RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE

Movie review by David Blackwell

DETAILS: 97 minutes.

STUDIO: COLUMBIA/ SCREEN GEMS

starring Milla Jovovich (Alice), Sienna Guillroy (Jill Valentine), Oded Fehr (Carlos Olivera), Thomas Kretschmann (Major Cain), Sophie Vavasseur (Angie Ashford), Jared Harris (Dr. Ashford), Mike Epps (L.J.), Sandrine Holt (Terri Morales), Matthew G. Taylor (Nemesis)and Iain Glen (Dr. Isaacs)

written by Paul W.S. Anderson

directed by Alexander Witt

PLOT: A group of people are trapped in Raccoon City. They must find a way to escape the city as hordes of the undead roam the streets. Two cops, a little girl, and a criminal must depend on Alice to get them out alive and away from the Umbrella Corporation.

ANALYSIS- RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE ha slots of things going for it despite it's flaws. It is good there is a recap of the first movie for those who haven't seen it or forgotten about some of the first movie's plot. The action does kick into gear early. The sequel is bigger in every aspect despite it' lack of any real character development. It is an enjoyable action movie that keeps moving at a good pace. I just wonder if a little character development could have made this sequel even better.

The first movie was an appetizer, but the sequel does feel like the main course. The sequel is on a larger scale. The undead are everywhere, the police don't have enough bullets to shoot all of the zombies, zombie dogs, mutated "bio-weapons", evil Umbrella Corporation people whoa re willing to anything to contain the T-Virus infection and wipe it off the face of the Earth, and Nemesis. Sienna Guillroy shines as Jill Valentine, and I do love her in the black outfit (at the end of the movie). The ending does set it up for another sequel.

However, the movie does suffer from more than the lack of character development. Jill Valentine gets short-shifted for Alice to be the hero of the day. I wish I seen Jill more in action and more at the center of the movie like Alice was. I know Milla is engaged to Paul W.S. Anderson (the director of the first movie) and I hope it didn't influence the sequel for it to focus on Alice. I wanted to see more of Jill than what I saw in this movie. This sequel would have benefited from a longer running time to develop the story further. We have characters we see come and go in the first half before it settles down to the characters who survived the first half of the movie. Could this action-driven film benefited from the horror elements of the first movie and more moments of the characters wandering the city (wondering when more zombies will come at them)? Yes, it could have had more of those elements. Instead we get some video game action, Alice saving the other characters, evil Umbrella people who seem to have too much time on their hands while being evil (why does Iain Glen always an evil guy who wants to get it on with the good female character) and some big smackdown action between Alice and Nemesis. Just remember to not watch the sequel clip on the RESIDENT EVIL Deluxe Edition DVD if you haven't seen the movie (because the clip is from somewhere in the last ten minutes in the movie).

As is, the sequel is an entertaining action movie that serves up as a pleasant diversion for ninety minutes. I liked the sequel, but it didn't have the wow factor like UNDERWORLD or the first RESIDENT EVIL. Hopefully the next sequel will give more for Jill Valentine to do. Please wait for the little gag about a minute into the end credits.

this review is (c)9-11-2004 David Blackwell. This review cannot be reprinted without permission or passed into the hands of the Umbrella Corporation. Send all comments to lord_pragmagtic@hotmail.com

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