REAL 3D Falls Short

Rating: 2/10 (17 September 2010)

Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D Wait For DVD My Critical Perspective: D Personal Perspective: C- 20/100
Resident Evil: Afterlife is the fourth installment in the film series Resident Evil based on the popular Video Game series with the same name. Similar to many sequels that have been released recently, Resident Evil director Paul W.S. Anderson decides to film it in 3D. For those who have not followed the film series or the video game, the following is a brief history of Resident Evil. The main character in the film series is a woman named Alice, played by Milla Jovovich. Alice used to be a security operative for a corrupt company called the Umbrella Corporation (a corporation developed both the T Virus and G Virus and perform various lab experiments) based in Raccoon City. Basically the company releases a deadly virus (T Virus) that spreads rapidly around the world and turns infected people into zombies. Therefore, Alice's overall goal is to destroy the Umbrella Corporation and prevent further infection to the world population. In Resident Evil: After Life Alice teams up with Claire Redfield (Played by Ali Larter) who at the end of the third film (Resident Evil Extinction) Travels to a "so called" safe zone known as Arcadia, but has lost her memory. Together they lead a small group in a quest to discover the secrets behind Arcadia and continue to hunt the Umbrella Corporation.
The Good: First off, the film had the highest grossing opening weekend box office out of the four films in the series making 27,700,000 dollars. Second, Milla Jovovich is back with her portrayal of Alice and stays true to her character as she has throughout the series. Alice along with Claire and their fellow survivors provide the audience with some very entertaining mindless zombie killing action that has been seen throughout the series. The best part of the film is the opening credits. They are able to utilize 3D technology the best in the film with a sequence where the camera pans around various characters as the credits are revealed on the screen. This opening scene gives an overview of the atmosphere of the film without any dialogue and in a very simple way.
The Bad: The time between each action sequence is very boring and lacks substance, good acting, a thoughtful dialogue and well thought out plot. The screenplay comes off as being forced together and put together in a rush. (Example: If the group of survivors needs a swimmer of course they have a high school swimming all-star.) The story is all over the place and is very confusing even if this isn't the first film you have seen in the series. Also, besides the 3D in the opening scene/credits the 3D is unnecessary and does not add to the movie at all. One example of this is a scene shown in the previews where the leader of the Umbrella Corporation takes his sunglasses off and throws them at the audience via 3D for no apparent reason at all
Final Thought: The subpar acting of Milla Jovovich along with various entertaining action sequences does not outweigh the poor scriptwriting, or the horrible acting of the supporting cast of this film. This film is just another sequel that was made for the sole reason of making money and is not worth the 3D ticket prices to see it in the theatres. Even Resident Evil fans should Wait For DVD to see this film.