Finally got round to reviewing this one!
Afterlife takes place a year after Extinction and Alice (Milla Jovovich) has destroyed the Umbrella Tokyo base and seemingly killed Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts) but at the cost of all her clones and her powers. She then spends six months trying to find any more survivors but only succeeds in finding Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) who has lost her memory. The two must battle new types of zombies and monsters within a prison in L.A. along with Claire's brother Chris Redfield (Wentworth Miller) and other survivors led by former pro - basketball player Luther West (Boris Kodjoe). They try to get to escape and reach the haven called Arcadia but it might not be the salvation they are looking for...
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| "Few more lessons and I'll be able to fly" |
This film marks the return of Paul Anderson as the director not just the writer and producer and while I like that it is a shame not to have Russell Mulcahy who I praised in my Extinction review but I will touch on that later. Just like Extinction, Afterlife is a completely original plot that is only loosely based on the game however unlike Extinction this one brings in a lot more references to a certain game which I will explain during the review.
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| "Okay who wants to go first?" |
The only two characters to return from the previous films are Alice and Claire and while I really like those two I would really liked to have seen L.J. or Carlos again (mostly L.J. because of Retribution) even though I know they are dead. However they bring in two of Resident Evil most known characters Chris Redfield and a re - casted Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts). I really like these two casting choices because where brilliant throughout the whole film and they really looked like the characters they where playing. As for side characters there really isn't as much in here as I really would have liked and that is my first complaint about the film because in Extinction and Apocalypse there where lots of great characters and a big draw for the film for me. Two worth mentioning however is Luther West, he is really cool liked his no nonsense attitude and Bennett Sinclair (Kim Coates) as a film producer who only cares about himself. There are some other characters with them but I never really liked them as much as the members of Claire's convoy.
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| Three Milla Jovovich......yeah I've had that dream loads of times! |
Also something I really have to mention and that I didn't like too much was that the majority of the film takes place in a prison in the middle of L.A. One of the reasons Extinction is my fav Resident Evil film is because I really liked the bright and big locations in the desert, thanks to Russell Mulcahy. I guess after Apocalypse and Extinction I wanted the films to always be out doors but no its confide indoors; Tokyo Base, Prison, Ship. However I do really like the set designs especially the hi - tech whiteness of the Arcadia ship or the extensive underground Tokyo Base.
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| Just as badass from the game |
As for the monsters they have once again brought back zombies (of course) but this time they are a lot more dangerous because they are more like the ones from Resident Evil 5; this means they run and have a parasite in their mouths that latch on to enemies. Normally I would not have liked this because I don't like the zombies in 4, 5, and 6 however they are done really well in the film here and their parasite look gross. Other then that we have The Executioner from 5 making an appearance and once again even though I disliked 5 because of its enemies I have to praise it here because it was a perfect adaptation of it from the game and its involved in one of my favourite scenes in the film. That's about it unfortunately (apart from two dogs five minutes at the end) and that is my biggest criticism about this film and the others; they need more monsters! I can't believe they only chose three, well two if you don't count zombies because they really have to be in it every time!
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| "Bring it on!" |
Some of my favourite moments that I just want to quickly mention is the beginning of the film where Alice and her clones storm the Tokyo Base. That was just so epic with all of her clones killing the Umbrella soldiers and using guns, swords and explosives. Next is when the zombies break into the prison and Alice has to jump off it holding a cable while detonating the roof. Shortly after that we have the show room fight between Alice, Claire and The Executioner and that was choreographed really well with the massive swinging axe and the use of slow - mo. Finally is the final fight between Chris, Claire and Wesker because it too is such a perfect adaptation of the fight from 5, I think shot for shot.
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| Surprise cameo |
Overall this isn't as good as Extinction because of a location for the film that I didn't like as much, the severe and I mean
severe lack of monsters and I guess it wasn't as fun as the third. However it is influenced a lot from 5 (chest pieces as well I forgot to mention) and even though it is my least fav Resident Evil game they have done it so well that I really enjoyed watching this.
SCORE: 7/10
Highlight: Heavy influences from 5 which are adapted perfectly in this
Shawn Robert as Albert Wesker and Wentworth Miller as Chris Redfield
Awesome action sequences throughout the film
Let - Downs: Not much monsters
Don't care for much of the side characters
After such great locations in the Nevada Desert I don't like that its set mainly in a prison and them just trying to escape from it
You can find all of the great screenshots I used right here;
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