The Story:
Alice continues her fight to save the world from Umbrella Corporation’s tangled web of conspiracies. After attacking Umbrella HQ, Alice stumbles upon a transmission from a place called Arcadia informing virus survivors of safety, food and shelter.
The Characters:
While I absolutely hated the characters introduced in the last entry of the series (as a fan of the video game series Ali Larter seems both too emotionless and brainless to fill the shoes of series staple Claire Redfield) somehow they either managed to improve how they play the characters, or (and much more likely, I might add) the initial disappointment has finally worn off enough to give them another go at their rolls. Wesker returns better than ever, but unfortunately the term “wasted potential” would be an understatement. That being said, we’re already at number 4 in this series, and one should know by now to never go into it looking for the same quality of tension and story that the videogames deliver. Chris Redfield the main character of the original Resident Evil finally makes his debut in this fourth installment and is played by a surprisingly acceptable Prison Break’s Wentworth Miller. The role isn’t a huge stretch from his Michael Scoffield character but is never explored enough to really see any resemblance to Chris Redfield, after all he is an actual Resident Evil character, so as far as this series is concerned he must be a guest cameo. Milla Jovovich is, as always, stunning both visually and in her role as Umbrella Corps’ favorite guinea pig, Alice. Watching her acrobatics is even more a treat now in 3D, which has made this film more of an experience than the rest. In one jaw-dropping scene, Milla literally jumps out of the screen appearing to float above the audience in slow motion.
Effects/Gore:
Milla joyously slices n’ dices Umbrella’s frontlines and mutants alike. The effects are the best we have seen in the series, easily saving it from a deadend disaster. We see hoards of the usual zombies as well as a few creatures taken from the 4th and 5th installments of the videogame series, and all are done justice. Unfortunately, and this would be my largest complaint of the movie, they fall too easily to be considered a threat, and we barely see them cause any harm to anybody.
Lasting Appeal:
The movie was brainless fun and is worth adding to your collection of this series. However, the 3D was a major factor in my enjoyment and I know seeing it in 2D will greatly take away from the experience.
Final Headcount:
Resident Evil Afterlife will appeal to anyone who has enjoyed the previous 3 films, as well as anyone who likes to dip into decent sci-fi/action films. While the machine gun pace is not great the sick visuals more than entertain especially seeing them with the 3D treatment.
