Paul W.S.Anderson has been nurturing his Resident Evil franchise through four films now. I've seen them all. Ask me how much I remember about the previous three? Absolutely nothing. Straight down the memory hole. What began as a series based on the popular video game turned into a muddled mess of corporate conspiracies, clones, and steroid jacked mutant zombies. At this point they could probably start over from scratch and I wouldn't be able to tell the difference. In a way, that's exactly what happens as Resident Evil: Afterlife goes back to it's survival horror with a story similar to one of George Romero's classics. While I hesitate to call it good, at least I might be able to recall it in a couple of weeks.
After a massive battle with the sinister corporation known as Umbrella, Alice(Milla Jojovich) finds herself completely powerless. All of her numerous clones are destroyed, and she's off on her own. Suddenly remembering all those folks she sent away at the end of the last film, she goes off in search of her friends at an idyllic town called Arcadia but finds only a brainwashed Claire Redfield(Ali Larter). As Claire slowly regains her memory of exactly what happened, the two sexy femme fatales team up with a group of human survivors holed up in an abandoned prison. Of course it's surrounded by thousands of zombies, including a massive boss wielding a hatchet the size of Brock Lesnar. They must all band together to escape and make their way to the assumed safety Arcadia has to offer.
The biggest draw this go 'round has nothing to do with the threadbare plot, the insane Matrix-inspired action, or even the hotness of it's two leads. That was enough for me, of course, but what's been pushed the most was Anderson's startling use of James Cameron's 3-D technology to push the intensity to another level. It's clear that he was having way too much fun with the camera as blades, bullets, blood literally pop from the screen. The technique is hit and miss, as some sequences are amazing to behold, some of the best uses of 3-D seen this year. The problem is that the style is overused, and Anderson seemed to be looking for any excuse to utilize it even when the scene doesn't ask for it.
When I say the action is similar to The Matrix, it's not an understatement. Bullet time, slow motion gun battles in office buildings, and a villain who looks eerily like Agent Smith make me think Anderson has been spending too much time with the Wachowskis. The action is intense, and bloody, with Jojovich and Larter dishing out the most punishment. You'll never hear me complain about the insane number of slow motion shots of these two slicing their way through a horde of the undead. As long as the bullets are flying and nobody's stopping to chat, Afterlife isn't all that bad. The freshly plucked supporting cast is solid, and it's a definite plus introducing Claire's mysterious brother, Chris Redfield(Wentworth Miller). If only these characters had more to do. While turning this story into a dynamic variation of Romero's Dawn of the Dead is a nifty idea, the rest is mostly predictable nonsense.
Fans of the previous Resident Evils are bound to like this one. It's made solely for them. Anyone trying to jump into this franchise at this late stage would get lost from the very first mention of the T-Virus. The conclusion pretty much guarantees us more zombie hacking action is on the horizon. Just like one the zombie hordes infesting their world, Resident Evil just won't stay down for good.
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