Not bad at all

Rating: Null/10 (15 September 2004)

So I went into this movie without any expectations whatsoever, and I think that helped. This is not a movie that you would ever expect to be good, so the fact that it wasn't terrible is an accomplishment. I simply do not understand the venom reviewers throw at schlock movies such as this when it is plainly, clearly aimed at one agenda: a cheap, Friday night date/scare movie. Does it deliver? Yes, more often than not. Milla Jovovich is a stunningly beautiful actress to watch, and there's actually some acting talent there. She manages to deliver her genre cliché's with actual charisma. The rest of the cast ranges from decent (a funny Mike Epps)to dismissably cable TV (everyone else). The directing is about on par with the rush jobs of this formula pic, with some stupid jarring blurry stuff that just annoyed me. I've pretty much given up that few in the American studio system knows how to stage a decent fight scene, and this film is a case in point: all shaky cameras and a blur of bodies. For sure, I much preferred the Dawn of the Dead remake to this, just as much as I preferred Torque to the Fast and Furious movies: both films were stylish, comedic spins on the genre. However, if all movies were built sarcastically there would be no reference for what they were ripping on. Resident Evil: Apocalypse gets the job done, and that's good enough for a Friday night. Two 1/2 stars out of five.