A terrible blow to the name of the "Resident Evil" legacy

Rating: 3/10 (6 October 2010)

One word comes to mind: WOW. And not in a good way.
Paul W. S. Anderson successfully managed to bring the "Resident Evil" franchise to its knees and kill it off. This is the worst thing that ever have been spawned in this franchise. I had looked forward to this movie, but had started to doubt since reading the first reviews. And my worst fears about the movie were realized when I sat down to watch the movie myself.
The huge 'Axeman', what was up with that character? Stolen directly out of the "Silent Hill" universe. Yeah, lets steal 'Pyramidhead' and put a clone of him in our movies, yeah, Resident Evil fans will totally love that.
"Resident Evil: Afterlife" has a very weak storyline and plot. This movie is all about the action and 3D effects. Let's just milk the "Resident Evil" name for all it is worth.
The zombies are no longer a major part in the movie. Heck, they are not even secondary in this particular movie. You see them only a couple of times, and they have very little impact in the movie. That was a huge disappointment. Sure, the ones that you do see have cool make-up and effects, but not enough to carry any part of the movie by a long shot.
The zombie dogs were cool, as always. Well, that is up until they broke into two and became the flapping maws with teeth. What the... That was just downright stupid and painful to watch.
Also, Wesker injected Alice with this chemical that removed her super strength, speed, accelerated healing, and so forth in the first part of the movie, but she didn't seem affected by that at all. She still ran as fast as before, took poundings that would otherwise kill elephants, kicked butt like there was no tomorrow. No, no, no... Had Anderson totally forgotten that he had made Wesker administer this into Alice? That was so bad, such an epic fail.
One of the bright moments in the movie was when Chris Redfield was introduced, but mark my words, that thrill was short-lived. Mainly because of the actor they had cast to portray Chris Redfield - Wentworth Miller. He failed to deliver any credibility to the part of Chris, and his acting was horrible. So, that was indeed a short-lived thrill of seeing Chris Redfield finally introduced in the movie versions of Resident Evil.
And Wesker, no matter how enigmatic and mysterious he was in the games, he is portrayed so badly in this movie. In the previous movies he had that touch of mystery and bad-guy-feel to him that you know from the games. But in "Afterlife" he is downright annoying, and comes off like a mocking silhouette of a typical villain straight out of the "Hollywood Book of How to be a Villain". It sucked!
Milla Jovovich (playing Alice) and Ali Larter (playing Claire Redfield) carried this movie, with good help from Boris Kodjoe (playing Luther). However, I am starting to feel worn out watching Jovovich in the role of this super-human-butt-kicking-femme-fatale. It has been hyped up to the point where it is no longer fun.
If they decide to make another installment to the "Resident Evil" franchise, I hope they go with another approach to it. Bring it back to the classic first and second "Resident Evil" games, and also back at the level of the first movie. The "Resident Evil" movies now is nothing but a hollow-action-fest-shell. It lacks appeal and has gone way out of tune with what "Resident Evil" is truly about - survival horror. Not a glam-fest with heaps of over-the-edge 3D effects and nothing but mindless action. You might as well just sit down and play Counter-Strike, it is about the same crap now.
I suppose this movie will be right up your alley if you are an adrenalin-hooked action lover, but if you (like me) love the original "Resident Evil" games and enjoy the survival horror genre, then you will be sorely disappointed with "Resident Evil: Afterlife". The first "Resident Evil" movie was good, the second movie "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" was adequate, while the third movie "Resident Evil: Extinction" was already starting to halt and limb with its plot line, but "Resident Evil: Afterlife" is truly a slap in the face of the "Resident Evil" name.
Anderson, just hand the "Resident Evil" movie making over to someone more capable. You have truly managed to destroy all that it was about! This is a sad moment in zombie-history.