RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE (2010)
The series continues its ‘one step forward, two steps back’
pattern with Resident evil: Afterlife. At this point the series probably needed
something new, seeing as this movie doesn’t add much else to it, and so this was
made and released in 3D, smack bang in the middle of the ‘everything needs to
be 3D’ craze. This ‘new dimension’ can probably be blamed for Resident evil:
Afterlife being disappointing, as the filmmakers seemed to make it the central
focus instead of an enhancement, while other important aspects where pushed
aside. What’s surprising about the final product was Paul W.S. Anderson’s
return as director, who hasn’t directed a ‘Resident evil’ since the first
film (only writing its subsequent
sequels). Usually my reviews have a ‘good’ section followed by a ‘bad’, but
this one is going to read more like a ‘goodish but bad’ followed by ‘terrible’;
kind of like my ‘Apocalypse’ review but not QUITE as harsh.
The plot in this movie means as much as the subtitle in the films name. Alice
lives up to her promise, and invades the Umbrella corporations Tokyo facility
with her clones. One thing leads to another, and six months later Alice finds
Claire Redfield where the group from the previous film where meant to find
safety, and no trace of anyone else. Due to a red scarab thingy that was
attached to her chest, Claire doesn’t remember what has happened, but her
memories slowly come back. Her and Alice head to Los Angeles, where they find
yet another group of survivors trapped in a prison. It is discovered that
Arcadia- the ‘safe’ haven that they where searching for in ‘extinction’ that
hides a few secrets- is a large boat off the LA coastline, and to escape the
prison and reach it they need to survive a variety of nasty monsters. It’s
basically the same plot as the first damn Resident evil movie.
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| Some of our main characters looking very serious indeed: Clair Redfield (left), Chris Redfield (centre) and Alice (right) |
No doubt ‘Afterlife’s’ strongest aspect is a fantastic score by Tomandandy. The
industrial, electronic sound combines heavy metal influences in its
composition, and works amazingly well every time it’s used. I’d even go as far to say the
score for Resident evil: Afterlife is the best of the series thus far. The opening
credits show off Tomandandy’s work and complement the 3d
medium very well, if making the circumstances of how the T virus spread throughout
the world even more confusing. Alice finally gets those 'powers' taken away
which I was initially very happy about. However, it doesn’t seem to have made much of a difference other than
eliminating the telekinesis. She is able to survive an aircraft crashing into smithereens
with only a few scratches, being slammed against a wall enough to break the
tiles but not any of her bones or leave bruising, stabbed in the arm to recover
(and the wound seeming to disappear) in two minutes as if it didn’t happen, and somehow jump three metres into the air in just
a few steps. It seems even though she lost her powers, not that much is
different, leaving another of the enormous plot holes that the whole film is unfortunately
filled with.
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| The very cool, very suave Executioner. |
There are
some tense scenes, but a few more of these scenes would have helped to lift the
film. This movie sees the series go from a combination of horror and action, to
over the top action scenes with a few horror elements scattered around. All of the
scares are of the 'jump' variety, and none of tension that was found in the
first and third films is felt here. Another of the films rare high points are the new creatures
that are introduced from the game series. Even though these additions have
either very poor or no explanation behind their presence, it is the least of
the films problems for me. The Executioner or 'axeman' (seen above) seems to appear out of
nowhere, but the sheer awesomness of this creature means it didn’t bother me too much. The scene where this Monster wielding
a giant axe is meant to shine falls rather flat. Even though it is one of the
strongest sequences in the whole film, it still has the same issues the rest of the action scenes. The whole damn scene is in extra slow motion, which gets VERY
grating as I found myself tempted to scream 'HURRY THE FUCK UP!' I can picture
Anderson in the editing room going 'slow motion is sooooo cooooool' and
drooling whenever he applies it. The scenes obvious goofs make it seem as
though the film makers where just to lazy to care or notice. About thirty seconds into the
end credits there is also a nice clip for anyone who follows the series and
wonders what the heck happened to Jill Valentine after Resident evil:
Apocalypse. Turns out she dyed her hair and turned evil.
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| Alice and Claire still being able to stay sexy while shooting the head off a giant axe-weilding zombie; that, ladies and gentlemen, is talent. |
And now
for the REALLY bad stuff, and it starts with Alice and her clones invading
Umbrella’s underground Tokyo facility.
This sequence features an unintentionally hilarious Wesker, terrible wire
stunts, overused slow motion, umbrella employees who cannot shoot for shit, an
underwhelming amount of Alice clones, various continuity goofs and bad CGI
blood (the worst of all gore evils!). When things like this turn up barley ten
minutes into the movie, there is a problem. This would forecast the rest of the
movie; save for Tomandandys consistently solid, pulsating score. Why the hell is Alice’s and Claire’s (after Claire's muddy psycho
phase) makeup always perfectly applied? It seems the world ending due to a
zombie Virus isn’t so bad for women after all;
no need to apply makeup, it simply appears on you whenever the director was too
lazy to explain it. I was waiting for Milla Jovovich and Ali Larter to make
some blatant makeup brand product placement.
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| "i'll have what he's having!"; A new type of zombie thats introduced. |
Alice’s ‘selfy’ recordings become tired very quickly, even if they allow
her to exhibit a tad of emotion that is otherwise sorely missing from her
character this time around. All
the new characters we are introduced to are either dull or serve as two
dimensional Un-dead fodder; with the later group being just as easy to pick out
as they are to be picked off. Her
performance as Alice is mixed. She delivers her one-liners with glee, but other
times- and believe me, as a fan of hers it hurts me to say this- she can be a
little stiff and for some reason decided to deepen her voice and make herself
sound like Marge Simpson. The film
also has uneven pacing issues. Once the film is about a third of the way
through, things seem to slow down dramatically with a lot of talking, only to
pickup again in a boredom inducing 20 minutes. It throws everything off
balance, and it hurts the movie (something Resident evil: retribution would
then take from one extreme to another). More characters from the games- Chris Redfield who is
horribly miscast and badly acted by Wentworth Miller and the hilariously wooden
Albert Wesker played by Shawn Roberts- are tacked on with no real significance
for anyone else other than gamers.
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| Alice right before she jumps off a building and swings like Tarzan in slow motion, while her hair sways softly in the delightful breeze. |
We find
out that the Umbrella Corporation continues to experiment on people in their
secret laboratories. That’s great and all, but it leaves
some colossal questions: why the fuck are they still experimenting on things
when the whole world has gone to shit, and just who the hell is going to
benefit from the rewards when there is practically no one left alive? The plot
line established in Resident evil: Extinction in regards to a cure to the virus
is also never mentioned or pursued; probably because it would end the series
and it’s resulting cash flow. After
all, who would want to see actual story advancement when we can see Alice
flipping around on wires in slow motion? Afterlife is the first film in the
series that feels like a filler episode. Nothing significant is added to the
story and very little is actually accomplished by its end, making me feel like
all the preceding crap was pretty pointless.
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| our new pimped-up zombie dogs...they where cute before they did that thing with their heads i swear. |
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| "I THROW MY GLASSES AT YOU IN FRUSTRATIOOOON! dammit you caught them..." |
In the
end, Resident evil: Afterlife is another disappointing and pointless addition
to the franchise, failing to continue in the wake of the first and third films.
The only thing that stops ‘Afterlife’ being as bad as ‘Apocalypse’ is Tomandady’s great score, some decent 3D
effect shots and a few creatures that almost make it worthwhile viewing. The 3D
trend was continued in the recently released Resident evil: retribution, and
you can find my review for that one soon.
2/5
Recommended classification: 15+ for strong stylized horror/action violence, blood and gore, and some coarse language
The trailer:
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