Resident Evil: Afterlife
(’10 review)

3 out of 5

The post-Avatar 3D movie binge has been mostly under whelming since almost all live action 3D movies have been post-production jobs where the film is shot traditionally and then converted.  The technology to shoot with the same camera system that Avatar used exists, yet been used since until Resident Evil: Afterlife and the end product looks cleaner and deeper in 3D making it one of the few live-action movies that’s worth the surcharge.  As for the movie itself, it’s a fitfully entertaining installment much like the other films in the Resident Evil series has been.  Humdrum in places but moments of spectacle redeem it. 

Alice (Milla Jovovich) is trying to bring down the evil zombie-creating Umbrella Corporation, led by the brutal super-human menace, Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts).  Naturally, things go very wrong and Alice finds herself on the run across a zombie-infested globe with her old friend, Claire Redfield (Ali Larter).  Unfortunately, Claire isn’t much help since she’s been mind-wiped by a metallic-spider-looking chest-attachment mind-controlling thingie.  Eagle-eyed video game players will notice that the aforementioned metallic-spider-looking chest-attachment mind-controlling thingie is cribbed directly from Resident Evil 5.  The two end up in Los Angeles where they find Claire’s lost brother, Chris (Wentworth Miller), some disposable characters, a hell of lot more zombies, and hope of salvation floating in a barge off the coast. 

Jovovich’s Alice has been made into more of a super-human over the course of the series but she gets quickly de-powered right at the start of Afterlife, which is good because the addition of telekinesis was strange even for this series.  But even this supposedly “weaker” Alice still pulls off impossible stunts.  Miller is doing the character he was in “Prison Break”. He’s good at it, but it’s uninspired.  Larter is once again the tough girl, but wow, she looks fantastic in 3D slow-motion rain!  The revelation that Claire and Chris are long-lost siblings adds absolutely nothing to the film.  As for the rest of the actors, they’re simply zombie fodder that hang around for the film’s extremely flabby middle section.  But it what saves Afterlife is a very entertaining villain.

It’s telling that one of the movie’s most enjoyable scenes, a brutal fight between Chris, Claire, and Wesker is practically taken shot-for-shot from the climax of the video game Resident Evil 5.  Even though Wesker is only in the movie for about 20 minutes it’s a really sweet 20 minutes. He’s terse, conceited, and always wearing sunglasses even in the most inappropriate situations just like his videogame character.  Sunglasses look cool so who cares?  Roberts even does a variation on Wesker’s vaguely British accent from the games and when his red cat-eyes start glowing and he moves with fantastic speed it’s really fun. Why does he move like that? Because it’s badass! Wesker even partakes in cannibalism! Hey, if you want to show that the antagonist is evil make him eat people.  It’s an over-the-top character and performance yet enjoyable. 

There are a lot of things in the movie that will make sense only if you’ve played Resident Evil 5   In this movie, the zombies sometimes have squid-mouths that suction onto the victims head, but you have no idea why the zombies have suddenly turned into suction- monsters.  I know why, but I played the damn game.  Same deal with the giant axe carrying dude. He’s the star of one of the movie’s best action scenes in a splashy axe vs. gun fight, but why is there a giant guy with a freakin’ axe running around?  Just because, I guess.  Plot and coherence is not this movie’s strong suit.  But witnessing the action in digital 3D glory with a rocking soundtrack, it’s really hard to mind. 

Resident Evil: Afterlife main selling point is the theatrical 3D presentation, and writer/director Paul WS Anderson pulls it off.  There’s no handheld shaky cam and the editing isn’t too frantic, stylistic choice that sank Clash of the Titans earlier this year.  There are way too many slow-mo Matrix-y shots throughout but it lets you appreciate the scope of digital 3D, even if it gets repetitive.  Anderson sells the depth of the image, especially the opening scene of a zombie outbreak in Japan in the rain with droplets splashing against the credits.  There are basically three big action scenes in the movie: the opening attack against Wesker, the axe-man in the middle, and the final battle against Wesker.  They all look great. If you never got a chance to see Avatar in theatres (yes, both of you) this is probably the next best thing to demonstrate the potential of 3D filmmaking.  Its empty and stupid bluster, but it shows how nice 3D is when properly done. 

Fans of the video game series will be alternately annoyed with the sweeping changes and get a kick out of what has been included.  Anyone who likes a flashy but brain dead 3D filmmaking will also enjoy it.  You could also very easily be annoyed and bored, and you’d probably be right, but Resident Evil: Afterlife looks pretty enough.  But only in theatres.