Resident Evil: Afterlife [DVD] [2011]

Alice travels to a beach where she believes survivors are, when she gets there she finds Claire Redfield who has lost her memory but nobody else. They later fly past an abandoned prison surrounded by zombies, they amazingly manage to land the plane on the roof and join a group of survivors that coincidently contains Claire's brother Chris. They have to find a way to get from the prison to a ship called Arcadia, where more survivors are supposed to be.

The plot for this film is very thin, and seems to lose touch even further from the games on which they're based. The acting is decent from most, but Shawn Roberts seems horribly miscast as Wesker and I think he thought he was playing Agent Smith from The Matrix. Whilst I mention The Matrix, this film has far too many Matrix style fight scenes. Wesker is able to dodge bullets in slow motion, yet he gets hit by a flying knife which moves much slower. I just found it a little strange.

The film has so many slow motion scenes that Michael Bay would be proud, it's that bad that the slow motion probably adds at least 10 minutes to the run time. The opening 15 minutes is a massively over the top action sequence, that's a million miles away from the gritty realism the first film went for. Just after the ludicrous first 15 minutes, Alice is given an injection that makes her a regular human again. I was really glad they did this, but they seem to forget about it and within no time she's superhuman again. Many of the zombies have evolved, much in the way the vampires did in Blade 2 and they look very similar. There's a creature in this that would be right at home in a Silent Hill game, but it looked cool and I didn't mind it. My main disappointment was that this film loses all of the horror element of the games and earlier movies, this is just a full blown action film with some zombies thrown in.

Wentworth Miller plays Chris Redfield who first appears as a prisoner, he even says "I know a way out of here". I'm not sure if this was a purposeful nod to his Prison Break character Michael Schofield or not, but it got a chuckle from me. Paul W.S.Anderson is capable of making a really good horror film, he directed the outstanding Event Horizon. I was hoping he'd direct this film much closer to the first film, as he returned as director having stepped down for the previous two.

As a horror film, Resident Evil : Afterlife is absolutely terrible. As a brainless, summer blockbuster action film it's actually pretty good. I think it's a shame that the action has all but taken over from the horror, and I really hope that the fifth film gets back to the horror but from the way this film ends it doesn't seem possible. The picture and sound quality on the blu ray is superb, and is definitely worth getting instead of the dvd. There's plenty of extras on the disc, including commentary, featurettes, deleted scenes, outtakes and more. It had a $60,000,000 budget, so the effects are ambitious and work well most of the time, but i'd rather have a solid script over big action scenes anyday.

Resident Evil : Afterlife is not a terrible film, but it is the worst of the series so far if you're more into horror like I am. It's probably the best so far if you're after action. Milla Jovovich is made to look quite attractive again in this, they managed to make her look very ordinary in Extinction. The quality of the blu ray which boasts excellent picture and sound means this product is worth 3 stars, maybe even 3.5. Well worth adding to the blu ray collection.

RE:Afterlife picks up where we left off with Extinction finding Alice and her clones (Milla Jovovich) infected with the T-Virus and packing a serious set of psychic abilities. Targeting the CEO of the Umbrella corp - Albert Wesker (played by Shawn Roberts) - at his Japanese base she and her clones encounter stiff resistance but learn of a possible sanctuary from the T-virus and the hordes of undead that still roam the surface - Arcadia. Will she ever find Arcadia and be able to rest at last? Time will tell...

Afterlife begins well with an excellent action sequence that see Alice doing what she does best; there is even a Matrixesque jump through some plate glass whilst firing & falling, the CG is tip-top and eye-meltingly crisp. The same can't be said for the acting though which is rather wooden; the motivations and story are remarkably similar to prior instalments but Wesker is the target this time rather than some [insert random letter here]-virus spawned monstrosity. Nonetheless the direction is snappy and entertaining, even if the actors don't get a chance to flex their emotional range.

Afterlife does lean on Resident Evil 3:Extinction as it features some flashbacks and some of the same characters (Claire Redfield & K-Mart most notably). This is also the first time that a major player from the games rears his head, Chris Redfield (Claire's Brother) adequately played by Wentworth Miler (Prison Break).

However, despite the lack of originality in the story, this is genuinely one of the better Resident Evil films. The environs and situations that Alice and Claire Redfield find themselves in across the wilderness and in L.A. are drenched in intrigue and tension that really captivates. If you are a Resident Evil fan to begin with, you won't be left disappointed. If you are new to the series, it's probably best not to kick-off here as there will be a lot that sails straight over your head.

There is a Director's commentary and a couple of making of featurettes ("Band of Survivors: Casting Afterlife", "Fighting Back: The Action of Afterlife") on the DVD and the Blu-Ray has a whole load more featurettes including interviews with RE gamers and what they would like to see in the films. Of course, no Extras would be complete without the standard deleted scenes and outtakes. This is a tense and entertaining addition to the franchise, recommended!!

Plot exactly the same as the others in the franchise, only to be expected as they are all about survivors fighting zombies. Great special effects and action but again the ending just looks like an introduction to the next film in the series