Resident Evil: Afterlife Review

“Resident Evil: Afterlife” is a solidly entertaining addition to zombie horror genre and the RE franchise.  Everyone involved does a great job at making this a fun movie to watch.  Offered in 2D, 3D and IMAX, “Afterlife” is visually stunning.  The cinematography, production design, visual effects and clothing work amazingly together, and the 3D effects are used in moderation, allowing viewers to appreciate the effect without being overwhelmed by it.

Story-wise, “Resident Evil: Afterlife” picks up where “Resident Evil: Extinction” leaves off, with Alice (Milla Jovovich) going after corporate baddies and following up on her promise to join her uninfected friends in Arcadia, Alaska.  Naturally, things don’t go smoothly for Alice, who learns that her corporate nemesis Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts) also has super-human powers from an unstable t-virus infection.  Wesker uses his Umbrella Corp. resources to gather up the survivors in Arcadia and feed off of their DNA to control his mutations.

At the end of “Resident Evil: Extinction,” in which Alice sends her friends to find shelter in Arcadia alone and unprotected, fans wondered whether Alice had lost her humanity. “Resident Evil: Afterlife” answers that question with a tepid “no.”  Alice tables her quest to destroy Umbrella Corp. to find her friends and then she stays around to help them get the Arcadia sanctuary up and running.  Unfortunately, the film doesn’t really show Alice’s transformation.  It just happens.  So we don’t really know what’s in Alice’s head or how much of her is still human and genuinely cares for others’ safety.

One thing we know for sure is that Alice hasn’t had sex since 2002 with Spence Parks (James Purefoy) in “Resident Evil.”  Now, that ain’t human.  Sure, the comical shower scene with Luther West  (Boris Kodjoe) was a tease, but we got nada in the end.  Maybe a possible Resident Evil 5 will reveal that Alice is no spinster.

Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) returns as Alice’s ass-kicking gal pal, while Chris Redfield (Wentworth Miller) and Luther West satisfy the essential beef-cake/brawn quota.  And for those of you who couldn’t sit for all of the end-credits to roll, you missed Jill Valentine’s (Sienna Guillory) grand reappearance.  Looks like a RE 5 is a definite possibility.

“Resident Evil: Afterlife” raked in over $71 million in worldwide box office receipts, making it the seventh highest-grossing September opening ever, and the highest-grossing opening weekend yet for the Resident Evil franchise, according to Box Office Mojo.