Year of Release: 2004
Director: Alexander Witt
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Thomas Kretschmann, Jared Harris, Mike Epps, Sandrine Holt, Zack Ward, Iain Glenn, Razaaq Adoti
Genre: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi
Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 3
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Synopsis and Review:
Following the success of Paul W. S. Anderson's first "Resident Evil", a sequel was inevitable. The film marked the feature directorial debut of Alexander Witt, one of the most well known second unit film directors, who has worked on features such as Jan de Bont's "Speed", Doug Liman's "The Bourne Identity" and more recently Sam Mendes's "Spectre". The film picks up after the events of the original "Resident Evil". Raccoon City has been overrun by zombies, and the remaining survivors are trying to flee as quickly as possible. The Umbrella Corporation, fearing for a spread of the virus, keeps the city walls closed, while still experimenting with the effects of the T-virus on particular subjects. Alice awakens in a hospital, and realizes what is happening in the city. As she situates herself, she eventually comes across a group of survivors, led by Jill Valentine, a former special forces member. They are contacted by an Umbrella employee, Dr. Ashford, who assures them he can evacuate them from the city, in exchange for them recovering his daughter, who is still stranded in the city. They only have a few hours to do so, since Umbrella is planning on decimating the entire city in order to contain the virus. The group sets forth in their mission, while Umbrella releases one of their test subjects, Nemesis, on the city, with the intent of battling Alice.
The whole "Resident Evil" series, as shepherded by Paul W. S. Anderson, was always an economical one in terms of narrative. The films have never aimed to be more than polished B-movies, and therefore always focus on delivering on their premise, namely showcasing its central hero, overcoming considerable odds, in a nearly extinct planet. The main problem with the films, something that this one once again demonstrates, is the fact that this economical writing, prevents the characters of being more than just the casual passer by, or someone who comes into the narrative and then simply disappears, without much thought or consequence for that matter. Alice, the central core to the films, is also very superficially drawn, and even after 6 films, it's never entirely materialized what and who she in fact is. "Apocalypse" in particular, tries to be an escape film, but never manages to sufficiently create a sense of urgency, menace or for that matter, dread, particularly considering that all the characters are surrounded by zombies. The film focuses quite a bit on action set pieces, which are well executed, but aside from those, there isn't much to it. Milla Jovovich tries to bring some dimension to the character, some inner conflict and residues of guilt and redemption, but the film is clearly more interested in her fighting prowess, more so than her emotional arc. It's a film that is in fact a stepping stone for the subsequent ones, though it doesn't add much to the lore of this series. Forgettable.
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