Written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson.
Starring Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, Wentworth Miller and Sienna Guillory.
“She’s back…And she’s bringing a few of her friends”
As Resident Evil begins, the series heroine, Alice (Milla Jovovich), strikes at the Umbrella Corporation hidden Japanese underground headquarters. She encounters Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts), the ruthless and superhuman base leader. Alice walks away from the attack thinking she’s finished off the Umbrella Corporation once and for all. She then sets out to regroup with her friends who are racing to find a group of survivors at a secret location called Arcadia. When she catches up with the group in Alaska, she finds only Claire Redfield who has lost her memory. The pair set out to search the Western United States seaboard for any survivors and find a small band hiding out in a prison in Los Angeles. They too have heard of Arcadia. Banding together, they attempt to escape the zombie infested city and find safety with Arcadia.
What a glorious piece of cinema dreck! For a movie about the zombie apocalypse, there sure aren’t a whole lot of zombies in Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D from writer director Paul W.S. Anderson (although some have said there are more zombies in this edition than each of the previous three). There’s a whole lot of Matrix (1999) style rip-off slow motion goodness abound however. Even “bullet-time” makes an appearance or two and the antagonist sounds and dresses like Hugo Weaving’s Agent Smith. When the vampires do make an appearance, they look suspiciously like the vampires from Guillermo Del Toro’s Blade II (2002). And there’s the addition of Axeman who more than resembles the Pyramid Head character from Christophe Gans’ Silent Hill (2006). And the heroes spend a significant amount of time hiding out in a prison fortress much like the graphic novel The Walking Dead. The fourth installment of the Resident Evil franchise is guilty of a lot of things; however, originality is not one of them.
One thing Paul W.S. Anderson did add to the series is 3D, and he did it right. Using the same cameras as used in James Cameron’s Avatar (2009), Anderson brings Alice, Claire and the rest to life in amazing 3D cinematography. He spends a fair amount of time exploring how the newest 3D technology works. There are beautiful, lush scenes of Alice’s plan flying over Alaskan terrain that are a wonder to behold. The film has rich depth to it and the sets snap and sizzle. There’s a scene where the heroes are escaping the prison stronghold through tunnels dug beneath the foundation that provide both depth and claustrophobia. When the action begins, guns stick out of the screen, glass, bullets and debris fly in the audience’s face and water drips and rains across the screen. Much of the action is in slow motion, which some may find more annoying than appealing; however, the slow motion allows him to bring the depth and foreground into the fray and, generally, it works in the narrative’s favor. In the case of Resident Evil: Afterlife, the 3D helps the film snap, it draws the audience into the scenery and it thrills the audience with 3D spectacle.
While the 3D technique helps the script, the script itself is thin, weak and uninvolving. Much of the plot doesn’t make much sense. Details are introduced and never expanded on, explained or properly utilized in any way. Early on, Wesker removes much of Alice’s “powers” however that doesn’t stop her from surviving a head-on airplane collision with the side of a mountain, jumping fearlessly off the top of a multi-storied building and surviving the mighty blows of the towering Axeman. When Alice discovers Clair in Alaska, she is being controlled by a mysterious spider-shaped trinket. It gets removed and that’s it. Out of nowhere, the Axeman shows up dragging his axe across the city streets heading toward Alice and the gang. While he is a visually awesome character and provides the middle act with a much needed antagonist, his purpose is just that and he is given no explanation. Character constantly act and react to move the plot forward and never in character or with realistic motive. Really, it’s all about Alice.
Thankfully, there’s enough action, creative set pieces, interesting creatures and 3D goodness to keep the film afloat and lively. It’s a fun film regardless of it many faults. Resident Evil: Afterlife is a difficult film to rate. When looked at with critical eyes, it’s a bad film with sharp window dressing; however, that window dressing proves to be engaging and exciting enabling a more relaxed sensibility to have a great time at the theater.
6 out of 10
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