Day 53: Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Resident Evil: Apocalypse

There were lots of posters for this movie. I picked this one. Yay!

I've said in the past that I'm not much of a gamer, but even I know that Resident Evil is an awesome franchise. Any game that involves zombies immediately gets my attention and when you make it have genuinely terrifying moments like Resident Evil does, you've got yourself a winner. Videogame-to-movie transitions are difficult and sometimes have horrible results (see: Mario Brothers, Double Dragon. The first installment of Resident Evil on the big screen had some pretty good horror and action moments and Resident Evil: Apocalypse continued the trend.

RE:Apocalypse begins with a quick recap of the first movie in which Alice (Milla Jovovich) the T-virus spread throughout the Umbrella Corporation's underground lab, The Hive. A special forces team is sent by Umbrella to stop the outbreak, but the employees of The Hive have all turned into zombies and overpower the team and escape into Racoon City. Alice is experimented on with the T-virus by Umbrella and gain superhuman strength, speed, and fighting ability. At the same time, Racoon City has been walled off, by Major Cain from Umbrella to keep the virus contained. At the same time, the creator of the T-Virus, Dr. Charles Ashford has learned that his daughter Angie is still stuck in the city. Disgraced police officer Jill Valentine, Sgt. Peyton Wells reporter Terri Morales eventually team up with Alice to find Angie in exchange for a way out of the city. At the same time, Umbrella soldier Carlos Olivera also gets a call to save Angie and joins up with Alice and her crew. The group is attacked by a powerful zombie soldier named Nemesis, who was originally an environmentalist named Matt from the first movie. Major Cain catches on to Dr. Ashford's plan and cuts off the group's plan. Will Alice be able to defeat Nemesis and Cain and save the world from the T-virus or will the group be eaten by zombies? 

Welcome to the gun show

Sequels have the advantage over their predecessor because the origin story is out of the way and they can get right to the action. RE:Apocalypse thankfully gives a recap of what previously happened, taking into account that some people may not have seen the first movie or that people just need a reminder. This does tack on some more time to the movie, which does feel longer than its 94 minutes. It's certainly not a boring 94 minutes, it just felt longer. I've read that the movie takes parts of several different Resident Evil games, but if you're like me, you did not have to play the games to comfortably follow the movie.

It has to be said that Milla Jovovich is a legitimate action star. She's great in the role of Alice as a strong, confident and capable badass. Sienna Guillory (Eragon, CSI) is equally as good (and hot) as Jill Valentine. Mike Epps (Next Friday, The Hangover) provides some welcome comedic relief as the pimp, T.J. The zombies look good and don't veer from the traditional idea of what a zombie should be. There is plenty of high-octane action throughout, but it should be noted that the action is very much based in the video game world. Impossible jumps, superhuman reflexes, and incredibly accurate shots all occur throughout the movie so if you like your action based in reality, you might find yourself yelling at the screen. Speaking of video games, certain scenes definitely give you the feeling that you should be holding a controller. When Alice confronts Nemesis, you feel like a health bar should be on the screen.

Do I have something stuck in my teeth?

Resident Evil:Apocalypse is a fun horror movie with plenty of pulse-pounding action. Milla Jovovich is once again excellent as Alice and is complimented by a capable cast surrounding her. The movie is easy to pick up if you're not a video game fan. It does have some strong video game-like moments, so that may be discouraging to some viewers that prefer a bit more reality in their action. RE:A is definitely worth your time if you like horror or a good action flick.

7.5/10