Fabulous Film & Friends
A podcast for the true cineaste. This podcast examines the impact great or memorable films have on us both personally and culturally. If you've ever bonded with someone or joined a lively discussion circle based on your love of cinema, this is the podcast for you.
Fabulous Film & Friends
Ep. # 108 - A LOAD OF of BOYLE BOLLOCKS! The 28 Days Later Trilogy
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This week, on our 108th episode of Fabulous Film & Friends we’re looking at Danny Boyle’s 2025 summer entry 28 Years Later as well as the two other films that led up to it, 2002’s 28 Days Later and 2007’s 28 Weeks Later. Mr. Boyle directed the segments one and three, and the second entry was directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, The stars of the first movie were Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, Brendan Gleason, Megan Burns and Christopher Eccelson. The second movie was a regular who’s who of up-and-comers from 2007: Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne, Imogen Poots, Idris Elba, Harold Perrineau with veteran support from Catherine McCormack and Robert Carlysle while the 3rd film is a mix of old pro and newcomers with Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Jodie Comer, Jack O’Connell and Ralph Fiennes as supporting players to fresh faced star of the tomorrow Alfie Williams!
My solitary guest this week is the mighty Joe Field, author, teacher and pop culture enthusiast.
The 28 Days Later trilogy’s story unfolds as follows:
Zombies Zombies and more Zombies!
The first movie tracks the origin of a primate based virus and how it decimates England and turns its population into cannibalistic raging savages within 28 Days. Only a lone bike messenger freshly awakened from a coma and a few other scrappy survivors are able to navigate the treacherous countryside to supposed safety of a military outpost.
The underachieving sequel is basically the military versus zombies where the virus has been eradicated due to the infected starving to death, but the virus returns with a vengeance when an asymptomatic mother releases it on her cowardly husband who left her to die during the first outbreak.
And the third movie, taking place 28 Years after that, deals with a post-apocalyptic human society living on a small island in Scotland. The islanders are cut off from the rest of the world and surrounded by lands chock o’block full of zombies, including 7 foot tall Alpha Zombies. The people on the island have their own training, customs and way of life. When an island mother comes down with cancer, her 12 year old son takes her out into forbidden land in search of a doctor who can cure her.
Are any of these movies in this trilogy worth traversing the outer regions to see in the multiplex?
Find out!
Watch the video podcast on Youtube:
https://youtu.be/m2HhutgFhx4
And now it's time for Fabulous Film and Friends. This week on our 108th episode of Fabulous Film and Friends, we're looking at Danny Boyle's 2025 summer entry, 28 years later, as well as the two other films that led up to it, 2002's 28 Days Later, and 2007's 28 weeks later. Mr. Boyle directed the segments 1 and 3, and the second entry was directed by Juan Carlos Frenadillo. The stars of the first movie were Killian Murphy, Naomi Harris, Brendan Gleason, Megan Burns, and Christopher Eccleson. The second movie was a regular who's who of up-and-comers from 2007. Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne, Imogene Poots, Idris Elba, Harold Perinew, with veteran support from Catherine McCormick and Robert Carlisle. While film number three is a mix of old pros and newcomers alike, with Aaron Taylor Johnson, Jody Comer, Jack O'Connell, and Ray Fines as supporting players to Fresh Face Star of Tomorrow, Alfie Williams. I'm your host, Juno Caputi, and my solitary guest this week is the mighty Joe Field, an author, teacher, and pop culture enthusiast. Welcome, Joe! Thanks, glad to be here. Before we begin, the synopsis, of course. Uh 28 Days Later trilogy, the story unfolds as follows. Zombies, zombies, and more zombies. The first movie tracks the origin of an eight-based virus and how it decimates England and turns its population into cannibalistic raging savages within 28 days. Only a lone bike messenger freshly awakened from a coma and a few other scrappy survivors are able to navigate the treacherous countryside to the supposed safety of a military outbreak. The underachieving sequel is basically the military versus zombies, where the virus has been eradicated due to the infected starving to death. But the virus returns with a vengeance when an asymptomatic mother releases it on her cowardly husband who left her to die during the first outbreak. And the third movie, taking place 28 years after that, deals with a post-apocalyptic human society living on a small island in Scotland. The islanders are cut off from the rest of the world and surrounded by lands chock a block full of zombies, including seven-foot-tall alpha zombies. This society has their own training customs and way of life, but when an island mother comes down with cancer, her 12-year-old son takes her out into the Forbidden Land in search of a doctor who can cure her. Which of these films stacks up as the best or is worth a trip to the Cineplex? Find out. Alright, Joe. You're fresh from these movies? I'm fresh from these movies. I only saw these movies because the trailer to 28 years later looked impressive. So I wanted to see what all the fuss was about. Uh what did you think? Rate 'em, I guess. Rank 'em. What'd you think? What's the deal? What's the vibe? Sure.
SPEAKER_02I So I would personally rate them uh a little bit hard, but I would say two, three, one. Um But I wouldn't say that I really have much desire to go back and watch any of them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I'm I'm I rate them exactly the same way you do. I two uh two's not great. No, it's great. But two's not irritating. One and three were irritating. Three was stylistically the most impressive, for sure. I'd say filmmaking was Danny Boyle's filmmaking is more impressive now. Obviously, he's an experienced filmmaker now, so it was by far the most sort of visceral movie, but the most frustrating. I was the most I actually hated it. While I respected it, I hated what it stood for. So I hated it as a pagan piece of pointless crap. Plus, I hated that they were setting up more films, and I that really pissed me off. Yeah. So I was like, okay, enough with these freaking didn't you learn from Ridley Scott, Mr. Boyle? You know, just just tell the story. Stop trying to be the Marvel universe. So that really pissed me off. And then just the whole just you know, well, let's get into it. So the first movie, go tell me, let's let's lay it out there. What's good and what's bad about the first movie and down the down the down the line. Sure.
SPEAKER_02Uh I would say that for me the and so some people will like this, but I it felt like the the first movie had a feet the feeling of being like a bunch of people who came together just to like who happened to get fall upon a video camera and were like, hey, let's make a movie. Like there's a very indie feel to it.
SPEAKER_01Never mind you, that was the style back in those days, thanks to Blair Witch Project.
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Well So that sort of found footage feel was a thing at that point in film history.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Let me just break in real quick. The second movie you noticed was really extensive use of shaky cam, which again was a we've all forgotten it, but the Born Identity and United 93 and all those movies by Paul Greengrass were of that style. So that movie definitely had the shaky cam thing going for it. So now we've sort of evolved into a much cleaner, bolder filmmaking palette. So yeah, those, but anyway, go on.
SPEAKER_02Well, I mean uh so I would say that was one thing that I found kind of exhausting. I mean, have I mean also like I would say, at least with Blair Witch Project, right? It's like it's a that's part of the plot, right? Is that it's like okay, yeah, we're on this specific kind of camera, but we're not supposed to believe that you know Jim is being followed around by the camera crew at any point, you know.
SPEAKER_01Um Yeah, again, it's a style. But yeah, sure. I I'll I'll I will definitely give the first movie its style for when he's isolated. I thought the movie had a lot of promise.
SPEAKER_02I I think that was probably one of the highlights is him walking around, and I think that that's sort of uh I don't know, I think that's probably the the part of the movie that is the most interesting in some ways. Like because I think now even now, a lot of zombie movies that we see are like okay, if you step one foot outside, you're gonna see a bunch of shambling monsters essentially. And it's like, no, none of that. It's like okay, the world is just empty after 28 days. What happened? Where are all the people?
SPEAKER_01Um, and you know, they're not, you know, I I do wish he had defined it better because I think he wanted to go for the visceral impact of empty streets in London, which was impressive for sure. Yeah. But it doesn't make a whole lot of sense given the carnage. So, I mean, so it's either, yeah, I get it, but then explain how they all got pushed to one area. Because otherwise they'd all just be dead bodies everywhere, you know. There'd be especially based on the carnage in three or two. Yeah. You know, you go, well, wait a minute, what is it? Do they do they take their bodies away and hive them somewhere and they pack them away in a meat plant or something? Fine. But the first movie in retrospect, it was like, well, he didn't think that through. It was just sort of a as like this sort of idea, what if I was all alone in London? You know.
SPEAKER_02I mean, it's cool. Yeah. There's no blood anywhere in that hospital. Which is at least one of the places where you would expect there to be blood. Right, right. Um, but like there's no sign of that. I mean, there's signs of like maybe struggle, things tipped over, messes everywhere, but nothing that would in indicate that there was anything violent that had happened.
SPEAKER_01Right.
SPEAKER_02Um, so I think that's also kind of uh I mean I I think that my biggest problem, well, one of my biggest problems with these three movies, and maybe the way that it it I mentioned uh earlier through messages, like this, these remind me a little bit of the Mad Max movies, primarily in the sense that they have the most inconsistent world building imaginable, like for such a simple premise. Um like there's no rhyme or reason to what things zombies can and can't do. Um, there's no established idea, like, okay, well, like the rules that seem to apply in the first movie don't apply in the second one, and the rules in the second one don't apply in the third.
SPEAKER_01Well, in the third, they've created the the alphas, so they're basically like Superman, you know. Okay. Yeah. So nothing kills them at that point. Yeah, I guess.
SPEAKER_02So it's it's just uh I don't know. It's something that I find a little bit frustrating for such a simplistic concept that they can't manage to kind of stick with one thing and kind of go with it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um I mean there's other problems too, but that's at least one thing that kind of gets to me a little.
SPEAKER_01Alright, so part two. What uh what's your assessment?
SPEAKER_02Uh part two definitely had a lot more polish to it um than the first one. Uh it it felt like I was watching a real movie. And I I mean, sure, whatever style, like you, you know, if you happen to like the style in the first one, you know, whatever, but for me at least, the second one felt like a real movie. Um I still think that there was a lot of very flimsy kind of hand waving that goes on in there. Um, you know, here we have one lady who's part zon who's established part zombie and they have no guards on her.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Why? Um, it doesn't make any sense. Um okay, sure, you might have a locked door. So locked door double security, like there's you know, what about cameras?
SPEAKER_01You know, she's also asymptomatic.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So so she's a huge, huge key, just like the baby in the third one. Like, well, yeah, what the hell? These are huge keys to solving this this problem, and they're just gloss. I mean, they didn't they talk about it in the second one, but yeah, that she's super important, and they they gloss over that, you know. Yeah, and yeah, they just let the husband in to get killed, basically, and and you know, with those sort of revenge. It's it breaks down, like it starts off pretty clean, and I'm I was just happy to see Jeremy Renner. I didn't even know he was in it. I I never paid, I never again, but I'm a you know, you were just a kid, you were just a baby during these times, you know, and I was a full-fledged movie nerd, and I had no interest in seeing them, primarily because I didn't like Danny Boyle's movies that much. Uh it's too bad Roseanne couldn't make this one. She loved Shallow Grave, which was this first big splash. I hate Shallow Grave. I I I just don't like his movies. Train spotting, I'll give him his one. That's his have you ever seen Train Spotting? No. Okay, Ewan McGregor's and Robert Kylie. They all sort of burst on the scene. That's his one win, in my opinion. That's his one solid in-your-face, cool filmmaking, good acting, good story, good, just a good movie. And then he he, of course, just torpedoed it with Train Spotting 2, which came out in 2017, which couldn't have been worse than say Basic Instinct 2 or any other sequel that comes out 20 years later. It's just it's just awful. Like, so but he did like he did uh the slumdog millionaire, big hit. I hated it. I hated it. Did you see Slumdog Millionaire?
SPEAKER_02I saw parts of it. I don't think I watched the.
SPEAKER_01I hated it. I thought it was just it's he kind of all his movies except for train spotting cower away from bigger ideas. So I just don't like his movies that much. He just always backs off from better ideas. So he'll start strong. There's this movie Sunshine with Killian Murphy and Chris Evans and Michelle Yo, and this uh it's like this big cast, it's a space adventure, like restart the planet movie. It has a terrible title. Like, who the hell is gonna see it's sunshine, but it's a space adventure. And it's really good for the first hour, and then it becomes a slasher movie. And he he does this in uh uh 28 days later. So we have this movie. You got Naomi Harris saying, Oh, I'm a survivor, and you know, like I'm just gonna do whatever is to survive. And then we get into two, there's this Vittorio De Sica movie with Sophia Lorenz called Two Women, you know, women being raped in war. And so I think we're heading into this sort of what's worse, flesh-eating zombies or rape by soldiers? So I think we're heading into like, okay, this is gonna be heady, like deep stuff, and it becomes diehard. It just becomes diehard, like, oh come on. So I just gave up. Like, so Killian Murphy, who's shown to be nothing but a just an everyman twerp, so he's a bike messenger, he's not gonna kill the military. That's just stupid. You know, so it just falls into this, like, okay, nonsense. You've shied away from the deeper media, like he didn't shy away in train spotting. There's dead children. Train spotting is about heroin abuse, dead children and dead parents and horror, horrible stuff in in train spotting. Uh, and then in this movie, he just just backs away. So, like, like, this is a cowardly little movie. Doesn't I don't want to see diehard. We've got enough diehard with the zombies, we don't need more action upon action because oh, you know what? Hey Joe, guess what? You know what's worse than flesh-eating zombies? Mankind. You know, so yeah, exactly. So I was like, uh another fizzle out from Danny Boyle. You got did you see did you see yesterday? Yesterday, oh, yesterday's the worst. It's about the singer, and it's just pure bullshit. And it's the singer who wakes up and nobody knows who the Beatles are. So he's he's pounding his head against the wall. He can't make it as a singer. He's just bounce, which is fine. And so then he he wakes up one day and nobody's ever heard of the Beatles. So he starts singing Beatles songs and making big bucks. And then he meets the real John Lennon, played by Robert Kylile, because he's one of Danny Boyle's, and John Lennon's this just happy little fisherman living in the sea, and you know, just spouting philosophical mumbo jumbo. And you're going, if you know anything about the real John Lennon, you know he'd be a wife beating drunk. And it's like, this is bull. Like, he's just like, yeah, his ideas, he sucks. So yeah, so part three, I was just okay. So I was like, okay, he's done one good movie. This pre- this trailer looks great. What do we what are we in for? And I the from the first scene, I knew we were in for a pile of shit. I knew it. Like when the the Protestant minister is going, it's the apocalypse, it's beautiful. And you see the cross running away, and then you're like, okay, we're in for it now. And sure enough, I just thought the third movie was predicated on a weak idea. Like it's weak.
SPEAKER_00It's just a and then, of course, we get Ray Fines is the beautiful, bald, like peaceful Dr.
SPEAKER_01Kavorkian, you know, and I'm like, okay, you lose. What a terrible movie. Terrible. Like, didn't like not life-affirming, horrible pagan bullshit. So that's where I stand. There's my rant. So, anyway, we were talking about part two. Part two, again, it's it's fine. It's an action movie, basically. It's fine, but it I didn't love it. I I just didn't hate it.
SPEAKER_02Part two reminded me of some of the Asylum movies, but like slightly better than uh you know what you would expect from those, you know, from the sci-fi never seen the sci-fi original movies, essentially.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I've never seen one, so I don't I don't understand the reference even.
SPEAKER_02You're not you're not missing. I mean, zombie movies are a dime a dozen, so and that's exactly what uh the movies from the asylum are. Is like they're just cheap, fast, they put them out on the channel and that's it.
SPEAKER_00Okay.
SPEAKER_02You know? Um because that's what a lot of it felt like um in the second one. That like you know, there were some okay moments and things like that, and it was one of those movies where I was like, I I don't really I don't hate this. Um I still think that there's a lot of very flimsy like logic that kind of goes through all of it. Yeah. Um and I think a lot of people who should be relatively smart act really stupid. But you know, that's you know, I I guess you just have to accept that in this world world.
SPEAKER_01Or maybe this is just Well, I'm always reminded to me, and I say this a lot on this podcast, I'm just always amazed at what low standards horror movie fans have. They just love everything. So that's like, how the hell did this movie sta like? You look at the first one, you go, I guess because he was all alone in London, but that movie, that idea has been done in other movies. So I'm just trying to figure out what is it they liked about this movie. Critics always keep Danny Boyle, he gets nominated for Oscars all the time and he never deserves it. I'm just yeah, okay, train spotting is his one solid movie, I guess based on that. But he's constantly striking out and constantly just getting all this praise for shit movies, you know? And I'm like, ah, I just, you know, Roseanne can't stand James Cameron. I can't stand Damian Boyle. I just don't understand how he keeps getting money for movies. Most of the movies just fizzle. They all again, I give him his give him his editing, I'll give him his cinematography, I'll give him his his premises. He always has good premises to his movies, but always stops and just midway and just changes course and turns into something else. Anyway, uh so let's dig into this third movie, which I hated. What go go let's go to it. Anything that you found interesting?
SPEAKER_02Uh I I think you you you touched on this. I I I actually like the way that it was filmed a lot. Um I I think that there was some of the ways that it was edited, I wasn't entirely kind of convinced by the sort of cutting away brief moments and scenes and you know, almost like flashback almost types of sequences, you know, um were okay.
SPEAKER_01Um I don't think it went anywhere, actually. You know, all the cutaways of the of the old British movies and everything, you know, the sort of all the historical found footage of, oh, this is the way we've always been, this is England. It didn't it didn't manifest itself in some sort of universal theme of the mighty England or what we do in war. Did you think that? Because I thought we were good, they were going somewhere with the sort of cutaways to World War One and and you know fighting in the the you know in the crusades and all these things. It didn't seem to to really turn into anything, which again another Danny Boyle staple where he starts one way and just goes about. He always seems to chicken out to me. Like he always chickens out because it should have been about boy the the Scottish Highland spirits, you know, or something, but it just turned into this the kindly death doctor, which I thought was what the hell? We went did all this for this to be told by Ray Fines that she's gonna die anyway. Oh well, ho hum. And again, I I I I really thought Aaron Taylor Johnson should have been shouldn't have been given the such a like a shit idiot part to play. Like, how about this? How about this for a premise, Joe? How about he loves his wife, he wants her to live, they all say no, she's got cancer, she's gotta go out in the the forbidden lands or whatever. We there's nothing we can do, she's just gonna waste our resources, right? So, and then they can he can he and his son can go to the ho it can be like the road or something. I thought that's what we were up for. I thought we're up for bigger ideas, bigger stakes, bigger emotions. It all was just cowardly. Everybody's a heel and a coward and a jerk, except the kid. And even the kid is like, it's all just dumb luck. And he's dumb, he lights their stores on fire, you know. Like he's just like, okay, this is all emotional crap. So it just seemed he's a stupid kid. Like, well, given the circumstances, sorry, mom just has to die. I mean, and if that's all we were gonna get anyway, mom's gotta sit there and die of cancer, you know. But if she I'm suffering, so if I could just have some morphine, morphine, oh, if only I could have some morphine. So you could give him some reason. You know, like what's morphine? It's the most wonderful drug or something that the kid can believe in, but like, what's he got? It just seemed so random and and purposeless to me. Thoughts? Am I just ranting here? No, I think you're right.
SPEAKER_02I I think there is a lot of I I think those scenes what what's particularly it seems like he's dancing with a lot of ideas, but not committing to any of them. Right. Um the there are some of those flashbacks, like that, there are the like, oh, like old footage of like f warriors, and then you have the others of like the zombies that are almost living like families. Life kind of in a weird way, you know, or just like doing their everyday stuff, whatever that is. Um and it's like, okay, so are are we really going to get into this idea of like, okay, these zombies are just exactly like us, you know, which is you know, a little bit derivative and not particularly original either, but sure, why not? You can go with that, I guess.
SPEAKER_01Or are we gonna go with the relativistic, stupid mindset? Yeah, yeah, they're exactly like us, they're just more savage.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Um, and who's to say our way of life is the best way, anyways.
SPEAKER_01Anyways, well, why not become cannibals? Why not? Sure.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Glowing eyed fat cannibals. Sounds great.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. We can we can crawl on our bellies for worms.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know. No, I I just I all that, all those allegories I found tedious. I kept going, yeah, I I don't buy this. The pregnant woman, uh, again, I didn't quite get that. Was she pregnant from a zombie or was she pregnant for as a human and then transformed into a zombie? I wish they'd sort of given me more of an idea because I thought, well, they're they're having kids then. I thought they were zombies. I thought they were the undead. I'm I'm confused. So, what was her deal? Did do you have any indication if she was pregnant beforehand or not?
SPEAKER_02I think she was pregnant beforehand, only because I think that's why the Alpha Samson was after them. Uh-huh. Um, was because I think that was supposed it's at least implied that that was his baby, I guess.
SPEAKER_01Right, I guess. Um yeah, but she again it there was no indication that how again, I thought in this world everybody outside the island was a zombie. So I'm just a little confused as to where she came from.
SPEAKER_02I mean, I'm confused where all the zombies came from at all.
SPEAKER_01Well, again, but they're the they're the zombie if they're the undead, they're the zombie. But can they starve to death though? Yes, that's what I'm saying. They starved together for a month. So where and England is a fairly finite population, too. You know, like it worked its way into Scotland, fine, Ireland, whatever, but right, the second movie destroyed their premise because they couldn't live. So so where was she from? You know, that I was thinking, like, well, wait a minute, did they starve to death or not? So I was confused as to where she came from, you know. Um, but yeah, you're right. We've already established they starved to death within days.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01Like 28 or whatever, 28 weeks or whatever it took, they all died.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I mean, by the end of t I mean, by the end of 28 days, like again, that was another 28 days after, so what, 56 days? Like, we see all the the zombies dying out. Right. Like that they're like collapsed and like gasping on their last breath, you know. Um also, like in the first movie, you can go out during the daylight hours. And because that's when they're not gonna be around. Like you're safe during the daylight. That premise is is completely out of the window by the second movie.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Like they're running around outside in broad daylight without any issue.
SPEAKER_00Right.
SPEAKER_02Um, so again, I I think just very inconsistent in terms of how the they they are showing these zombies. Um or should I say the the infected. Right.
SPEAKER_01Um yeah, no, I I I do think it's a pretty weak series. I mean, again, I knew not I I again always sort of avoiding it because of Danny Boyle. Like just because again, I thought Shallow Grave, eh, I didn't like that so much. So I just thought it was gonna like I didn't know. I just always avoided it, like not interested. And then I this this whole like like because in a world now in an era when trailers all look like crap, the 28 days or 28 years later trailer did look impressive. So I thought, okay, let's see what's up and do a podcast. But I don't have too much to say, honestly, other than that I kind of hated them all. I didn't hate the second one. Second one, but the second one comes after the first one where I think, eh, that was okay. Aliens basically, you know, let's just bring in the military and do that whole routine. Um I didn't think the fathers in you know, the father story seemed a little weak, even in the beginning. It seemed a little contrived that you know he's got this loving wife and he just doesn't fight for her. And you know, it's one thing if he gets overwhelmed, it just seemed a little like, okay, she's gonna come back. How can I tell? Because she's there at the window and it's Catherine McCormick. She's coming back. So I yeah, I didn't, you know, I wasn't blown away by it, but I I was and you know, at first interested, and it, you know, like as a premise, it seemed big in its execution at first. Then it got ever so small. You know, when Jerry by the time Jeremy sorry, spoilers for those who don't say by the time Jeremy Renner dies, I was over it.
SPEAKER_02Well, yeah, I think that there's also a lot of like uh, you know, uh just things that just don't make a lot of sense. Like, like again, the soldiers I mean, I know I know the soldiers were told, okay, just general kill order.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. But how can they see all that?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, that was But how I mean how can they see? Also, why are they sniping people like after the order has come down that they're gonna be carpet bombing the city? Wouldn't they evacuate their snipers before then? Right. Like, why are they bothering wasting ammunition when they're just gonna kill everything anyways? Like, yes, take the guys out.
SPEAKER_01And the Harold Perrinew stuff with the helicopter was just all like random. It felt very random.
SPEAKER_02I mean, also getting killed with the the uh flamethrowers, like they can tell that he's not infected. Yeah. Like he's helping a car to move, he's pushing a car. So uh, you know, we've never seen infected ever use a vehicle, so why even bother trying to kill them? Like, it just even if they're given the order, I feel like that this it's not a matter of soldiers are following orders because that's what they're told to do. Like, they'd be like, Well, I mean, hey, like they're not doing anything, like, you know, they're they're not infected, so why would we try and kill them? Like, if anything, follow them around and the infected will try to go after them too. We kill those.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, no, well, for sure.
SPEAKER_01Um then then uh what what happens to Idris Elba? I forget. I've already forgotten. What what he's their commander? Does he die? I don't even remember. No, no, but he doesn't nothing happens. They don't track him, do they? They don't track what happens because he's the one that makes the decision. Yeah, yeah. So okay.
SPEAKER_02I think it's assumed they just all vac evacuate and yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, f I thought definitely the movie fizzled out for sure. It seemed it seemed fine when I was watching it, but yeah, as I think about it, you're right. It's pretty weak.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02And it was a vague ending that didn't go anywhere. I mean, with like, oh, now we get to see the flashback of like the helicopter all broken down and abandoned, and then zombies running out towards Paris. And it's like, yeah, that never never becomes a problem, never becomes an issue. Nobody cared. I mean, they say in the beginning of this movie, the third movie, that you know, they the it was contained, like they didn't worry about it on mainland Europe. It's only the UK that has the problem. Right. Which right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. Um wouldn't happen. Uh all right. Well, so first movie, second second movie, third movie.
SPEAKER_02Not great. I think another interesting direction for the third movie would have been like following it on that idea of like, okay, we are the guards of this, you know, this island or whatever, is like trying to tap into that sense of heroism that people have. Like, if you are fighting with bows and arrows, maybe like trying to revive this idea of like we're fighting back the barbarians, and you know, like the struggle for human survival is, you know, on some sort of a noble level or something like that. But I don't think Danny Boyle's all that interested in human nobility, so I don't know. I suppose that was never in the cards.
SPEAKER_01No. And again, the consistency's not there, so they're they're like this alpha seems like they should have followed that bridge at some point, you know, that sort of magical low-tide bridge. I just thought, is that is that I don't know much about geology or or topography. Is that possible? Is this does this happen in Scotland? Or is this just fantasy? It just seemed like pure fantasy to me, you know. Um yeah, it just I don't know. It's it all seemed kind of weak. But if I I like I do like the idea of this culture creating its own mythology, kind of in like Mad Max. And I thought this was started off on a strong footing in that regard. I like this island with all these little messages about not too much and not to like all these sort of propagandist but true and obvious things that people would have to do to survive. So I thought the movie started well until I didn't like when Aaron Taylor Johnson just turns out to be a heel. I just thought, ah, that's too bad. So I immediately kind of sunk like, oh, he's a jerk. And so, but then with that, the kid doesn't have any foundation, you know? And then the mother's going, losing her mind, and it just seems like the kid's losing his mind. And it doesn't give us anywhere to go, and then he just survives miraculously because we've already shown that he's a coward, not a coward, he's just a kid who who gets nervous, and it's obviously it's nerve-wracking to shoot a zombie raging at you. So it just seemed like that foundation was weak to me. Yeah. Like he doesn't have the the stuff to take care of his mother, so he wouldn't do it if if he was logical. You know.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Alright, well, let's let's not beat the dead horse, right? Uh keep this quick.
SPEAKER_02So I don't know, Danny Boyle has.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, for sure. Alright, favorite uh character, favorite actor in the whole damn thing. Oh uh that's hard.
SPEAKER_02I I think I I didn't mind Jeremy Renner, I think. I think he did fine for what he needed to. Um, and I think maybe uh because I view the second movie the most positively, that's probably why I liked him the most. I think Killian Murphy did a good job. He did fine. He's just, you know.
SPEAKER_01I would actually have argued that uh Naomi Harris was better. I thought I liked her character better. I wish they had explored the idea. You know, I and you know, I'm not I want some internet guy going, you're pro-rapey. But no, but these ideas of what women endure during war is an interesting concept. And it again, not that you want to rip off two women. Again, the DeSika film I was talking about, but though though that's a strong psychological film about what women go through.
SPEAKER_02I think also I mean, I've said before, I I think a lot of the plot points are flimsy. If you push on them too hard, yeah, they're gonna break. And I think that with the soldiers, like one of the aspects was like, well, they need something to look forward to. Like I kept him from committing suicide, and you know, we're the last people who exist. It's like it's only been 28 days since the outbreak started. Right.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Like it since it started, it's been the month of February, essentially. Yeah, exactly. Like, so you're already throwing in the towel now?
SPEAKER_01Well, he's he's a obviously a big towel thrower based on his third movie, you know. Yeah, so so uh to me, I'm just like, I I don't I I don't know.
SPEAKER_02I I don't buy that they're that desperate yet.
SPEAKER_01For sure, you know, for sure. Um, but but as a practical survivor who has survived, watched her friend die, watched everything, I just thought Naomi Harris would probably weigh the pros and cons. Yes, and I thought that was that was gonna be the more I thought that was where the moral dilemma was heading. As you know, where you deal with the Holocaust, anytime you deal with extreme human suffering, you're going to deal with rape, you know. And I just thought, okay, this movie's gonna go into really psychological, sort of really disturbing territory, and it didn't. That's what makes but she still stuck out as the most interesting character.
SPEAKER_02I do think that maybe maybe that was kind of what she was trying to do with the pills.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Like, here, like, take these. I'm not these aren't to kill you. Right.
SPEAKER_01This will just make you not care about anything. Right. Yeah, that that was there. They just didn't deal with Nami Harris's attitude about it. And she's the one who says, Oh, I'll survive. That's that's what I that's all you do. So I just thought, well, the okay, let's get the let's break this down, you know. I mean, two or three soldiers, is that really gonna destroy her morale so much when you she's watched everybody she knows get eaten alive? You know, that's my question. Like, well, the this is the there's the there's the big sort of crux of the film. How low is low? How low does humanity go? And it it wanted to make this commentary that, oh, mankind goes lower. Well, like, yeah, but it's still not as bad as getting eaten alive by a zombie. Yeah, you know, so anyway, I just say don't bring it up if you can't deal with it. That's all. Um and he didn't deal with it in a satisfactory manner, so you shouldn't have brought it up. It's like, it's like I always rip on the dark knight. Don't bring up the guy trying to blackmail Batman. You know why? Because the whole thing comes crumbling down if some board member goes, hey, you can't take Wayne Tech. Yeah, that's right. You can't take Wayne Tech. You're gonna get sued and kicked off the board and ruined. Don't bring that up because Batman is as a house of cards if you start bringing up real life like incidents and and and legal situations, you know. So it's just like, yeah, don't bring it up then. Then forget it. She's got five burly brothers who are gonna protect her. Forget it, you know, don't bring it up, you know. Like, yeah, the the army versus her burly brothers, her her mean ass brothers from you know, from I don't know, pick a country. Yeah, you know, so no, so yeah, they survived. That would be cool too. That would have been a cooler uh aspect. But another thing, too, that I thought um, he's a bike messenger, and I think the world would definitely be just like it would be in reality. If you're a bike messenger, you're useless. They pretty much shoot you in the head anyway. What can you do? Can you fix anything? Can you fix bikes? Oh, I can fix bikes. Okay, fine. All right, maybe we'll let you live. But it's gonna be based on what you can do, right? Like, I need you because I need some I need an electrician. Is there an electrician in the house? I need a doctor, right? So to survive this, it's gotta be people with skills. So those are the people who would survive anyway. So bike messenger, he's dead. You know? So again, just shoddy premises. Let's say they're not thinking this through in a way that's particularly interesting. I again, horror fans, but I digress and repeat myself. What so Naomi Harris uh of the leads, okay. Let's go to number three, Alfie Williams. I liked him, I like the little kid, I thought he shows potential.
SPEAKER_02I I thought I thought the kids in general, I I think even at the beginning of the movie, like I think the kids did a good job acting, terrified, you know. And I I I don't think that's an easy thing for a kid to act like in a convincing way, you know. But I think that they all the kids I think in the third movie did uh a good job with yeah acting. Um and and Alfie did have to have a lot that was I mean, he was care he had to kind of partially carry that movie.
SPEAKER_01He he turned into a man. I was impressed with him. I I bought his demeanor at the end. I I certainly wish it had ended in not the way it did, you know, with this sort of idea that we're gonna be in for more, the adventures of the pagan cult, you know. So I was like, oh geez, forget it. I'm done. Um, but yeah, I I liked him. I was really disappointed with Ray Fines and Aaron Taylor Johnson. Um, Ray Fines, especially, especially since off of the return, which was a fantastic performance. So I thought he was back into Voldemort territory.
SPEAKER_00Harry Potter, just a kindly voice, soft spoke.
SPEAKER_01So I was just like, oh no. And I was just stunned, stunned at a movie that would you're 12 years old, your mother's dying of cancer, you've you've been exiled from your island. Let's burn the skin off your mother's head and place her skull on top of your pagan monument. Okay, psycho. In what world was that a good thing for a 12-year-old? So, like, yeah, I was like, oh god, you know, you talk about disappointments. No, it's just not life, you know. This is Danny Boyle's seems to be his whole stew of you're not really a life-affirming type guy, are you, Danny? But you're not bold enough to be a sh a few a full-on nihilist. So you're just in the middle, like just this comfortable little Hollywood skinny tie, skinny suit, jerkwad.
SPEAKER_02I think Ray Fine's character is what also really reminded me a lot of Mad Max, specifically like Fury Road.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02With like the idea of like, oh, here's this scientist, you know, who is now kind of more of a spiritual medicine man healer type person, I guess. You know, who knows these old ways and has the old wisdom of this bygone era, you know. And it's like, okay, yeah, I've seen this.
SPEAKER_01The druids, you know, the little people, you know, like, yeah, I just was like, oh, good you give me a break with this bullshit. You know, oh hi, he waved kindly, like as if to say, what's up, or whatever. Aaron Taylor Johnson's gone, and he just misunderstood his kindliness. No, the guy's a psycho. Yeah. Nope. By by civilized human standards, he's a psycho. So it's like, uh, bullshit.
SPEAKER_02I was thinking there was going to be something better when it came to like, oh, he was laying out all the bodies. I was like, okay, like is he using this as a deterrent? Like they s they smell the smell of death around in the area, and that keeps the infected away. Because they're like, oh, it's our other others of our kind. Why not? Well, no reason to be here. But no, it was like, okay, he was just running a local crematorium, I guess. Yeah, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. Yeah. Completely disappointed by him. His whole deal. This whole the look, everything. You know, like, well, he doesn't look like he doesn't look like he did in the return. He didn't look all badass. He just looked like he was this Volt, he just again looked like Voldemort again.
SPEAKER_02I mean, the whole the whole iodine thing, too, is like, okay. Like, oh, it repels the sickness. It's like, yeah, that's that is sort of how iodine works. But the deal with this disease is it if it gets in your mouth or in your blood, yeah, that's what turns you. Right. So it doesn't unless you can put iodine in your mouth and in your eyes, I don't think this is actually going to be beneficial for you.
SPEAKER_01Well, can they they but they bite you, right? So that's the thing.
SPEAKER_02I guess they do bite, but so I thought that was the deterrent. It would still have broken the skin, I think. I don't I don't know that he was saying was it was he saying that it would it keeps the zombies at bay or anything like that?
SPEAKER_01I thought that again, I'd have to see it again, but I don't want to see it again because I don't want to give the money. Um but yeah, uh whatever. It didn't go anywhere. The kid didn't use it, you know. Oh, oh, again, cliche number 500 or actually pretty it's pretty high up on the list of cliches. The guy who drops the gun and the kid who would be f nothing but fascinated by a machine gun and and uh drawn to its its awesome destructive power doesn't get the machine gun. Like I just hate, you know, they don't they never eat their burger. And they never pick up the gun. Ah, the gun's so hot. I never want to pick it up again. No. You know what the kid's gonna do? He's gonna go, he had a machine gun. He had a automatic rifle. I'm gonna get it. You know, like, what the hell? I just hate movies when they do that. It's like, no, you're gonna eat the pizza. You're gonna eat the sandwich. No, you're going to pick up the gun. You're always gonna pick up the gun. You know why? More guns equals more protection. And they always do that in movies. Always. So that just shows you what a bonehead Danny Boyle is. He falls for that old cliche.
SPEAKER_02I mean, even the soul, I mean, also the soul, the brief moment with the soldiers, where I guess the only reason to have all of that was to establish this character that runs into them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it was a Samson, I guess. Not a day of sex machina, but it was just a convenient way to have them get through that last leg. Very convenient. You know, like he wouldn't carry the the mother for sure. You know, it would again if Danny Boyle was up to his old terrain spotting courage, the soldier would just shoot the mother. Go boom. Sorry, kid. It's a tough world we live in. Yeah. Sorry, there's no way. There's no way. She's just gonna slow us down. We're gonna get killed. And if it's between you and me and her, fuck that. So that would be the thing. That'd be the again. There's there's just it's just a story of convenience and and contrivance. And I hated it. Hated it. Again, vivid imagery. I I give it that. Even the pagan like statue or stack of bones was interesting as a visual. I'll give it, I'll give it that. It had some interesting visuals, did not deliver at all on an emotional or logical level to where it could be a satisfying movie. And anybody liking this movie is full of crap. Because it's just the the building blocks aren't there. It's a weak script. And the the the the stakes aren't high enough, and the payoff is useless. Like that's a useless payoff. He's a man because he can accept death. Well, okay.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But he would have accepted death sitting at home without this, you know. Yep. He would have accepted her death just watching her die in the on the island. So it yeah. Very feeble excuse for a movie. I I don't know what's worse, the first or the third? I mean, we we you we rated the third worst because I think it swung the highest, but it also swung get missed to the point where the its helmet was spinning around its head and it fell over, and it's you know, you could see its butt crack. That's how bad it but the first one failed too. I I'm just trying to figure which is the biggest, more spectacular failure.
SPEAKER_02I I think the first one is just from I mean, me personally, I think that the third movie at least there's some visually interesting things going on. Like I I think that there's I mean it it sh it's at least shot I think it's shot pretty well. Like there there are moments where I'm like, this is actually beautiful, and it's interesting that they're taking some time to like taking some time to breathe and talk about okay, well, like the world is a beautiful place.
SPEAKER_03Right.
SPEAKER_02You know, beautiful and wild and dangerous, but still beautiful. And I'm like, that's uh that's kind of interesting in a some some kind of a way. Um I feel like I could watch the third movie again, and even if I didn't necessarily like all of it, and even if there are way too many disgusting-looking naked bodies running around at all times.
SPEAKER_01Um I didn't hate that, except for you know, they weren't like that in the first movie. So I thought, when did the name when did they become naked all of a sudden? Because in the first movie they're all wearing clothes, and you know, so it just seemed like that was a new addition to the the thing. But again, fine, they're out in the woods, they're crazy now, they're they're naked. Sure.
SPEAKER_02I mean, yeah, I mean, I I I understand it for what it is. Yeah. But anyways, I my point is just like I I still prefer the third movie over the first one.
SPEAKER_01I would give the first movie that tunnel scene was except for the stupidity of the car, but the tunnel scene was shot well. Where I was like, that was a I like kind of the if there is sort of a uh visual hallmark or trademark of the series, it's hilltops and people running down, like hordes of people running down sort of idyllic English countryside. And even the the second movie exploited that pretty well. The first movie had a little bit of it, not enough. The first movie was too sort of herky jerky, but I like the tunnel scene for that sort of like hazy, nightmarish running through a tunnel sequence.
SPEAKER_02I I also, and in terms of that, I was thinking of the animals running away in advance of the infected and stuff like that. And I will say one other thing about this third movie that I just couldn't stand was the CGI herd.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02It felt like it was right out of Craven the Hunter. Yeah, it's sure. You know, Aaron Aaron Taylor Johnson was a good one.
SPEAKER_01Plus with Aaron Taylor Johnson, yeah. It felt you know you're right, plus the same hills, same same location as his Craven the Hunter haunt. Yes, yeah, no, that's for sure. He he I you know, as much as I dislike Craven the Hunter, well, no, I he was better in this, but he was still a disappointment.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_01I was very disappointed that his character was not that I don't like a bad person, but it was a lazily bad person, you know, like he's a blowhard. That's fine. Fine him being a blowhard, but you know, just no love for the mother. It just it just seemed like he set it up for, you know, like I guess those people exist, but you don't take Aaron Taylor Johnson and turn him into a dumbass. Yeah, he just doesn't look that guy like that guy, you know.
SPEAKER_02I also think that like within a couple of hours of Spike leaving, he probably would have realized it and been like, oh, they're both gone. Where do they go? There was a fire that happened at the same time. Last person to see him was the watchman who didn't see him when he came back. I wonder what could have happened. Like, I think that he would have chased after them.
SPEAKER_01And it would have probably been a nice confrontation between him and Ray Finds, too. You know, like the the pragmatic versus the idealist, and you know, and and how they've sort of they've sort of intertwined, right? So Aaron Taylor Johnson's pragmatic in terms of just staying alive versus dipshit, who thinks it's wonderful to throw up monuments to death. You know, anyway, uh blah. Okay, so um we've I I save Naomi Harris, she's my favorite of the whole lot. Um, you say who? Yes, a Jeremy uh Jeremy Renner. Jeremy Renner, and then we like the kid. And then I can take or leave the kids. The kids in the second movie I just don't think rate. It's uh Imogen Poots, who's grew up to be sort of a gorgeous British actress. She's fine. Um but yeah, that they don't make much of an impression. The first one, she was fine, you know. Brendan Gleason made more of an impression, I thought, as her dad. Uh yeah, again, she wasn't given much to do because she her her whole thing about having to face the soldiers was was completely watered down. Yeah. And you know, just became a uh like a hero story, a just standard, as I've said. So I didn't like that. She sort of undermined her dramatic arc. Uh cinematography, obviously, number three, right? Number three?
SPEAKER_02Oh, yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. I mean, some of the shots looked like it was they were just doing, you know, advertising for the Scottish Highlands. You know, like come visit luxurious Scotland, you know.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_02In between horrible cannibalism.
SPEAKER_01I'm not gonna comment on music. There was nothing to comment about. Uh editing, I thought the editing was pretty good in number three for sure. It I mean, it was it seemed lively in its editing. Uh not maybe the maybe the the sort of technicolor shots of British, you know, archers and and knights of the you know, that kind of thing was a little jarring. Like I'm not quite sure if that worked. I would have excised some of those, but it, you know, maybe a little ostentatious, right?
SPEAKER_02It worked, it worked, it worked well enough for me. I think it would have worked better if they had actually done something with it.
SPEAKER_01Right, right. That's how I felt. Like, yeah. And then uh direction, obviously, he's become a more skilled filmmaker. The other guy, what's his name? Uh I don't know what became of him. I I saw he just did a Netflix movie. What's his name? Uh so Juan Carlos Fren Frenadillo. He just did some Netflix movie with Millie Bobby Brown. But beyond that, fairly unremarkable film output. Um, so yeah, I I don't know why he got the movie. I I didn't read into it as to how he got the movie, why he was chosen, whatever. Did he ape the style well enough? I think so. Especially the first uh epilogue or the prologue. It definitely felt like it was in the same universe. Um anyway, I don't know. I think the first the third one was had the best direction, but the weakest plot, honestly. By far the weakest plot. Uh if we're looking at plots.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I think it just had a very disorganized focus, which I think is part of the Well, but it undermotivated.
SPEAKER_01Everybody's undermotivated. Yeah. So the kid's completely undermotivated because he's been hampered by not cowardice, but or cowardice, but he's hampered by inexperience.
SPEAKER_02I mean, the kid also could have, I don't know, left his mom and then gone and got the doctor and brought him back. That seems like that would be more realistic.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that sort of flashed in my brain too, uh, as I was con as I left the theater and was sort of complaining to myself as to what was wrong with it. It just didn't have the right sta, you know, you raise the stakes. It has to matter more. And it it doesn't make a lick of sense to take your crazy babbling mother out in the out into the forbidden zone. It's just like this doesn't work. It doesn't work. It's stupid, it's a stupid plot, you know.
SPEAKER_02I think it could have also been an interesting story, having the kid go out on his own. I I don't know. I mean taking a keynote from very different sorts of literature, but like the little prince like going from asteroid to asteroid, meeting these different weird people who managed to survive this apocalypse and you know, figuring out whatever perspectives they had. Could have been another interesting version of this movie. But um but no, wanted to bring the mom along and who I guess is also a hidden badass or something like that.
SPEAKER_01Like she was able to like Yeah, she crushed that skull of the one. Yeah, yeah. A striking scene, I'll give it that, in terms of visuals. Like when it was crawl from the top view crawling. I'm not saying I was in suspense, I figured it was gonna end the way it ended. I figured it was me the mother, too. I thought, okay. But uh again, direction-wise, it was pretty good cinematography. I I liked I like again, I like the look of the film for sure. Yeah. Um, but yeah, and Jody Comer, I I don't know. Uh not not sold on her yet.
SPEAKER_02No. I I also always I mean I I question that scene too. Uh uh I I don't think I have a hard time sleeping. You know, I lost you, Joe. You know, my cats running around in the house. I I don't know that I'm gonna have an easy time sleeping, knowing I'm out in the wild where there are people that want to eat me. Yeah. You know. So I I don't think it's gonna be that hard to stay up that late. Right, no matter what age I'm at.
SPEAKER_01I don't think or just the the sudden the movement and the noise is you're going to be a light sleeper eventually. Yeah. Yeah, I again it's if we get into each scene where the movie's finished. I'm just saying as a cumulative hole, it looked good. It had striking imagery, even the image of the guy hanging up. Oh, who did that by the way? The the guy hanging upside down was I at first I thought it was our friend Ray Fines, but it turns out no.
SPEAKER_02So I think it was Jimmy, but I could be wrong about that. The the guy who appeared at the very end.
SPEAKER_01Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, of course.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_01That would be. I hadn't put that together. Right.
unknownRight.
SPEAKER_01That's at least my my guess. You're right. You're right. Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I was trying to figure, I thought, wait, who could have done that if no there was no humans out here? And then there are humans out there. That's right. Arriving with a Teletubbies theme song. Yeah. Yeah. Alright, Joe. Are you gonna recommend any of these films? Are you gonna see them again? Probably not. Yeah?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I don't think so. I think I'm I'm pretty good on that. I've had my my fill of blood and guts for a lifetime.
SPEAKER_01But again, I'm just trying to uh I mentioned it earlier. I'm just trying to figure out what what about these films is capturing people's imagination over in- is it just because it's English people? They're just proud of their their zombie movie? They're sick of Americans always pushing their weight around with America you know the genre films, is that it? I'm like just like why are these so revered? I I just find them pretty run of the mill, honestly. You know? And again, if I didn't know who Danny Boyle was, again, one thing I do respect, I will say this about Danny Boyle with all my sort of hatred for his his movies, uh, he does venture into a lot of different genres. Which is cool. He does he doesn't do the same movie over and over again. Except for the Well Strange Bunnings wasn't even the same movie, like what the hell is this? But yeah, even when he does a sequel, it's like, God, this is not what I thought it would be. Um, yeah. Uh so he does various different genres. Um, and I I I I respect that sort of quality about him. But other than that, he's anyway. That's the point. Joe, thanks for joining us. It will be a while now since I'm venturing off to Forbidden Zone myself. So when we next meet, it will be the Fantastic Four Superman Faceoff. Nice. Yeah. Alright, well, I certainly appreciate you taking the time to both watch the movies and discuss with me. And thank you everybody for listening and watching, and we'll see you next time. Bye, everybody. Thank you for listening to Fabulous Film and Friends, Copyright 2025, a Bel Air Films production.