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[Resident Evil:Afterlife - (By Jigs4wpuppet)]
Synopsis:Alice continues on her journey to find survivors and lead them to safety. Her deadly battle with the Umbrella Corporation has reached new heights, but Alice gets some unexpected help from an old friend. A new lead that promises a safe haven from the Undead leads 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!
Starring:
Milla Jovovich,
Ali Larter,
Spencer Locke,
Kim Coates,
Wentworth Miller,
Shawn Roberts,
Boris Kodjoe,
Sienna Guillory.
Review:I got into a screening of "RE:4" recently. The movie started late, but when they finally turned down the lights, and hooked us up with the 3D shades, I was excited. So what did I think about the movie? Well I have to say that this "Resident Evil" movie is much more over-the-top than the previous three. What I liked about "Resident Evil", was that it did a lot with very little. There wasn't a lot of flash, and over-compensating for anything. It was a simple movie, but effective in it's simplicity. It was almost an indie movie, and would've been if you had taken out the Hunter/Licker hybrid at the end. But whatever, my point was ... it was a great piece of cinema without going crazy with effects, vices, etc.
Then there was "Apocalypse", part 2. It was expected that it would ratchet up things obligatorally because it's the sequel, to "Resident Evil". And it did just that, but again ... in a simple yet effective kind of ... way. Then "Resident Evil:Extinction" came along. It was the third movie, and signaled a deviation from the normalcy of the "Resident Evil" series. We went from a more human horror movie, to a pulpy hyper-action flick. Where zombies and killer monsters were overshadowed by Milla J. as Alice, the girl who can't be killed, touched, or scratched. Yet everyone else around her ends up zombie food. And in the third movie, she's even given special freaky mind powers ... where she can now move stuff with her mind, and even stop fire in it's tracks!
The scene shifted to the desert, and Umbrella went from a nefarious corporation, to a super-villain powerhouse that had the resources of god himself, with underground labs, elevators, hideouts, access to choppers, etc. All in the middle of a world that has seemingly ended. So what does "Afterlife" offer up that's new from what we've already seen? It really does a lot of new stuff, but you should just watch the movie and not try and think at all. I felt as a watcher ... that Paul Anderson was telling us ... "this series doesn't make any sense anymore, and the story died somewhere on the side of the road a long time ago." So lets just have two hot chicks (Milla and Ali), shoot and blow up stuff, while flying through the air and crashing through windows in latex body suits that show off their curves.
By the way, I was waiting for the movie to explain to me how Claire went from more of a gun-fighter in part 3, now to a semi-ninja in part 4. All of a sudden, she's like Alice Jr. Or Ashley Olsen to Alice's Mary Kate Olsen. It's just weird. It felt like Claire Redfield as a character, had been killed off, and she was now Alice's little sister/tag-along girl. Wentworth Miller plays Chris Redfield in the movie, and a bad one at that. Come to think of it, other than Spencer Locke returning as K-Mart, I didn't like any of this movies supporting characters. But the action sequences were HOT.
And that's why I warn people who plan to see it this weekend to just go with the flow. It's seriously the only way you can enjoy a movie like this. The minute you try and assemble the story, or figure out why he/she did that, or why this or that happened ... you'll just come up with a big fat blank. This movie makes absolutely no sense, but has fun doing it. And does it in a sleek, clever, slick, futuristic and sexy kinda way. The gist of it is, Alice is out to find more survivors (not sure why because last time she was thrown into a pit of dogs and nearly killed), and along the way, she reconnects with Claire and K-Mart. Of course some new people are brought along for the ride.
But compared to the last movies tag-alongs like Carlos, L.J., Chase, and Betty ... these new people suck! They're mostly useless, and get picked off fairly quickly. But watch out for a twist involving one particular member of the group, and also a face from the past returns down the gut of the movie to make things interesting. The reverse of this all though, are the villains. Last movie, it was Dr. Isaacs and the super-undead. This time around, the dogs and zombies are far more fierce and deadly, and then there's the executioner (huge axe-wielding guy), and of course Wesker. Shawn Roberts plays a good Albert Wesker, and he's so good that he almost makes you forget Wesker doesn't have his trademark platinum blonde hair in this film.
Key word being almost. But Wesker doesn't get down and dirty until the end of the movie, and the fight between him and what's left of Alice's crew isn't very long, but doesn't waste a minute of utilizing it's time to be visually awesome and exciting. The movie ends on a far clearer note than part 3 did, but the ending is also poorly played out because it seemed as if it might've been changed from an earlier version.
Not exactly sure, but I have a feeling it was not the first idea for how to end "Resident Evil:Afterlife". So after it was all said and done, I thought for a series which has broken down into mind-numbingly mindless explosions, gun-play, and destruction of property, it was pretty decent. But as a movie that connects all the way back to how it all started in 2001, it's so far removed from "Resident Evil", and the spirit of the original, that they could use "Afterlife" for a jumping off point to a whole new trilogy.
Likes and Dislikes ...
LIKES: Ali Larter looked hot, Milla has never been my type but her character was fun to watch on most occasions. Shawn Roberts as Wesker was badass, The Executioner was a terrific villain but his fight with Claire is a pain in the ass to watch! It's too damn slow! Liked the new zombies and zombie dogs. Also liked the movies two biggest twists.
DISLIKES: Wentworth Miller as Chris Redfield. Didn't look like Chris, and played the role terribly. Many of the stunts and escapes were over the top, and it seemed more like the writer wanted Alice and Claire to live so badly, he'd put them in these crazy no-way-out scenarios, only to pluck them to safety in the most unrealistic and stupid ways. Too much slow motion in the fights! Parts 2 and 3 did fine without all that slow-mo!
FINAL RATING: Two and a half Billy's.
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