Jovovich - ass-kicking in 3-D makes the most of the familiar yet action-packed sci-fi franchise latest entry.

Rating: 7/10 (4 October 2010)

RESIDENT EVIL : AFTERLIFE (2010) **1/2 Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Wentworth Miller, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Sergio Peris-Mencheta, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, Sienna Guillory, Kacey Barnfield, Norman Yeung, Fulvio Cecere. Filmmaker Paul W.S. Anderson ratches up the adrenaline pumped up CGI action sequences in this otherwise bloodless entry to the lucrative video-game adaptation franchise this time with Jovovich's ass-kicking Alice (perhaps sci-fi's baddest heroine since Sigourney Weaver's "Ripley"?) is still up against the nefarious Umbrella Corporation's takeover in the post-apocalyptic zombie-virus infected globe with yet another rag-tag assembly of survivors (including Larter reprising her amiable and tough-as-nails sidekick) while coming to terms with her own mortality. The 3-D is fairly spectacular as are the aforementioned pulse-quickening set pieces but again more of the same-ol-same-ol (and leaps and bounds for another chapter opening).