28 Years Later: The Bone Temple is a direct follow-up to last summer’s 28 Years Later. This franchise is proving to have more and more intriguing possibilities about where it should go, and I’m liking where it might be headed.
Fans of the previous installments are in for a sequel that doubles down on the amount of gore and violence in some brutal sequences that are often creative, as well as some surprisingly thoughtful moments and well-acted performances from its cast.
Ralph Fiennes returns from 28 Years as Dr. Ian Kelson, who still takes care of his Bone Temple as a memorial for those who died in the apocalypse. The structures are nothing but human bones. He befriends a mutated zombie whom he names Samson because Samson is influenced by the effects of his blowpipe. Samson gradually feels the need to no longer attack Kelson, and Kelson tries to figure out a cure that can hopefully reverse the process.
Jack O’Connell plays Sir Lord Jimmy Crystal, the leader of a demonic cult full of children known as the Fingers, and their latest recruit is a kid named Spike (Alfie Williams) who is virtually reluctant to have anything to do with the Fingers. Crystal renames Spike “Jimmy” as he does with the other members.
The movie follows separate storylines that inevitably interconnect: The Fingers terrorize pretty much anyone who gets in their way, and Kelson continues his research for a cure to the virus.
Director Nia DaCosta takes over the reins for the sequel from Danny Boyle, and her style and approach stay true to the spirit of its predecessors as it combines a genuinely dreadful atmosphere with the occasional sequences of over-the-top lunacy to give it the edge we’ve come to expect.
Fiennes delivers another solid performance as Kelson, who hasn’t lost hope of creating his cure. The moments between him and Samson are effective because the movie gives those scenes time to breathe rather than be about gratuitous violence.
There’s also a sense of faith vs. science when Kelson and Crystal debate their radical spiritual ideas, but it never hits the audience over the head. Fiennes and O’Connell get some terrific scenes together.
The Bone Temple has moments of innovation and possibilities for where the story may go next. I think fans will appreciate what’s in store for them. It may not make any new converts, but there are plenty of thrills, brilliance, and absurdity at its core.
Grade: A-
(Rated R for strong bloody violence, gore, graphic nudity, language throughout, and brief drug use.)
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