Friday, September 10, 2010 at 10:05AM Movie Review - 'Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D'
| Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D
Starring Milla Jovovich and Ali Larter  |
Milla Jovovich returns to us in all the back-flipping, gun-toting, butt-kicking glory that is Alice in the fourth installment of the Resident Evil franchise: Afterlife 3D. The story picks up where Extinction left us, inside the Umbrella Corporation, with an impressive, high-octane, battle scene that dares you to try and get too much of the lovely Ms. Jovovich. From there, the mission continues through a post-apocalyptic, zombie-filled world to find and save the remaining uninfected members of the human race and reach the illusive “Arcadia”.
Not only is the first ten minutes of the film exciting and high-energy, but the cinematography is absolutely stunning. Director of Photography Glen MacPherson makes full use of three-dimensional technology, not only to throw the audience’s heads back in their chairs during fight sequences, but to give mood, feel, and texture to the unfamiliar world this movie takes us to.
While the latter continues through most of the film, the former, unfortunately, does not. Most of the later combat scenes do not deliver the same quick, skillful choreography that fans have come to expect from the Resident Evil movies. In stead, Afterlife, in what appeared to be an attempt to take full advantage of every possible 3D moment, employed so much extreme slow motion that it felt like a good five minutes between punches. Though many of these effects are nice to look at, the tension in the scene is lost. The audience is then forced to wait through some pretty awkward facial expressions and body positions on the part of the poor actors until the editor finally decided to cut. One such prolonged shot, featuring Jovovich slowly jumping away from a bomb blast, was so ridiculous looking that it elicited numerous giggles from the audience.
Nothing, however, made the audience (myself included) laugh more than the dialogue. Forced, contrived, and heavy on pointless exposition, the cheese coming out of the actor’s mouths was corny, even for the video game. “It’s a trap!”, “I don’t understand!”, and, “There’s only one way out of this place!”, are bad enough, but when coupled with a performance as flat and dull as Wentworth Miller’s Chris Redfield, one just has to roll their eyes behind their 3D glasses. Miller was, happily for him, trumped in the blandness department by Shawn Roberts, who plays Afterlife’s villain Albert Wesker. I mean, the extras playing dead bodies in this film gave a more interesting performance. Much of the blame for this appears to lie with director Paul W.S. Anderson, who seemed to suck much of the emotional lives from all of the characters, and who, incidentally, wrote their goofy dialogue.
There are a lot of fun points in this film, though. Jovovich and Ali Larter are undeniably strong, sexy, powerhouses, and they even manage to throw in a little sexual tension at points. The virus mutates in some fun ways, and the ax-wielding, super-zombie is a nice addition to the pack of undead obstacles in their path. Boris Kodjoe throws a little fun into the ensemble, and some much needed eye candy for female viewers, and Kim Coates provides the comic relief.
As far as those damn dirty apes go: the first is for the cinematography, the second is for the ladies, and the third is for the thoroughly exhausted 3D fun. There are no points for the direction of the actors or the script. So, for the first time ever, I’m going to say, if you’re going to see this movie, see it in the theaters in 3D. Don’t wait for the DVD, it’s not really going to be worth your while.
Reader Comments (5)
I'm excited to see this movie for some reason. I enjoyed the first film, the second film was garbage, the third was a ton of fun (if just as stupid as the last two films). This one looks like a film that must be seen in 3D however- 3D movies look terrible in 2D. Try watching My Bloody Valentine or Journey to the Center of the Earth in 2D and you'll understand what I mean.
Yes, Wentworth Miller. Not only does he look and act exactly the same way he does in Prison Break, but the film introduces him in a prison. Everyone in the midnight audience cracked up.
Absolutely see it in the theaters if you're going to see it. Just try and take the dialogue with a grain of salt.
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I am a big fan of the Resident Evil movies, I like the intricate plot and how they all tie into together. I am so glad that Resident Evil: Afterlife is included in the free content available on DISH Network's new website. As a DISH customer/employee, TV can get boring after a while and DISH Online is a great way to mix things up. There are thousands of show and movie titles available; you can check it out at dishonline.com.