The least you need to know

Rating: 7/10 (5 October 2004)

Character Development: Not much, but typical for an action movie.
Character Appeal: Milla Jovovich plays a kind of female Arnold Schwarzenegger, a grown-up Buffy the Vampire Slayer. She's no great actress, but she's convincing as a zombie-killer. She also has a natural, unaltered-by-plastic-surgery, beauty that makes her very appealing to the male target audience of this movie.
Cinematography and Editing: OK overall. However, as in some other recent movies of this genre, you can't really see much when the zombies are being hit by punches, kicks or bullets due to a combination of quick cuts and rapid camera movement. This may bother some people, but I didn't mind it too much.
Gore: Surprisingly little for a zombie movie, mainly due to the camera movement and editing mentioned above.
Holes in the Plot: Typical for an action movie. The biggest one I noticed--zombies only appear when they are necessary to the plot. At times the city seems completely deserted, not a zombie in sight. At other times, on cue, masses of them appear out of nowhere.
My Take: I liked The Apocalypse better than the first movie because it takes place in Raccoon City rather than in the subterranean Hive, which I found to be too monotonous and confining. This movie delivers what it promises--non-stop action from beginning to end. It's not going to win any Academy Awards, but it's good escapist entertainment. (6 out of 10)