Fans of 28 Years Later won't have to wait long to see more zombie- and human-inflicted carnage. A direct sequel – subtitled The Bone Temple – arrives early next year, and there's already a trailer.
Directed by Nia DaCosta (the Candyman reboot), this entry will pick up right where the last film left off. Spike (Alfie Williams) is still exploring the world of the infected mainland, and encounters a cult led by Sir Jimmy (Jack O'Connell). It's a safe bet that this band of humans may be even more dangerous than the ravenous undead. Ralph Fiennes, easily the best part of this year's entry, returns as Dr. Ian Kelson, who has survived in this world with his medical knowledge and distrubing rituals.
The trailer for this isn't quite as effective as that first teaser for 28 Years Later, which used a haunting recording of the Rudyard Kipling poem "Boots." But this definitely has similar vibes, using an eerie excerpt of a speech from sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke (2001: A Space Odyssey). It's still quite unsettling.
28 Years Later: The Bone Temple opens in theaters on January 16.
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.
