Review of Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) by Ada D — 12 Sep 2015

Milla Jovovich is back in a style, well a style that is exactly the same as before, in poor style. We now see Zombies roaming the streets of Raccoon City and they're just hell bent on getting some of that human flesh, the zombies consist of a mix of normal or stereotypical zombies, and then some really quick really weird and really stupidly created CGI zombies that we saw in the first movie, but now we see them just a little more. The series I felt could have taken itself into new territory, cast away its first instalment and really gone for it with a promising new plot and a big city to play with. My previous point is not met and we see yet again a poor movie, not one that is near to being hateable, but dislikeable nevertheless.

The plot plays out like a video game (oh wait the whole film is based on a video game) and really goes all out on the violence but also rather disappointingly the crazy stunts too. One such stunt that I felt was superbly unneeded was a motorbike crashing through a church window; it was just a pointless bit of thriller filler and had nothing to add to the already dull prospect of an adventure with these characters. And what about those characters? ,well what can be said really other than Jovovich is not bad but far from great, she plays the role in a kind of mediocre way in which she can seem like she is really going to do some OK acting but then scuppers the chance. Sienna Guillory as Jill Valentine is again a failed prospect, one thing I hated about her character was the way she is portrayed as this hard cop who is skilful with a gun and yet we see no evidence really, poor yet again. The rest of the cast don't offer much, and the fleeting glimpses of OK actors like Iain Glen are too short to make any acting alright.

A lot of the mistakes of the film also lie in the controls of director Alexander Witt whose hand is one that is well hardly one at all, he never fully takes the reigns and the whole flow of the movie can at times lose its rhythm. The writing from Paul W.S Anderson is nothing to help either here; the director of the first movie fails to create a story that is fun or exciting, only yet again that word, poor. The whole technical aspect side of this is also not the best, I mean the productions look isn't all bad and at least it looks the part but it doesn't help too much. The camera work is shoddy and the strange sort of shaky look they give the zombies is horrible and it only creates a sense of motion sickness not horror.

So really in conclusion I can only say this is horror not done so well but to be fair it isn't completely just bad. The movie has it's high leg kicks, seemingly impossible jumps and of course gun shots galore and that is all fine and will probably please those who like that kind of thing. The problem I have is the lazy directing and writing and the basic plot which to me is unforgivable and should have been addressed and not just thrown out onto the screen before properly having a look. So anyway before I go off subject about recommending I think many can enjoy this but many won't, depends if you're won over easily or enjoy zombie horror that much.