Thanks for checking out our Resident Evil Afterlife Review
Genre: Action
Directed by: Paul WS Anderson
Staring: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Sergio Peris Mencheta, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, Wentworth Miller
Released: Sept 10, 2010
THE GENERAL IDEA
In a world ravaged by a viral infection, turning its victims into the Undead, Alice (Milla Jovovich), continues on her journey to find survivors and lead them to safety. Her deadly battle with the Umbrella Corporation reaches new heights, but Alice gets some unexpected help from an old friend. A new lead that promises a safe haven from the Undead takes them to Los Angeles, but when they arrive the city is overrun by thousands of Undead—and Alice and her comrades are about to step into a deadly trap.
THE GOOD
Much like the games, this film is based entirely around the action. There is little downtime in this film and aside from continually abusing the 3d in a number of less than creative ways, this film does step up the eyecandy. No I am not just talking about how Jovovich is a distractingly stunning woman. The effects, setting, monsters, psudeozombies, vehicles, weapons and outfits are all staggeringly fun to look at. They have taken a huge leap forward for the effects of the franchise, and not just because its in 3d.
The action is 90% awesome and over-over the top. No one even has to speak to enjoy this movie, and for the most part they don’t. This is ALL about the visuals and the 3d. So its a good thing that people are not talking much, as Anderson is hardly known for his gripping dialogue.
And there is a lot to be said about the pacing of the film too. While not following any of its namesake games’ storyline this does manage to play out a lot like a video game. Each encounter is action packed, and conveniently leads to another encounter.
Also, for the newcomer who has seen some eye catching trailers, you don’t have to be shy about this film. You don’t have to watch the first three films to really get into this one. That is in part because of of the gentle plot but they do a good job catching you up to speed.
THE BAD
There really isn’t much of a plot, but in emulating the game play there really doesn’t have to be. I was kind of hoping for something deeper than the plot. Alice is bitter about the Umbrella Corporation unleashing this devastation on the world and she wants to shoot them right in the face. There are zombies in the way. She shoots those too. Roll credits.
And the action isn’t flawless. While visualy stunning in almost every way, I am constantly distracted by obvious wire work. If you can’t make wire-play look like you are NOT on a wire, but actually flying unreasonably high in the air, don’t even bother to erase the wirelines. Seriously people, the suspension of disbelief in the over the top physicality of these films are already sold, so don’t un-sell them with obvious and distracting wire work.
And slow motion is a great effect, if you don’t use it every 7 minutes. Not every action moment needs to be punctuated by slowmo. They could have cut maybe 20 minutes out of the movie if half of these scenes went by at normal speed.
OVERALL
I fit the Resident Evil films as only loosely based on the video games of the same name. The movies follow their own plot and I applaud them for sticking to that. If I wanted to relive the plot of the games I would just play the games. So any negatives I hear about how this is not like the games, I take as a grain of salt. Its not supposed to be despite borrowing the titles. And it works.
And stay to the end of the credits. The stinger leads to another film which they are probably plotting while snuggling in bed.
I give Resident Evil Afterlife 3D a 6 out of 10
