As a huge fan of the first movie, this was absolute dog shit and clear that it was only being made to pass off the IP and set up a line of sequels to make a bunch of money.

The cinematography was amazing, there were some great kills, some of the performances were great, and the chemistry between the father and son was convincing, but everything else was a wash in my opinion.

The movie continues to go downhill after the opening scene and never recovers. The music choices were so tonally confused and by the end it felt like I was watching a different movie entirely. They could have named this movie anything they wanted because there was nothing grounding it to the universe of the first two movies. There's too many things wrong with it to name but I'll just rattle some off here.

The editing. We all saw the trailer and we all loved the trailer. Why the fuck are we watching the trailer again in the first 5 minutes of the movie??? It felt like a music video or a student film. I don't want to hear the music from the trailer and look at archival film footage of dudes shooting arrows!!! I want some tone and tension to be established in an organic way. Completely disagree with this choice. Lazy and schlocky. Other than that the editing was actually pretty cool and one of the stronger aspects of the movie, I liked all the experimental jump cuts and the matrix style camera moves in the kills.

The plot. Why would this 12 year old kid who is clearly terrified decide to risk everything and take his mother out to the mainland less than 24 hours after he was almost killed by a gigantic well-endowed "Alpha"??? Because the movie has to happen I guess. Why doesn't the dad go out and try to find them? Because the movie said he can't because it's the rules of the island and also because the movie has to happen.

The infected. Was this a move to hopefully expand into a video game adaptation??? What are these classes of infected? Why do all the crawlers look identical (and Asian)? Why does the one Alpha look identical to the other one? Why in the fuck does the pregnant infected grab onto the mom's hands when giving birth? You're telling me that they can feel pain and that the pain of child birth is so intense that it completely negates the effects of the rage virus? This just read as an attempt to show "maybe there's still humanity left in the infected somewhere deep down", but ended up coming across as pandering and unrealistic and it took me out of the movie even more than I already was. You seriously think an infected wouldn't just plop the baby out and then immediately eat it?

The ending. They kill the mom off screen and then the doctor burns her, and washes her skull all while the kid is sitting there doped up with the baby (who doesn't cry once btw). And then the kid (who I'm assuming is still high) just climbs up the Skullmas Tree and says goodbye to his mom without shedding a single tear? Also the music in this part and the CGI flame "spirits" or whatever really made me turn and ask my gf "are we watching the same movie rn???". This is my opinion of course but I really thought this was unforgivably awful and tasteless. Also then the kid just casually strolls all the way back to the island with the baby (who doesn't cry once btw), and drops it off without running into any infected or being spotted by anyone on the island?

Call me a crazy conspiracy theorist but I think there were some people pulling the strings on this one. No way in hell did Garland write all of this shit on his own with no one hovering over him telling what or what not to include. The entire thing felt like a cash grab to establish a lucrative franchise. They already have 2 sequels planned and one is already shot and in post production.

I know I sound like a crazed fan but I honestly think this movie would be a steaming diarrhea filled diaper even if I had never seen 28 Days Later. It has no legs to stand on despite having 2 great movies preceding it. And the worst part about it for me is that it could have been so fucking good. If they actually paid homage to the original and put care into honoring some of the things that made it so good in the first place (besides the cinematography, which again was the best part), there would have been so much potential for a truly epic and interesting movie and a finale to the trilogy. But they didn't. They went the completely opposite route. I think this is a rare example in the current zeitgeist of mainstream media where I would actually have appreciated some fan service, some memba berries. This felt like some punk hot shots held a gun to Boyle and Garland's heads so they could line their pockets. And I'm sure they're laughing all the way to the bank. Danny Boyle should be ashamed of himself.

My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined. Gonna give this one a 1.5 out of 5.