I’m definitely a fan of the previous “Resident Evil” films. While I don’t think they are amazing works of art or even top-notch genre entertainment they are fun to watch. Which is why I was a bit disappointed with the latest film from the franchise, “Resident Evil: Afterlife.” Although there is some kick-ass action and zombie-killing satisfaction in this film it feels a bit empty at times and don’t even bother trying to make sense of some of the films more ridiculous plot points. That being said the film is a fun thrill-ride and fans of the video game will be pleased to know that more elements from the original source material were used here than have been in the previous films. If you excuse some of the sloppy writing in the movie you will enjoy it for what it is at face value … a solid popcorn flick.
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While the performances from the principle actors are all adequate it is really the film’s use of 3D that is the true star here. In fact, Resident Evil: Afterlife is the first post-“Avatar” film to actually use the same cameras that James Cameron used to make his blockbuster masterpiece and they are put to good use here. It seemed like director Paul W. S. Anderson, who returns to helm the film for the first time since the original installment of the franchise, seems more interested in exploring the visual components of the 3D than the story itself, which is just fine. What he is able to create visually is stunning and worth the sacrifice of the plot to a degree because it is the visceral experience not the emotional experience that you are paying to receive. Actress Milla Jovovich, who originated the role of the film’s main protagonist Alice, returns in great form as our heroine and brings an experience and gravitas to the film that helps ground it in a certain reality.
The film begins basically where the last chapter, “Resident Evil: Extinction,” left off with Alice (Jovovich) waging war on a secret Umbrella Corporation facility in Las Vegas. Once there, Alice and her clones come face to face with her archenemy, Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts) the head of the Umbrella Corporation and a character from the video game, which is being introduced into the film series for the first time. While Alice and her doppelgangers take out most of the Umbrella staff she is unable to kill Wesker, who before escaping, drugs Alice with a concoction that takes away her super-human powers. Alice soon comes across her old friend Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) who was last seen in the previous film leading her convoy of survivors to a “zombie-free” zone. Claire is not herself and has no memory of her past. Together the two flee in a plane and search the globe for their friends and other survivors. Eventually they find a group of survivors living in a former-prison in Los Angeles surrounded by zombies. Alice and Claire land on the prison and agree to help the survivors, who are led by NBA star Luther West {Boris Kodjoe, “Surrogates”) and shady Hollywood producer Bennett (Kim Coates, “Sons Of Anarchy”), to escape.
The survivors explain that supposedly there is another group of survivors living on a battleship a few miles away free from zombies and the group launches a plane to escape the prison and make it there safely. Alice and Claire suspect that their friends may have made it safely to this boat and are willing to take the risk to find out. But in order to escape the prison and allude the hundreds of zombies waiting outside they will need the help of a dangerous prisoner who they have been holding in a cell since the outbreak named Chris Redfield (ironically played by Wentworth Miller from “Prison Break”). Chris claims to not be a prisoner but instead a member of a military organization that was fighting the zombies and using the prison as a base of operation but who was accidentally imprisoned and mistaken for a criminal. He is also Claire’s brother (and a popular character from the game) and begins to help her restore her memory. Before they can escape, Alice and Claire must go toe-to-toe with a scary hooded monster with a giant axe (also a popular villain from the games). Eventually members of the group escape to the battleship only to find that things are not as they seem and Alice once again leads her friends in a battle for survival against the Umbrella Corporation and Wesker, himself.
While I enjoyed the action of the film I felt it moved a little slow in the beginning and as strange as it sounds, I don’t think there were enough zombies. The prison sequence has a “Dawn Of The Dead” feel to it but the zombies never really seem all that threatening. Also there are some things that just don’t make any sense, like the reveal of the survival of a character that just could not have logically survived or the characters just happening to find a raft exactly when they needed it. I also found it interesting that Wentworth Miller always plays a prisoner who is the only person that knows how to escape a certain prison, talk about type-casting. While the movie has some huge holes in it, I think fans of the video game will be excited to see the inclusion of beloved characters like Chris Redfield, Wesker and Jill Valentine as actress Sienna Guillory makes her return to the role for the first time since “Resident Evil: Apocalypse” in a special post-credits scene that you won’t want to miss. But it is the 3D action that is really the best thing about this movie. The 3D effects are well used here, especially in the scene with the scary axe guy. Jovovich and Larter do the best they can with the sloppy script but at the end of the day this is an action film and the action is first rate. I just wish they spent as much time working on the plot as they did working on the glorious visual effects. When it is all said and done Resident Evil: Afterlife is a decent action movie and an adequate addition to the “Resident Evil” franchise of films and I think any fan of the series will be pleased with this addition even if it is not quite as good as the others.
