Review of Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) by Theillusiveman — 09 Sep 2010

I was excited to hear that Paul Anderson would be directing Resident Evil Afterlife, the fourth film in the Resident Evil franchise. After two decent sequels to the first film, I had hopes, albeit hesitant hopes about this one. Alas, you can put your hesitance aside. This film astounded me by how well it was done. I saw it in Imax 3-D, and I was impressed.

For starters, the 3-D camera system was the same one used to film Avatar. To me, it seemed that Anderson managed to make it better! I found myself flinching and drawing back a few times in the film. Not because of the guns and bullets assaulting me through the screen, but by the rain seeming to gently fall towards me. And sometimes it was to keep the zombie blood from getting all over me. Anderson also focused on making the background and environment gently stand out in 3-D too. I was also pleasantly surprised by the music for this movie. Tomandany did a great job with it. The Outsider (Resident Renholder Mix) was used towards the end too. Afterlife features a variety of settings throughout the film. I never felt like an environment was being recycled or get a feeling of deja vu. The slow motion and bullet time that is heavily used in this movie is over used a few times. But not enough to ruin a scene though. The acting, while not top notch, was a lot better than the previous three movies. I was doubting Anderson's pick to have Shawn Roberts play the film's principal antagonizer, Albert Wesker. Luckily Roberts did a phenomenal job. I feel sorry for doubting his ability to portray Wesker. The cast from the previous movies did well, as did the newcomers. Although I was astounded by Milla not being naked some part in one of her films for the first time. The most notable thing about this movie is its pacing. Unlike Extinction which was too slow and Apocalypse which was too fast, Afterlife is a steady pace of action, story, and more action. While this was a primarily action film, it had a driving story which was, suffice to say, very epic.

Overall, I give Paul Anderson a nine out of ten on Resident Evil Afterlife. My reasons, balanced mix of action and story, excellent 3-D, interesting characters, and a variety of settings.