A decent movie that ultimately falls flat

Rating: 4/10 (13 September 2010)

Great Video Game based movies are hard to come by. There are those who fail instantly e.g. Street Fighter *cringe* , while there are also those who start well but ultimately fall flat e.g. Prince Of Persia. The Resident Evil Series is a curious case, as even though they aren't the perfect example of Good Video Game based movie, they have managed to do what many others fail to do. Be quite profitable.
In Resident Evil Afterlife, Milla Jovovich returns as the powered up Alice (complete with clones), while Ali Larter returns as Claire Redfield with newcomer Wentworth Miller as brother Chris Redfield (pre massive bulk up of RE 5) as they face Resident Evil main protagonist Albert Wesker played by Shawn Roberts. Paul W.S. Anderson returns to helm the film.
First to note is that despite the use of the Fusion Camera created by James Cameron and used in his film Avatar, the effects in Resident Evil Afterlife is not worth noting down . While it is far better than the 3D trash that is Clash Of The Titans, the effects does not change viewer experience.
One of the main criticism in regards to the movie is the director himself. A self-proclaimed No.1 fan of major directors such as James Cameron and Ridley Scott, Anderson continually tries to imitate the styles of those directors. And it shows, Resident Evil Afterlife feels as if it is mix up between The Matrix with a pinch of Die Hard and The Terminator. He does not try to develop his own style and make RE unique as opposed to the other video game based movies. A perfect example of director putting his own style is Zac Snyder, a director who has this particular style that even as you watch his film, you instantly know it is directed from Zac Snyder. Even his use of slow-mo is unique as seen in 300.
Anderson is also responsible for the, quite frankly, poor script, while some fans of the game might enjoy the many references to the game (Wesker's glowing eyes and the throwing of his sunglasses remind anyone of RE 5?) it is quite cringe worthy actually seeing it. The length of the film also makes it quite boring at times.
Acting wise Milla Jovovich excels in her role as Alice, in contrast, Ali Larter and Wentworth Miller while decent, both fail to rise up. One of the major disappointments of the film is that it fails to go deeper into the relationship between the siblings Chris and Claire (one of the most interesting relationships in the games). As opposed to the games where their relationship is dealt deeply, the film differs, and it seems both Chris and Claire are siblings only because their last names are similar.
Overall Resident Evil Afterlife will cater to the fans of the games, but for those who are looking for more will be disappointed. While not as awful as Resident Evil 2, it is a movie that isn't too spectacular and doesn't fulfill the potential that the series definitely has.