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28 Years Later Sets Up a Battle Between Two Visions of Britain
If only we didn’t have to wait until the sequel to see which one comes out on top.
Boyle cuts to a rapid-fire montage of archival footage from British military history and clips from Laurence Olivier’s Henry V(itself a piece of WWII propaganda) set to a recording of the Rudyard Kipling poem “ Boots ” read by actor Taylor Holmes more than a century ago. Lest you read this purely straightforwardly — two more brave men crossing the sea to do what needs to be done — Holmes’s frenzied delivery, as well as the fact that the mission now largely consists of murdering zombies who are crawling harmlessly along the ground, adds an appropriate touch of unease to the imperial echoes. Lacking modern technology, the islanders are forced to rely on medieval weaponry like the longbow favored by English armies in the days of the real Henry V. There are also stray hints that they have reverted to a sort of folk mythology, as seen in the creepy masks they employ — a pale face with bloody eyes, which seems to be a reminder of the ever-present danger posed by the Infected or perhaps are part of a humiliation ritual.
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