Movie Review Rewind: Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)

Brandon Vick flips the calendar back to 2010 for a look at Resident Evil: Afterlife on this edition of Movie Review Rewind.

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Resident Evil: Afterlife is the fourth installment of the Resident Evil franchise, and apparently there will be more. Now this could be good or bad depending on how you feel and what to expect from this franchise. It was only a matter of time until the RE movies became 3D. But the technology does not give this movie enough freshness and 3D only really impresses when it is used on certain films, mostly animated ones (watch How to Train Your Dragon and Despicable Me in 3D).

Milla Jovovich is back again as Alice who is still trying to bring down the Umbrella Corporation. Afterlife picks up right where Extinction left off. The Alice clones take down Umbrella’s headquarters in Tokyo and she soon joins the other survivors who desperately are trying to get to a place called Arcadia—an island or a home where there is no infection or zombies. But most of the movie takes place in this prison where the survivors have remained hidden waiting for help from Arcadia. They believe Alice is from there and are disappointed when they find out she is not, but she remains their only hope for them actually getting to the promised land.

This is Jovovich’s franchise. She is the closest to the ultimate female action hero besides Angelina Jolie. She knows Alice and is Alice a fighter for sure. A tough, vigorous woman who does not mind explosions and getting a little blood on her. Ali Larter is back as Claire and Wentworth Miller (Prison Break) is a new addition to the franchise. And their performances are decent but its Jovovich’s movie. It always has been. But they do help her kick some ass which is why they are there.

Paul W.S. Anderson (director of the first Resident Evil) knows what works with a franchise such as this. I believe the true fans of this franchise will have no problem with this movie. As far as the violence and action sequences, they look amazing and are pretty cool in 3D. There are certain things that Anderson delivers that keeps this franchise’s heart pumping. It is the grotesque looking zombies and animals with the action and the over-the-top stunts that grosses us out or simply amazes us. And for that, Anderson has done this fourth installment justice.

However, nothing new comes out of these movies, including Afterlife, even if it’s in 3D. Not anymore. Because of the last three movies, we know who will die and who will survive. Some characters die over and over but never stay dead. All of the places that seem to be “safe” never are. And this is exactly the case for this one. There are no surprises left in this franchise and when they run out of ways to keep Alice alive and run out of ideas of how to kill (which may never happen), then the RE franchise will be dead. For good.

Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.

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