Resident Evil: Apocalypse

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.

  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!"

 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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