28 Years Later's incredible Rotten Tomatoes score confirmed
The new film in the zombie franchise is going down a treat with critics so far...
Fans have had to wait a long time for a new entry in the 28 Days Later franchise – but by the looks of early reviews for new film 28 Years Later, it's been very much worth the wait.
The latest instalment – which sees director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland reunite 23 years after they teamed up on the first film in the series – is currently sitting on a hugely impressive score of 95 per cent on reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes after 93 reviews, which indicates close to universal acclaim.
Meanwhile, on Metacritic – which assigns an average rating derived from critics' scores out of 100 – the film is sitting on a score of 78 based on 31 reviews.
As a point of comparison, the original 2002 film sits at 87 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes (from 235 reviews) and 73 on Metacritic (from 39 reviews), while the 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later gets 72 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes (from 196 reviews) and 78 on Metacritic (from 34 reviews).
Our own RadioTimes.com review of 28 Years Later awarded it three stars, calling it "a more reflective, human story that puts the franchise back on track" despite a few minor quibbles.
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We added that the film doesn't fail to "satisfy the appetites of fans who may have climbed aboard primarily for the frights and gore", praising the manner in which the violence is "suitably, shockingly, deftly choreographed".
As the title suggests, 28 Years Later is set almost three decades after the events of the initial outbreak of the rage virus that was explored in the first film, and stars an all-new cast including Jodie Comer, Ralph Fiennes and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
That trio are joined by relative newcomer Alfie Williams, who plays a young boy named Spike living on the small Northumbrian island of Lindisfarne – aka Holy Island – which is connected to the mainland by a single causeway and is home to a close-knit community that has rebuilt a working society away from the infected.
The film follows events after Alfie is taken to the mainland for the first time by his father (Taylor-Johnson) for a ritualistic hunt, before he decides to venture back with his sick mother (Comer) after becoming convinced that a reclusive doctor (Fiennes) may be able to cure her.
The film is billed as the first part of a new trilogy, the second part of which has already been shot, but the third entry has not yet been officially greenlit. If audience enthusiasm matches these early reviews, we imagine it's only a matter of time...
28 Years Later is now showing in UK cinemas.
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Authors
Patrick Cremona is the Senior Film Writer at Radio Times, and looks after all the latest film releases both in cinemas and on streaming. He has been with the website since October 2019, and in that time has interviewed a host of big name stars and reviewed a diverse range of movies.
