From the terrifying Dawn of the Dead and 28 Days Later to the hilarious Shaun of the Dead and Zombieland, I have always been a fan of zombie movies. Included in the genre is the Resident Evil trilogy, now made a quartet by the recent release of Resident Evil: Afterlife. As a general rule, I am skeptical of sequels, wary of third installments and cynical of anything after that. But my sheer love of zombie movies led me to see this latest installment.
The plot was pretty basic, which is to be expected from zombie movies. The cinematographer, however, seems to have only learned the fade-in/fade-out transition tool. As soon as one scene was over, the screen faded to black only to be brought back into another scene. It made the story choppy and disconnected. Another irksome issue was how long it took the movie’s story to get going. So much time is spent with protagonist Alice just wandering around, leaving viewers wondering, “Where are all the zombies?”
On the plus side, there was the introduction of likeable characters with a chance of survival. Wentworth Miller, star of Prison Break, plays the pragmatic and somewhat charismatic (albeit slightly snarky) Chris Red?eld. Miller adds a much needed breath of fresh air to the entire genre of action movies. Finally there is a character who is both believable and badass. As for Milla Jovovich’s reprisal as Alice, she’s the same Alice: hardcore and strong one second, fragile and vulnerable the next.
Overall, the movie only tries to be entertaining. It’s a fun action ?ick and there’s still enough zombies getting their heads exploded or ripping ?esh off of the living to satisfy us zombie movie lovers.
Resident Evil: Afterlife
6 out of 10
