Review: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

By Kip Mooney • On • In Featured, Reviews Featured, Reviews Comments Off on Review: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple

Score: B+

Director: Nia DaCosta

Cast: Jack O'Connell, Ralph Fiennes, Alfie Williams, Chi Lewis-Parry

Running Time: 109 Minutes

Rated: R

At times horrifying and at times quite goofy, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a direct sequel that won't work for everyone. But it proves this is one of the most reliable – and malleable – franchises going.

Picking up shortly after the events of last year's film, Spike (Alfie Williams) has reluctantly joined a bloodthirsty cult led by Sir Lord Jimmy (Jack O'Connell, radiating charisma and malevolence just as well as he did in Sinners). Though he's grateful for their protection, he literally can't stomach their sadistic rituals and wonton cruelty. He's in danger from both the infected and the survivors.

But the film spends a nearly equal amount of time with Dr. Ian Kelson (Ralph Fiennes), who guided Spike through a difficult loss in the previous film. Though Kelson continues to build his bone temple and live his isolated existence, he also begins conducting risky experiments on Samson (Chi Lewis-Parry), the towering "alpha" who can rip out spines like a straw through paper. He uses his medical knowledge, wits, and gentle demeanor in an attempt to find a cure for the infection. Yes, this even includes dancing to Duran Duran.

The Bone Temple's many diegetic music cues may take some audience members out from an otherwise deathly serious film. But credit to Nia DaCosta, no longer a victim of studio interference, who manages to make all this work together. When the Jimmys and Kelson finally meet, it's a collision of silly and scary that shouldn't work. But it's truly an incredible scene.

While I was initially a little mixed on Danny Boyle's 28 Years Later, I've come to appreciate that film's technical innovation and profane poetry a lot more. This entry isn't quite so ambitious, yet it's oddly more hopeful. This may be the single most violent mainstream film outside the Saw franchise, yet the series continues to believe in the goodness of humanity. You'll experience some of the depravity of mankind, as well as a lot of the decency.

28 Years Later: The Bone Temple continues the series' terrifying scenes and profound discussions on what makes us human. If you can handle the gore, you'll be rewarded with another brilliantly made survival thriller.

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About Kip Mooney

Like many film critics born during and after the 1980s, my hero is Roger Ebert. The man was already the best critic in the nation when he won the Pulitzer in 1975, but his indomitable spirit during and after his recent battle with cancer keeps me coming back to read not only his reviews but his insightful commentary on the everyday. But enough about a guy you know a lot about. I knew I was going to be a film critic—some would say a snob—in middle school, when I had to voraciously defend my position that The Royal Tenenbaums was only a million times better than Adam Sandler’s remake of Mr. Deeds. From then on, I would seek out Wes Anderson’s films and avoid Sandler’s like the plague. Still, I like to think of myself as a populist, and I’ll be just as likely to see the next superhero movie as the next Sundance sensation. The thing I most deplore in a movie is laziness. I’d much rather see movies with big ambitions try and fail than movies with no ambitions succeed at simply existing. I’m also a big advocate of fun-bad movies like The Room and most of Nicolas Cage’s work. In the past, I’ve written for The Dallas Morning News and the North Texas Daily, which I edited for a semester. I also contributed to Dallas-based Pegasus News, which in the circle of life, is now part of The Dallas Morning News, where I got my big break in 2007. Eventually, I’d love to write and talk about film full-time, but until that’s a viable career option, I work as an auditor for Wells Fargo. I hope to one day meet my hero, go to the Toronto International Film Festival, and compete on Jeopardy. Until then, I’m excited to share my love of film with you.