Resident Evil : Afterlife - (September 10th, 2010): R
Distributor: Screen Gems
Opening Weekend Box-Office: #1 with $26,650,264
Domestic Box-Office Gross to-date: $43,893,958
Gross Revenue: $145,637,958
Budget: $60 million
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Video games are notoriously weak subject material for a Hollywood film (my review for Prince of Persia this past summer helps prove this sentiment), but fortunately, the Resident Evil series has time and again proven itself as a successful exception to the rule. Since the 2002 original, Milla Jovovich has been thrilling audiences as the deadly heroine Alice, who more than adequately defends herself against hordes of flesh-eating zombies. With two successful sequels (2004’s Resident Evil: Apocalypse and 2007’s Resident Evil: Extinction), Milla Jovovich has established herself as the top ass-kicking female in Hollywood (sorry Angelina), thereby developing an incredibly loyal fan-following within the video game world. So, needless to say, promotions for the film at San Diego Comic-Con International were a given, and fans of the film series were sure to line up for a new entry in the zombie genre. Even though Resident Evil: Afterlife was clearly targeted towards this limited fan boy segment, it was still generating considerable buzz for its use of 3D technology. I’ve commented on the unnecessary use of 3D in a number of Hollywood’s most recent films for months now, but if director Paul W.S. Anderson was going to be using the same camera technology that James Cameron used for Avatar, then maybe it would be worth it to shell out a few extra bucks for 3D glasses. The trailers released by Screen Gems promised that every frame and every bullet of Resident Evil: Afterlife was made for 3D, and when you combine that with the fact that I was already a fan of the series, then I couldn’t wait to head to the theater.
Considering that the plot for Resident Evil: Afterlife assumes that viewers have seen all the previous Resident Evil films, I’m going to offer a little background. Within the Resident Evil universe, the evil Umbrella Corporation created a biological weapon known as the t-virus, which was designed to reanimate deceased biological tissue, effectively bringing the dead back to life. Unfortunately, the virus escaped, trigging an apocalypse that turned most of humanity into flesh-eating zombies…those unaffected simply try to survive. Series protagonist Alice (Milla Jovovich) is the one human to have successfully bonded with the t-virus, which granted her super-human abilities and made her a key target for Umbrella scientists. The newest entry in the series, Afterlife, follows Alice as she searches for survivors in Los Angeles, battles hordes of zombies, and teams up with siblings Chris (Prison Break’s Wentworth Miller) and Claire (Ali Larter, of Heroes fame) Redfield to take down the Chairman of the Umbrella Corporation, Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts). With the resulting gun battles and explosions required in a survival horror setting, there was more than enough potential for impressive 3D effects.
Well, Resident Evil: Afterlife promised plenty of eye-popping action, and I am pleased to report that it more than delivered, and all with considerable style and energy. For example, the opening scene involves an army of Alice clones (which were created in Resident Evil: Extinction) attacking an Umbrella base, and they lay waste to hundreds of henchman with gloriously gratuitous 3D violence. Throughout the film, everything from ninja stars and katana swords to shotgun shells and grenade shrapnel fly at the audience, satisfying even the pickiest action junky…most “3D” flicks have one or two effects, but Afterlife makes almost constant use of this impressive technology. Another positive is the fact that Resident Evil: Afterlife’s soundtrack is dominated by heavy-metal rock, so hearing guitars strum up as the film’s heroes prepare for battle just adds an energy that the audience can’t help but feed off; the bathroom battle between Alice, Claire, and Umbrella’s newest zombie that was highlighted in the previews was easily my favorite part of the film. As a longtime fan of the Resident Evil franchise, I was thoroughly entertained with this latest chapter in the story and its use of cutting-edge visual effects.
Unfortunately, beyond some flashy effects and action, Resident Evil: Afterlife doesn’t have much to offer to those who aren’t dedicated fans of the franchise. The plot picks up almost immediately after the last film, but if you don’t remember what happened last time you’re out of luck, because the writers simply assumed that audience members would draw on prior knowledge of the franchise to fill in any plot holes or to answer new questions. For instance, if you didn’t know that Alice was cloned in the third movie, then the opening scene is confusing as hell, and a post-credits scene brings back a character from the second film, but that means nothing if you don’t remember her role in the story six years ago. Milla Jovovich once again delivers as the battle-weary Alice, but in terms of supporting cast, the Resident Evil movies have usually put together interesting characters for Alice’s fellow survivors and allies; but this time around, with the exception of Ali Larter and Wentworth Miller, no one is memorable or able to connect with the audience. Even Larter and Miller weren’t given that much to work with; Chris and Claire Redfield are main characters in the Resident Evil video game series, but the lack of background and character development they were given in this film is just insulting to the core material.
Another big error in Resident Evil: Afterlife involves the absence of a key element of the franchise…the zombies themselves. Resident Evil is all about survival horror, and the chief appeal of the films has always been watching the characters run for their lives and battle zombies. Sadly, in Afterlife, the zombies are largely relegated to the background in favor of human villains, and any of the more interesting zombie varieties simple seem thrown into the script. To clarify, the Resident Evil films have always cleverly incorporated some of the boss characters from the video games into the story (such as the Nemesis and Tyrant zombies), and explained their presence as a mutation of the t-virus. But this time around, the Executioner zombie (the guy hurling the axe at the audience in the previews) just appears with no explanation. Why would the writers have downplayed characters that have been so successful in the past?
In terms of box-office performance, Resident Evil: Afterlife was in a very unique position its opening weekend, being released the first weekend after the end of the summer movie season with no other new competitors. Still, even during a historically slow weekend, an opening performance of nearly $27 million is highly impressive and likely attributable to a loyal fan following. Unfortunately, critics have not been kind in their criticism, and such a reaction seemed to be reflected in Afterlife’s second weekend performance, with a 62.5% drop in revenue. Though this would normally be a point of concern, Resident Evil: Afterlife is dominating the international box-office, even toppling Inception as top overseas film, so Screen Gems will likely turn a nice profit and be motivated to release a sequel. Bottom line, fans of the series should not miss Resident Evil: Afterlife, but for everyone else, there is little offered beyond action, and really the only motivation for going to the theater involves the impressive 3D effects showcased.
Overall Recommendation: Medium
