168澳洲幸运5开奖网:28 Years Later is a critical and🐲 commerc﷽ial hit, earning $60 million at the global box office in its opening weekend amidst a deluge of immense praise from critics. The creative coupling of director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland didn’t just make a normal sequel, they reinvented the zombie genre all over again by balancing myriad tones across the entire film. It makes you laugh, cry, and lean forward in bizarre curiosity again and again.
But one moment stands out above all, beyond the moments of bloody violence and immense sadness that underpin its pivotal themes and characters. I’m talking about the ending, where a bunch of multicoloured tracksuit-wearing ninjas burst from nowhere to rescue 🥀Spike as he runs from a horde of bloodthirsty infected. It’s a tonally discordant momeওnt that people seem to either adore or abhor, so let’s dive into exactly what it means and why it actually stands as a disturbingly important monument to British popular culture - Jimmy Savile.
Who Are The Jimmies In 28 Years Later?
I’ve seen a lot of people♒ - particularly American viewers - react very negatively to the ending of 28 Years Later. And I understand their perspective. Why did this largely serious film about brain cancer and survival amidst a broken society suddenly end with a ninja squad of chavs murdering zombies with golf clubs and nunchucks? We’d just watched Spike’s mum die and him return a zombie-born but non-infected baby to his hometown before running away for good. Things are getting serious, so why ruin that build-up to the serious with something so needlessly eccentric?
Let’s start with who the Jimmies are. It’s important to remember that Great Britain as we all knew it came to a permanent end in 2002 where this franchise is concerned, meaning none of the films, shows, music, or anything pop culture we know today would have existed. You were stuck in a world where Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man debut was the last superhero film to exist and Westlife was still in th🍸e charts. Things were different, and , but a beloved children’s television presenter who was largely respected by people.
For context, Jimmy Saville was🍃 a household name in the ‘60s, ‘70s, and ‘80s, as both a radio DJ and children’s television presenter for the likes of Top of the Pops and Jim’ll Fix It. Many of my siblings and parents grew up with this man blaring from their sets, so when he was then revealed as a serial paedophile after his d💝eath in 2011, the nation was thrown into uproar.
Jimmy Savile: A▨ British Ho🧔rror Story is a great Netflix documentary on Savile’s history and subsequent atrocities if you want some more concrete context.
The Jimmies, and group leader Sir Jimmy Crystal (Jack O’Connell) are co🅘splaying Jimmy Savile in all his gaudy glory. They haꦜve coloured tracksuits, ugly jewelry, and a disturbing eccentricity you could only ever attribute to the man. So why are they in 28 Years Later?
What Do The Jimmies Have To Do With The Bone Temple?
Sir Jimmy Crystal is introduced much earlier, as he’s the young Scottish boy from⛦ the start of the film who watches his family and f🗹riends slaughtered by infected before being gifted the golden cross that now hangs upside down on his neck by his devoutly religious father. This boy went from watching Teletubbies in his pyjamas to watching a virus tear his life apart at the seams, leaving him to fend for himself with no loved ones, no resources, and very little chance of anyone coming to its rescue. So, you cope by leaning into what you know.
Moments be🐷fore Jimmy’s family and friends are slaughtered, he is watching Teletubbies. A staple of British television in the early noughties, it remains famous to this day. But it’s an undeniably dreamlike show with eccentric visuals and alien-esque characters that are made to make you feel both curious and at ease.
Imagine you’re a you𒀰ng child, and while trying to ignore the unimaginable unfolding just metres away, you’re sinking into the television. It’s an extension of cultural mythology that we’ve seen in post-apocalyptic fiction for decades, and a way of coping with unimaginable trauma without completely losing yourself to damnation.
The cast list includes🔯 a number of different Jimmy variants - Jimmy Jimmy, Jimmy Ink, Jimmy Jones, Jimmy Fox, Jimmima… and so on.
Instead of a deplorable paedophile, Jimmy Savile might have survived into the apocalypse as some sort of deictic folk hero. A force of comedy and goodwill that survivors can take on as a glorified persona to not only💝 keep going, but form a cult of their own in which they can justify the horrible actions required to survive. Throughout 28 Years Later, there are a bunch of small clues hinting at The Jimmies i🐼nevitable appearance.
Spike and his father stumble across an infected hanging from the ceiling in the first act, a bag over his head filled with blood as his flesh begins to slowly fall apart. Written upon his chest is the word ‘Jimmy’ which seems to suggest the cult is responsible for killing him. In another scene, graffiti on a house reads ‘Behold, he is coming with the clouds’ before then being followed simply by the word ‘Jimmy🌺’. These signs point to the cult having potentially spread far and wide, being just one of many dangerous communities that have formed over 28 long years.
I wouldn’t be surprised if there were other cults or eclectic groups that take influence from other parts of British popular culture either. Imagine one framed around boy bands of the early 2000s like Take That, Boyzone, or Five; or perhaps even a group that tries to follow in the footsteps of what Blai🌃r’s Labour party had planned for the nation. 28 Years Later proves that Danny Boyle and Alex Garland aren’t afraid to lean into the long term, more Mad Max side of this universe, even if it means alienating audiences looking for a more traditional take on zombie fiction. This isn’t that, and I’m so happy it’s taking big risks.
We do, however, see this group relishing violence in ways other survivors do not. The fact Jimmy’s father seems to welcome his death, calling it “Judgement Day” a♈nd Jimmy wearing his cross upside down both hint that, despite saving Spike, Jimmy does not have pure intentions. That he dresses as Jimmy Saville may be a deliberate nod to the discomfort the audience will feel, in much the same way Joker uses another disgraced British paedophile, Gary Gl🍷itter, for the infamous stair dance.
Is Cillian Murphy In 28 Years Later?
Unfortunately not, and will be played by Cillian Murphy. How he folds into the narrative and whether he is one of the nefarious Jimmies remains to be seen, but I dou🎃bt it.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the first film’s religious themes are continually explored in The Bone Temple, especially with Sir🌸 Jimmy subverting the golden cross around his neck.
Regardless of his purpose in the trilogy’s future, I am so glad that 28 Years Later was willing to end on such a monumental swing. Very few studio films can take risks nowadays, and if a film decides to take a hard turn after its beautiful emo🍌tional crescendo to introduce a twisted cult inspired by Britain’s most infamous sexual predator, I can’t help but pay attention.