more.

The film does set up the 3rd film of the trilogy at the end and the promise of what is to come does create an urge to see what’s next - but that might be because one doesn’t really want/need to stay with this, the weakest of all the “rage virus” films.

Letter Grade: B- (It’s only being rated this high because of Fiennes performance).

6 stars (out of 10) and you can take that to the Bank(ofMarquis)