Subscribers Only Content Area

Home

New Movies

All Movies

New Videos

All Videos

DVD

Search

(About Our Ads) "RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE" (2004) (Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory) (R) If you've come from our parental review of this film and wish to return to it, simply click on your browser's BACK button. Otherwise, use the following link to read our complete Parental Review of this film. QUICK TAKE: Action/Horror: A genetically altered woman tries to find and save a young girl in a city targeted for nuclear destruction after it's overrun by contagious zombies. PLOT: Alice (MILLA JOVOVICH) was the former head of security at The Hive, an underground and top secret research facility for experimental viral weaponry for the Umbrella Corporation. Unfortunately for her and everyone else working there, a virus got loose and infected most everyone, turning the dead into zombies hungry for the non-infected. Only Alice and another man managed to survive, but they were captured and experimented on by Umbrella Corporation scientists. When Alice awakens, she finds the place deserted and Raccoon City infested with the undead. The government has cordoned off access to the city, carefully checking all who enter. This process is policed by the corporation's Special Tactics and Rescue Services team where the likes of Carlos Olivera (ODED FEHR), Jill Valentine (SIENNA GUILLORY) and Sgt. Peyton Wells (RAZ ADOTI) try to keep the peace. After an infected person is found at the checkpoint, however, the city is sealed off, leaving them and TV reporter Terri Morales (SANDRINE HOLT) trapped among the many zombies. As Carlos and his team try to fight off the attackers, Jill, Peyton and Terri seek refuge in a church, but their sanctuary is short-lived. That's when Alice -- whose genetically altered body has left her with superhuman strength and related combat abilities -- rescues them. Yet, they must not only deal with the zombies, but also a seemingly indestructible genetic mutation -- named Nemesis -- that's being controlled by Maj. Cain (THOMAS KRETSCHMANN) who has an unusual interest in Alice. While dealing with all of that, they get a chance to escape when wheelchair bound scientist Dr. Ashford (JARED HARRIS) offers to get them out in exchange for them finding and rescuing his middle school student daughter, Angie (SOPHIE VAVASSEUR), who's hiding somewhere in the city. They agree and, joined by civilian L.J. (MIKE EPPS), attempt to find the girl and get out before a planned nuclear attack kills them and everything else in the city. OUR TAKE: 2 out of 10 One of the most popular shows on TV nowadays is "The Apprentice," the "reality" show where Donald Trump whittles down a bunch of cutthroat, junior executive wannabes for viewers' and his apparent enjoyment of watching people squirm and getting to belt out the line, "You're fired" as many ways as possible. At this point, you may be wondering what "The Donald" and his hair have to do with "Resident Evil: Apocalypse," the action-packed, zombie-filled sequel to the first "Resident Evil" film that was based on a popular, first-person shooter video game. Well, I could go into the overall zombification of viewers watching such mindless entertainment, the apocalyptic nature of what reality shows are doing to TV programming, or the "RE" nickname that Trump's competitors have probably given him over the years. Instead, I'm going to talk about first-time director Alexander Witt who replaces Paul W.S. Anderson from the first film as our guide through the action-packed, horror mayhem. Over the past three decades, he's served as the second unit director, cinematographer or cameraman for a number of well-known films such as "The Hunt for Red October," "Thelma and Louise," "Speed," "Gladiator" and more. While some in the moviemaking business are happy doing whatever job they have, others see their occupation as an apprenticeship of sorts where they learn from the masters and then apply that knowledge to building their own career. Considering what's offered in this film, Witt apparently didn't learn too much except to make a film much like any music video-turned-filmmaker would. And that's going for style over substance and including way too many edits, wild camera work and more in place of good old-fashioned storytelling. Of course, as a second unit talent, you're not around the big boys very much. Then there's the fact that the first "Resident Evil" was no work of art, but neither it nor this film stood much of a chance considering that its characters, storylines and overall stylings come from a violent video game. Much like the "Tomb Raider" series, this one features the rare female heroic figure - played by the returning Milla Jovovich ("Zoolander," "The Claim") - who purposefully looks sexy and confident while dispatching the villains and monsters, etc. Reportedly featuring additional characters from later incarnations of the game, another confident and sexy heroine - embodied by Sienna Guillory ("Love Actually," "The Time Machine") -- joins the survivor of the first film, thus giving this one lots of female empowerment that may just help it play to audiences beyond the core male adolescent gamers. It's too bad, however, that the characters and overall film aren't better, both on paper and in final realization on the screen. Since only diehard fans of the video game may be interested in the characters and their survival (or not), there's little reason for anyone else to care about them or the final outcome. Even if we did, Witt uses far too many edits and directs in such a haphazard and confusing fashion that half the time you can't really tell who's doing what to whom. As in most such films, Witt - who works from Anderson's screenplay - inserts a comic relief character, presumably to temper all of the action and zombie-related blood and guts. As played by Mike Epps ("The Fighting Temptations," "Friday After Next'), the character is nothing but a recycled jive-talker who's appeared in about a gazillion other such films. While some will laugh at his one-liners, they didn't do much for me. Now, if you want to see an effective and surprisingly funny zombie film done just right, check out the British import "Shaun of the Dead" when it's released in a few weeks. With good action, plenty of over the top gore and lots and lots of imaginative laughs, it makes this sequel seem dead on its feet. I supposed that's thematically appropriate, but for all of the nearly nonstop action and such that occurs here, I couldn't have been any more bored. For diehard fans only, "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" rates as a 2 out of 10. Reviewed September 9, 2004 / Posted September 10, 2004