Better action than Extinction and starts off well but that's about it

Rating: 4/10 (7 January 2011)

I very much loved the first two Resident Evil movies. They had a good feel and they had very kick ass fight scenes (especially from Milla Jovovich) and editing. In the first film, Milla even wore a red dress like me (too bad she didn't burn down a cinema though - oh well!). Milla seemed born to play these kinds of kick ass action roles and was very much like the lone gunslinger archetype and I could easily imagine her in some kind of Sergio Leone western.
The third movie, Extinction was disappointing for me though. I'm not sure if it coincided with Milla's pregnancy but she was nowhere near as acrobatic or full of fight and the end battle with the mutated villain was pretty much over too quickly. That film did not have the same kind of oomph factor or feel to it, but it did grow on me a little with more viewings.
Resident Evil: Afterlife starts out well enough and has much better action scenes in keeping with the first two movies (although there is very much over-reliance on slow motion scenes). I thought I was going to really enjoy it, but by the end of the movie, the whole thing felt pretty empty, pointless and lacking any real lasting substance. People may say "What do you expect from this kind of movie?" but because I loved the first two movies as superior popcorn flicks that very much won over many more hyped and budgeted movies for me, I would have liked a movie that delivered more. At least Ali Larter is a bit more involved in the action this time, but she has no connection to the Claire Redfield I remember from the Resident Evil: Codename Veronica game and doesn't really contribute anything as a character. I have liked Ali Larter in roles before and it is a shame that this franchise wastes her just as much as Heroes did after season one. The character of Albert Wesker is iconic from the video games and there must have been much anticipation for using this villain in the movies. But instead of delivering something special, the movie just has Wesker in a little bit at the beginning and then a little bit more at the end. Such a waste of plot potential. Worse, he is pretty much just lazily portrayed as a clone of Agent Smith from the Matrix movies (too bad he did not go so far as to refer to Milla as "Mrs Anderson" though tee hee!). The end villain battle may have been a little better than the one in Extinction but it still lacked any real excitement for me. One of the highlights of the film though was when Milla and Ali take on the execution style monster from the Resident Evil 5 game in the middle of the movie. Although slow motion dulls the action a little, it still manages to convey some power and dread.
Overall, if you hate these movies then I don't think this one will change your mind at all (and will probably just further confirm any criticisms you have - particularly about originality or resemblance to the actual games). If you've been pretty happy with all the movies so far, then you will probably also be content enough with this one. As someone who loved the first two movies and felt a little disappointed with the third, this one also lacked something for me. It started out with some potential and anticipation for the movie to come, became average zombie fare for much of the movie and ended up feeling empty and uninspired. Certainly for me it was nothing special and nothing that I think anyone particularly needs to go out of their way to see (although if you enjoyed it very much then I am happy for you). I am left wishing these movies would try to have better plots and try to be a bit more original but it is probably way too late for that now. At least it was good to see Milla being a bit more kick ass than in the previous entry though and I just wish she would get better material to utilize her action career while it is still there.