Editor’s Note: This was originally published for FANGORIA on September 10, 2004, and we’re proud to share it as part of The Gingold Files.
There’s a 10-minute-or-so stretch in Resident Evil: Apocalypse that sets up an intriguing new side to the lead character of Alice (Milla Jovovich) and promises a new direction for the film franchise. It could have been a solid first sequence of an imaginative sequel; unfortunately, it’s the last sequence of Apocalypse, whose makers were apparently more concerned about getting audiences excited about the next installment than about giving this one any memorable twists. In that sense, the movie has a similar feel to Alien vs. Predator, not surprising given that Paul W.S. Anderson, who wrote and directed AVP, scripted and co-produced this one, having penned and helmed the original Evil. Apocalypse was directed by Alexander Witt, a seasoned 2nd-unit action specialist—which is appropriate given that the film feels like it’s all 2nd-unit action.
After an opening montage in which Alice reminds the audience about what happened the first time, the movie sketches in the ensuing events which lead the zombies spawned in the Umbrella Corp.’s underground Hive facility to invade Raccoon City. We pick up with Alice as she passes that familiar newspaper headline reading “The Dead Walk!”, but she might as well encounter a warning sign reading “Entering Plot-Free Zone.” Once the metropolis has been sealed off by Umbrella Corp. honchos anxious to contain the infection, the film quickly becomes a series of setpieces in which Alice and a gradually dwindling number of heavily armed survivors shoot up a bunch of ghouls, flee to the next locale, exchange a few words of dialogue, shoot up a bunch of ghouls, etc. This may replicate the experience of playing the video game the film is based on, but it doesn’t sustain much in the way of dramatic interest.
As if aware that the story has started running in circles by the middle of the second reel or so, the filmmakers introduce their “boss” (as videogamers would call it) creature early: the towering mutant assassin Nemesis. It stomps onto the scene at about the half-hour mark and gets into shootouts of its own on the way to an inevitable final tussle with Alice. Until then, she hurries about the city in the company of tough cop Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), who is given no noticeable traits that distinguish her from Alice, and Terri (Sandrine Holt), a weathergirl who hopes to shoot enough camcorder footage of the zombie plague to win her an Emmy.
Not that it matters much, but good actors like Oded Fehr (The Mummy), Thomas Kretschmann (Blade II) and Iain Glen (Darkness) turn up in completely colorless roles. Also tagging along is a streetwise black dude (Mike Epps), who comes across like a second-rate Dolemite wannabe as he drops F-bombs and not terribly amusing wisecracks. The only supporting player who makes any impact is Jared Harris (The Eternal), playing a scientist who attempts to remotely guide Alice and company to rescue his missing daughter.
Witt certainly brings all his stunts-and-mayhem experience to bear on Apocalypse’s action setpieces, but the sameness of them all soon becomes wearying. Worse yet, the hand-to-hand combat scenes, particularly Alice and Nemesis’ climactic battle, fall prey to the depressingly familiar approach of blurry fast cutting that makes it near impossible to tell what’s going on. And while the film is well-stocked with scarred, bleeding ghouls (despite what the ads would have you believe), the scare tactics are uninspired. There are lots of loud noises and things suddenly lurching into frame, plus the by-now tiresome slow-approach-to-a-sitting-creepy-kid-from-behind that was also just seen in Exorcist: The Beginning, and really should have been mothballed after being parodied so well in Scary Movie 3.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse might not ring so hollow were it not coming out in the midst of a zombie-film renaissance. 28 Days Later and the Dawn of the Dead remake handled the survival-amidst-the-bloodthirsty-hordes scenario with much more variety and character, while this month’s Shaun of the Dead infuses the subgenre with fresh blood by siccing its ghouls upon an assortment of silly but very personable non-heroes. Waiting in the wings is George A. Romero’s Land of the Dead, which will no doubt have more wit and/or social commentary in any five minutes than Apocalypse does in its entire running time. As for this franchise, a potential third Evil might well pay off on the closing moments of the current entry, but zombie fans are advised to hold out for that film and skip this thoroughly uninspired adventure.
