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Danny Boyle returns to the director's chair for "28 Years Later," a surprisingly effective and often thrilling new entrant to the 20-year-plus franchise. In a marketplace obsessed with IP over originality, it's very rare when a multi-decade series can return and still feel it has some new life left in it. That's exactly what Boyle has done here.

In 2002, "28 Days Later" was hailed as a reinvention of the zombie movie. Watching the movie through today's lens, the film's aesthetic is little to be desired, but as a zombie picture it was something rarely seen (they run fast!). The film's 2007 sequel "28 Weeks Later" felt like more of the same (Boyle didn't return to direct) and failed to really make an impression. Twenty-three years later, Boyle is ready to add his touch back to the series.

Writer Alex Garland (he wrote "28 Days Later") also returns this time around, continuing his partnership with Boyle. The movie opens in the Scottish Highlands in the early days of a virus. Boyle doesn't waste any time letting the blood splatter, because a gruesome zombie attack occurs immediately.

The movie cuts to 28 years later, when Spike (Alfie Williams) is going on his first hunt with his father Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson). Spike is a pre-teen in a dangerous world and not ready to become a killer so effortlessly like his father. His mother Isla (Jodie Comer) is sick in bed with a mysterious illness (not one that has turned her into a flesh eating zombie, thankfully), so Spike and his dad are in charge of protecting their home.

Through the mayhem surrounding their world, Spike and Isla are separated from Jamie and forced to navigate the scary world alone. Spike isn't ready to be slaughtering zombies, but will do anything to protect his mother. There's plenty of gross zombie kills along the way, but the movie becomes much more focused on Spike and Isla's survival and the characters they meet along the way (including Ralph Fiennes' Dr. Kelson).

"28 Years Later" is the third "28" movie, but it's setting up a new proposed series (the sequel is slated for next year and will be directed by Nia DaCosta). While "28 Years Later" is never groundbreaking and won't get the reputation of turning the zombie genre on its head like the 2002 original, Boyle does breathe new life into the undead. It makes for a rousing time at the movies, especially in the summer when IP-driven movies populate multiplexes and can feel empty and shallow.

Spike is Williams' first major role and he carries the movie with his childhood innocence and fierce protection of his mother. As the bigger stars, Taylor-Johnson and Comer take a backseat to Williams, which allows the emotionality of the film to come through without feeling forced. For a movie with blood and guts pouring from people's bodies, "28 Years Later" is surprisingly moving.