Film Review: Resident Evil Afterlife

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...

"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.

"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.

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.

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!

"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.

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;

http://ladymanson.com/ShadowofReflection/home.php

Film Review: Resident Evil Extinction

On to the third now and like before MAJOR SPOILERS.

Extinction takes place an uncertain amount of time after the Raccoon City Incident and despite their best efforts Umbrella could not stop the halt of the the T - Virus. It has now spread throughout the entire world infecting humans, animals and plants and because of the latter the environment on Earth has mostly turned in to desert wastelands. Umbrella however have not given up on their experiments and Dr. Sam Isaacs (Iain Glen), head of Umbrella's North American underground facility, is determined to recapture Alice for his research. Alice herself has been in hiding since acquiring her new powers and just wanders the wasteland while evading Umbrella. Meanwhile a small convoy of humans are making their why across America just trying to survive (inspired by Mad Max 2) led by Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) and accompanied by new and familiar faces such as Carlos Oliveria (Oded Feher) and L.J. (Mike Epps).

Best film characters right here!

Just like the last film Paul Anderson writes and produces this one while it is directed by someone else however unlike the last one I know the director of this one; Russell Mulcahy who directed Highlander one of my most favourite films. I really like his style because it involves a lot of a lot of moving camera and crane work which is how he got those beautiful location shots in Highlander. Also while the last film was heavily influenced by the Resident 2 and 3 games this one decided to have an original plot like the first film. Not only that but they destroyed the world with the T - Virus something which the games didn't do yet. While this is a bold new direction it also means that the films after this one will have to have mostly original plots as well because they could hardly copy the games much after this.

Ass - Kicking Alice time to shine

We got a good cast of characters with Alice returning again and kicking ass like she always is however even though she is important in the story (with Umbrella trying to catch her and cloning her) I don't find her as interesting as Claire and her convoy. I find that the exciting bits of the film are when it focuses on the other characters and even though she joins them half way through, even of she didn't I wouldn't really mind. Also returning is Carlos Oliveria and L.J. and since they are two of my favourite film characters I am glad; as I said before I am grateful that Carlos has such an important role in the films and this one is no different and L.J. has a lot more serious role now which is great to see.

Bad place to be Isaacs 

For the new characters we have Claire Redfield and I was looking forward to seeing her because, like Jill, she is one of m favourite game characters. She takes more of a leadership role in this which is different from how she is in the games but it works and Ali Larter was a really great choice. We also have Sam Isaacs is a great primary antagonist in this and is obviously a replacement for William Birkin since they missed on their chance to use him however Isaacs is cold, calculating and merciless and serves as a great final boss (more on that later). Last from the video games is Jason O'Mara as Albert Wesker and he is a lot different from his video game counterpart; he is chairman of Umbrella now and only appears as holograms when Umbrella has their board meetings. It is a drastic change and even though I really wish he had a more prominent role I did quite like it, Jason O'Mara is a great actor (seen him in a few other stuff) so I have no complaints about the casting I just think he was underused. We also have a wide range of characters as part of Claire's convoy and I really like them all and they are what makes me like the parts with the convoy the best. Oh yeah really good seeing Linden Ashby in this film as a member of the convoy, I don't really see him in anything else but I remember him best as Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat, a great Paul Anderson film :)

Where your signature crossbow Claire?

Now on to the monsters and I was really pleased to see that they upped up the gore a lot in this one; finally we see blood coming out of zombies when they are shot, finally we see their body parts crushed! They also look a lot better as well because the zombies in the previous films really looked to normal for my taste but they looked more dried up and deformed now and probably because of the change in the environment. Besides zombies we also have the Crimson Heads from the games; they are not intelligent zombies but ones that are a lot more hyper, stronger and aggressive and I think they where perfect in this. The sequence where they fight the group is my favourite part in the film, it is just so brutal seeing them using their fists, running and biting all over the place. For animals we once again have the zombies dogs and I have always liked them but we also have the crows which I admit I am not that bothered about. Sure their scene was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (awesome film) and sure their attack on the convoy was really cool but honestly who really cares about the crows from the game?

What a why to go out

Now for the final boss of the film and something I was looking forward to along with Nemesis; Tyrant! Isaacs is the one who transforms into the Tyrant after overdosing on the T - Virus and it's Anti - Virus and I have to say it did not disappoint. It looked really cool with it's grey skin, long clawed arm and that fact that Isaacs was still in control. This Tyrant, in my opinion, is a cross between the Tyrant from the original game and the Tentacle Tyrant from Dead Aim and I have always liked both. The action scenes when he was fighting against Alice was just great however I did feel that it was a bit too short and it's death at the hands of the laser grid was kind of rushed and lacklustre.

This looks kind of familiar?

As I said some of the best parts in the film where the attack of the Crimson Heads, final battle with the Tyrant and Claire's convoy but I also liked scenes such as Carlos's death scene because that was really badass and the beginning where Alice runs into that family of crazies. However I did not like that they had so many references from the first film in here like modelling the underground to look like the mansion or putting in the laser grid just to finish of the Tyrant, it was just too much. I do really like the story overall but I just didn't get the point of testing all the Alice clones in that survival training ground at all and they never really explain why they did it.

Sorry Stevie

Overall Extinction is my favourite entry in the film franchise because I think they improved a lot from the previous films. I think the bright, desert locations was a great choice and was really different from the underground lab from the first and the dark city in the second. Plus the convoy parts are the best parts in the film and I think that's because its fun to watch, it has the best characters and events with them.

SCORE: 9/10

Highlights: Claire's convoy/cast of characters
                   A higher level of gore
                   Like the wide, bright locations

Let - Downs: Alice seemed more like a side character in this to me
                      Too many references to the first film
                      Once again they don't have a wide variety of monsters

You can find all of the great screenshots I used right here;

http://ladymanson.com/ShadowofReflection/home.php

Film Review: Resident Evil Apocalypse

Time for a review of the second Resident Evil film!

Resident Evil Apocalypse is set after the events of the first film and the T - Virus has made it's way out of the Hive and has now infected most of the population of Raccoon City. The Umbrella corporation has locked the city down, evacuated their most important personal and are even taking advantage the viral outbreak to test their latest Bio - Weapon; Nemesis. Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), a disgraced member of the elite S.T.A.R.S unit with a grudge against Umbrella, tries to survive in the zombie infested city. Meanwhile Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr), an Umbrella commando, is trying to combat the zombie menace with his squad but soon begins to question the corporation he works for. In the midst of this former Umbrella employee Alice (Milla Jovovich) awakens after being captured at the end of the first film and finds out that Umbrella as done something to her.



It would be so cool to be there right now

Unlike the first film this one is directed by Alexander Witt and I admit that I have never heard of him before this film however it is produced and written by Paul Anderson so it is still in a similar style like the first film. The most noticeable difference however between the first film and Apocalypse is that this one borrows heavily from the game source material, for which I am glad they did. Writing a great original story in the Resident Evil story is a good move if it worked (and it sure did in my opinion) but sooner or later it had to stick more closely to the games and that is what Apocalypse does. It's plot is influenced mainly from the second and third games but it also uses elements from CVX, three of the best games in the series. I do really like the story that have here because it is so close to RE3 but they nicely fitted in the events from the first film.

"Time to blow some zombie heads off!"

For the location of Raccoon City I have to admit that is where it deviates quite a bit from the games; Raccoon City is supposed to be a lonely, simple mountain community surrounded by a dense forest. They chose Toronto for the film and it is a little too modern looking and has a too many skyscrapers, going on about the location might be nit picking but I have played the games too many times not to notice. However to do have many great inner city locations that suited the film; the gothic style church, the school and they did a really excellent job in making the streets look ruined, looted and devastated. Plus I read that is was Milla Jovovich's idea that their be a heat wave in the film so Alice and Jill can have a more practical reason for their outfits; my thanks to her!

One of my favourite Resident Evil characters ever right here!

As for the cast it is almost completely new seeing how that Alice is the only returning character from the previous film. Firstly there is Oded Fehr as Carlos and I have to say I am really glad that they gave Carlos such a large role; those who read my Resident Evil rants know that I hate that most Resident Evil game characters are being pushed aside in favour of Chris and Leon (both of whom I think have been used a main characters too often). Carlos is one of the characters I wanted to see more of in the games so being a main character for the film franchise is the next best thing for me. Also Oded Fehr is probably one of my all time favourite actors who I think is perfect in the role; they dial down his "ladies man" personality from the game but in return he is a badass soldier and I read that he did most of his marital arts moves and gun handling himself.

If I saw Nemesis walking down the street I'll be like "Hell no!" and gotten out of there

Next we have Sienna Guillory as Jill Valentine and again an excellent cast choice, she even looks a lot like Jill and wears her outfit from 3. She had a really large role in this film for which I am glad for but I kind of wish it was even bigger if that was possible. I really like Milla Jovovich returning in this and she even brings some great action sequences because of her heightened abilities but she overshadows Jill's character when she joins the main group. I'm a bit in two minds about these characters; I really like Alice but at the same time I wanted Jill to be the main leading role throughout the entire film. Maybe that is because Jill is one of the characters from the games I really wanted to see in the films but she has to compete with Alice in this.

We're back b***hs!

Now a complete standout in this film for me and who has become one of my favourite Resident Evil characters (film and games) is Mike Epps as L.J.. His character is just so funny and so likable throughout the entire film, every scene he is in is great and steals most of them in my opinion. We also have Thomas Kretschmann as Major Timothy Cain (only named in the novels) an Umbrella Security operative who is in charge of handling the Raccoon City incident. Cain is definitely the villain that was needed for the film because that is what the first one truly lacked (as I mentioned in my review of it).

"Even if where supposed to just be a medical company, lets slaughter all these civilians" 

Gone on about the characters for quite a bit but just a quick mention of the supporting ones. We also have Raz Adoti as Peyton Wells another S.T.A.R.S member, who is really great in the film but looks so much like Kenneth Sullivan from the games I wonder why they didn't just name him that. There's also Jared Harris and Sophie Vavasseur as Charles and Angie Ashford; I've always liked Jared Harris so his great in this as the T - Virus creator and Sophie Vavasseur also did a good job, I even like the nod to the Ashford family from the games even if they are two original characters. Lastly we also have Zack Ward as Nicholai Ginovaef (interesting to see a good Nicholai!) and Sandrine Holt as Terri Morales who has a great small role. All in all I have been pleased with the casting for the film and its characters.

"You looking at me?"

As for the monsters I am really glad that the Licker has made a return and that there are even more of them this time around. They are done this time in CGI but it is way better than what they used for the first film, Lickers are my favourite RE monster so glad there back. However once again I wished they could have included more monsters from the game like Hunters, Brain Suckers, the Mutated Plants etc. what sets the Resident Evil game apart form all others in the zombie genre is that its not just about the zombies, its about the dangerous and creative creatures you come across too. The zombies and zombie dogs are back in all their glory from the first film but also again there is a severe lack of gore; even when a zombie gets shot (even in the head) there really is no splatter.

Run Alice!

Now for the most iconic creature in the RE universe, Nemesis, I have to say that it could have been slightly better. I really liked the look of Nemesis in this film, I think the make - up and the suit are all impressive, however it doesn't seem that imposing like it was in the game. The main reason for this is because they made him rely too much on weapons throughout the film like his rail gun; unlike the game Nemesis does not use any of his tentacles concealed underneath his coat. Before I saw this film but after I heard that Nemesis was in it I was so looking forward to seeing Brad Vickers's famous death captured in live action and I was disappointed that not only Brad wasn't in it they didn't even use anyone else to have a sharp tentacle shoved through their throat. Plus I think the final show down between Nemesis and Milla was a bit because it was just hand to hand combat. I did like the Nemesis in this it just wasn't exactly what I thought it would be.

Oh Yeah!

Overall this is a great squeal to the first film even though I really wish that it could have been even longer like two hours because we could have had some more iconic scenes form the games.

Highlights: Characters/Cast (Jill, Carlos, L.J.)
                    Story (Influenced by the games more)
                    Locations

Let-downs: Nemesis could have been a bit better
                    Needed more gore and monsters from the games
                    A longer run time to fit in more events from Raccoon City

SCORE: 8/10

You can find all of the great screenshots I used right here;

http://ladymanson.com/ShadowofReflection/home.php

Film Review: Resident Evil

Thought I'd finally get round to reviewing one of my most favourite film series and video game adaptions; Resident Evil, so here is the first one that started it all. SPOILERS in this because it will be in depth and this is the kind of review for people how have seen this film and the others.

Resident Evil begins with the outbreak of a virus, called the T - Virus, in an underground facility called the Hive. It is owned by the pharmaceutical company Umbrella; one of the largest companies in the world and basically owns the town of Raccoon City that is located above it. The highly intelligent computer program that runs it, the Red Queen, decides to shut down the Hive and seal everyone of the employees down there. The main protagonist Alice (Milla Jovovich) awakens in a mansion with no memory of who she is but is soon dragged into the Hive by an Umbrella commando team led by One (Colin Salmon). Alice must now survive the horrors inside the Hive, try to recover her lost memory and figure out what exactly happened to cause the outbreak.

Some zombie killing action!

Resident Evil was directed by Paul W. Anderson and while I know he has had his fair share of criticism I think he is a really solid director who has a few gems (Mortal Kombat, Event Horizon). While this film is an adaption of the video game series it features a completely original plot not found in the games but none the less uses it's universe. Now this could have been a really bad move but I think it worked for this film because the overall plot was still similar to the games.

Damn, that laser sure made a clean job of it

To elaborate on this it borrows heavily from the story of Resident Evil 2 i.e. a virus outbreak in an underground lab that turns people to zombies. However instead of the virus infecting the city straight away they decided to set it in the laboratory and Anderson himself stated that he didn't want the film to feature any game tie ins because he felt that "under-performing movie tie-ins are too common and Resident Evil, of all games, deserved a good celluloid representation". Meaning he wanted to avoid too may links to the game as possible for this first adaption at least.

Oh Yeah!!

Now did I like that move that Anderson made? Yes I did and that is because I like certain adaptions that create their own story based on original material. If the story is well thought out and done right then it can be great and personally I really enjoyed it; it just felt like Resident Evil to me while not showing an exact same story from the games. There are some things however that I admit must follow the original material exactly because the story is too important to change drastically (Game of Thrones) and there are examples when it is done wrong (almost all original material in The Walking Dead).

"Oh hell no!"

I really liked the cast for this film with my favourite being Milla Jovovich as Alice because she is my all time favourite actress, in this she is smart, sexy and kicks a lot of zombie ass! She does ask a lot of questions but that is because of the loss of memory and a way for the other characters to explain what is going on. She is likable and a strong female protagonist which of course suits the horror film genre, plus we get to see her in some shower scenes and wearing that red dress throughout the film - what's not to like :). She may not be based on any Resident Evil character but she is really well thought-out and woven into the story really well as an Umbrella security agent. In fact before I continue thought I'd point out that the characters is mostly made up of Umbrella personnel and that is probably one of the big appeals in the film for me; a point of view from people working for Umbrella not those who are against it.

Shot them in the head Rain

As for the rest of the cast we have One the Umbrella team leader who I felt was really underused and that was annoying because he is played by such a great actor but at least he has one of the coolest film deaths ever involving the really cool laser grid scene. There's Michelle Rodriguez as Rain a member of the Umbrella team and even though she plays the same character type in everything I've seen her in (a no - nonsense badass) she is one of the ones so good at it that you don't mind. We also have James Purefoy as Spence who is the films antagonist who does a great job but then there is Eric Mabius as Matt Addison a person against Umbrella who even though is good in it I felt his character was just shoved in there so they have someone who is not an Umbrella employee. Lastly there is Martin Crewes as Kaplan the Umbrella team computer expert who I think is a real stand out; he did his part so well and I just found him really likeable.

It may be a short scene but the zombie dogs are badass in this

As for the zombies and other creatures in this film it is all done really well and that is because for the most part it is not done in CGI but with make up and I like that the best for zombies/horror films. It may not be as gory as I would have liked it to be for an adaption for the Resident Evil game but for the most part it does the job really well. The zombies all look the part of zombies even if there is a lack of missing limbs and trailing guts from any of them but I guess there really hasn't been any time for that is they have all been stuck in a lab. I also liked the movement of all the zombies and I guess that is to be expected since they hired professional dancers to play them.

Poor b*****d

The zombies dogs however is adapted perfectly from the video games; not only do they look like the same breed but they sound and act like the did in the games as well. They where never done in CGI (expect to erase an ear or eye) instead they got professional trained dogs and covered them in fake blood and meat that made them look as though they were skinned. Lastly I am glad they chose the Licker for the final boos in this because it is one of my favourite creatures but for the first few scenes it is in it is done in CGI and you can obviously tell that it is. Luckily for the mutated version of Licker they created a full - scale model with actual moving head, lips and tongue that just looks so much better.

You are one ugly mother-!

As for stuff that I admit they could have done better (I mentioned lack of gory but that is really minor) is a proper antagonist. I know Spence turns out to be it but this only happens at the very end of the film because of his loss of memory for the majority of it (plus is motivation is just money). I know that the Red Queen was the one who sealed the Hive but I really don't consider an A.I. to be a real villain in just about anything. However as much as she seemed to be a homicidal b***h it is said early in the film that she was only doing what she was programmed to do to preserve life, even if it did mean to killing a lot. Every Resident game has a proper villain; 1 - Wesker, 2 - The Birkins, 3 - Nicholai/Nemesis, CV - The Ashfords/Wesker, Dead Aim - Morpheus and 0 - Marcus. Those are the only TRUE Resident Evil games in my opinion and I just wished we had one here.

Soaking wet Milla Jovovich - oh yeah!

Two more things that I think could have been changed was that I wish the final fight with the Licker could have lasted longer and been a bit more interesting. I think that they focused just a little too much with the fight between Matt and zombie Rain when we could have seen more of the Licker. However the overall fight was pretty damn cool, really fast paced because it was set on a speeding training and I liked the music that they used to. Lastly even though I really like the cast I kind of wished they could have included just one character based off the video game instead of just a cameo of William Birkin by Jason Isaacs at the end. I think HUNK could have worked really well in this and he could have been part of the Umbrella team.



You can make it Kaplan!

Overall while it may not be perfect I think this film is a great start to the Resident Evil film series even though I know it hasn't appealed to every fan because of how original the plot is compared to the games. Maybe the could have made it more gory and gave the film a better overall antagonist and final fight but I enjoyed it immensely. It is as a lot of some cool gunfights and fist fights against the zombies and the laser scene is just so memorable. This film also worked  thanks to the great cast, action and story that I found to be just as good as the games and I like that they have a great set up to the squeal at the end that obviously looks based on Resident Evil 3.

"Just when I thought I'd got out you pull me right back in"

SCORE: 7/10

The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;

 

 





http://screencapped.net/