Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Screen Gems, 2004, Rated R, 1 hr. 34
min.
This movie picks up right where the last Resident
Evil left off. Milla Jovovich is back as Alice,
former head of security for the Umbrella Corporation who, with
her enhanced fighting abilities courteous of an Umbrella
biogenetic experiment, must battle the undead as she struggles
to stay alive and save the lives of the few remaining people
that are trapped in Raccoon City. The survivors have until
sunrise to save Angie (Sophie Vavasseur), the daughter of Dr.
Ashford (Jared Harris), one of Umbrella's top scientists, who will then help
them escape the city. And they only have until sunrise to
do it, as that's when a nuclear bomb will be detonated over the
city to kill the undead. As if that isn't pressure enough,
Alice also has to deal with a seemingly unstoppable, scary
creature, code named Nemesis.
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Paul W.S. Anderson is back as screenwriter. He was
the writer and director of the first Resident Evil and has
been keeping busy since as director and writer of Alien
vs. Predator. All three movies have the same feel
- lots of action, poor character and story development. Even
so, I still like the Resident Evil movies because Anderson does action so
well!
I laughed when reading the rating of Resident Evil: Apocalypse:
R for non-stop violence. I would have to agree. From
the beginning to the end there is non-stop action. I was
never bored and only when the movie ended did I think about the
movie's holes and weaknesses, such as a convoluted plot and no
real sense of who controls Umbrella Corporation. Or where
the rest of the world is when Zombie's are taking over...
But this movie is what it is and what people expect - a movie with
a lot of action and zombies!
Jovovich kicks good butt and is a very charismatic presence on
the screen. As is the underrated Oded Fehr (most well known
for The Mummy
movies), who plays a Special Tactics and Rescue Services
(S.T.A.R.S.) officer helping Jovovich and others escape from
Raccoon City.
I could have done without the lackluster performance by Sienna
Guillory as Jill Valentine, a recently demoted but tough police
officer who is one of the survivors Alice is helping to escape the
city. It seems the character was just thrown in for eye
candy, as evident by her skimpy outfit and bad-girl
attitude. Jill first meets Alice when Alice saves the lives
of the survivors by kicking the pants out of a few undead
predators. You would think Jill would say thank you.
Instead she says, "Who the fu*k are you?" I
expected her next line to be, "There's only room for one
beautiful, tough girl in this movie!"
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Alice (Jovovich)
ready for action

Carlos (Fehr)
helping Alice and Angie (Vavasseur)

Dr. Ashford
(Harris) greets visitors

Peyton (Adoti),
Jill (Guillory) and Terri (Holt)

The Special
Tactics and Rescue Services (S.T.A.R.S.)
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Providing good laughs is Mike Epps as L.J., who was freed
from a police station by Jill. He brings a few
laugh-out-loud moments to break the pounding action and pace of
the movie.
Rounding out the cast is Raz Adoti who plays Peyton Wells,
Jill's cop buddy, and Sandrine Holt who plays Terri Morales,
an annoying TV anchor person more concerned with filming what's
going on for her "Emmy" then with shooting at the
zombies. All in all, I recommend a viewing. I can't wait
for the next movie, the plot of which was set up very nicely at
the end of this movie!
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QUICK FACTS |
Studio |
Screen Gems |
Genre |
Horror/Action |
Rating |
R |
Length |
94 Minutes |
Color |
Yes |
Sound |
Yes |
|
|
CAST |
Actor / Actress |
Character |
Milla Jovovich |
Alice |
Sienna Guillory |
Jill Valentine |
Oded Fehr |
Carlos Olivera |
Thomas Kretschmann |
Major Cain |
Sophie Vavasseur |
Angie Ashford |
Raz Adoti |
Peyton Wells |
Jared Harris |
Dr. Ashford |
Mike Epps |
L.J. |
Sandrine Holt |
Terri Morales |
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|
CREW |
Alexander Witt
|
Director |
Paul W.S. Anderson |
Screenwriter |
Christian Sebaldt |
Cinematographer |
Derek Rogers |
Cinematographer
|
Victor Hadida |
Executive Producer
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http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/residentevilapocalypse.html
Reviewed by: Hauntmistress 9/13/2004 |