The ending to 28 Years Later from last year was pretty much a set-up for what was to come in this latest instalment in the franchise. We are introduced to a grown-up Jimmy and his parkour enthusiast backflipping gang in colorful tracksuits who end up saving Spike from a running pack of zombies. I initially found this ending a little odd at first, certainly something you’d expect from a Peter Jackson flick (like the kung fu priest in Braindead) that feels at odds with the serious tone the movie had for much of its runtime, if not otherwise a call back to the opening scene involving the children watching the Teletubbies. But everything becomes a little more clearer during the opening of The Bone Temple as we see this gang – the Fingers – partake in an initiation ritual between Spike and one of their own. Spike ends up prevailing, and henceforth becomes part of what we now know as the Satan worshipping gang. In the meanwhile we also continue with the story of Dr. Ian Kelson and his further efforts to build the Bone Temple as he somehow finds a way – via the morphine he shoots from his blowgun – to calm Samson, the large alpha infected zombie who would normally be very hostile and aggressive (as seen with the aftermath of that poor hunter who gets hunted down by Samson in an early scene involving a very violent encounter where Samson rips his spine out). Both Dr. Kelson and the Fingers eventually cross paths after the Fingers’ pillage a nearby farm with survivors, with Jimmy believing Dr. Kelson to be Satan himself. Spoiler alert: he is not the Devil, and that realization comes to a pretty bloody climax.
I found this to generally be a pretty solid addition to the 28 Days Later canon. Some pretty gnarly moments – again with Samson killing the hunter near the beginning and the skinning of the survivors during the farm raid, but also leans a bit more into the camp and the goofiness which I didn’t mind for the most part even if it does feel a little less continuous with Boyle’s previous instalment. The character of Dr. Kelson certainly feels less mysterious and not quite as serious this time around in contrast to how he was portrayed previously. But I won’t lie, those moments where he’s dancing and singing around – whether with Samson or when the cult enters the Bone Temple for the first time what with all the fireworks and Iron Maiden playing in the background are very fun and entertaining. Jack O’Connell’s acting performance as Jimmy definitely plays into it as well.
The only gripe I have was maybe the last 15 minutes where the buildup leads to a less than satisfactory outcome – I would have accepted the predictability of it if really went all out on its ridiculous and wild energy and gave us something truly gnarly. There’s almost a film here that could have leaned harder on the madness of these characters – clearly Ralph Fiennes and Jack O’Connell are trying to play into that, and I wish the movie did too. Instead we get a rather cheap and predictable jump scare at the end (with that shot looking upside-down at the stars from Jimmy’s point of view). We also get a Cillian Murphy cameo that comes across as a bit of an Avengers-type moment that serves as nothing more than fan service, but I’m also a sucker for it knowing that I’m gonna be there for the sequel no matter what. Let’s hope that happens, or else that cameo (and subsequent cliffhanger ending) will be nothing short of awkward.
