Surgeon Generals warning: Adverse side effects may result. (minor spoilers)

Rating: 8/10 (19 September 2004)

Well, I waited on baited breath for this movie. I saw the previews, among the slickest I've seen. The entire Regenerate commercial was brilliant. By the end of the movie, you have an idea where they are going with that idea. But let's not get ahead of our selves.
The movies, as a pair, show an amazing flow of continuity. They even include flash backs and remain consistent with the end of the first movie, placing it with in the first 10 or 15 minutes of Apocalypse.
Such continuity is rare, look at the Evil Dead series, it looks like the Writers were high when they did those two movies, I mean they look almost identical to each other. The second one regurgitated the premise of the first one, alight a little more strange. The last time I saw a movie series flow together like these two was Back to the future, but we didn't have to wait so long.
Now, I know that a lot of people didn't like the direction the movies went, leaving the games to the side, and pushing them away when they were included in apocalypse, as the woefully overly criticize secondary role Jill had in the movie. The movies tie more or less into RE 3: Nemesis, depicting the nemesis' origin in the first one. The games never even mention where or what the nemesis is. or even why he's killing and hunting STARS. Here in apocalypse they even fleshed him out into a more human creature, a more beauty and the beast parallel to Alice. As to Carlos and Nicholai, that's just creative license. The writers decided to change it because they wanted too. I still think they were both excellent in the movie though they were backgrounds to the others. The additions of Angie and L J were great. L J added comedy relief, though in no way did he steal the show. I'm sorry, but I never looked forward to his next moment and entirely expected him to die. The girl was kinda creepy in her 6th sense way of the zombies and cool exterior, though she had enough tempering of her childish frame to make her slightly believable. I honestly thought the zombie girl was her and was all sad :( Then I was happy to see her again and alive to the end :). I admit some of it was predictable, but I admit I had some popcorn choking incidents where I was genuinely surprised by something. Just like the first one as I recall.
An example to raise was the church seen with the priest and his sister(?). At first you know something is wrong, you hope she's just scared, then you hope she's just dead, then you know she's a zombie. It's milder, less extreme case than the guy with the wife and baby in Dawn of the Dead. That was just too much for me, I still have nightmares of the zombie baby. Here you see her, but you also don't and that makes it creepier, wondering. Most people complained you didn't get to see her enough. Well, why not complain about Alfred Hitchcock? Or Psycho? They weren't gory...I mean just seeing the blood going down the drain in Vertigo makes it creepier than seeing the actual trauma inflicted to spill that same blood. People are hungry for things like Cabin Fever these days. Gore, gore and more gore. As others also pointed out, the movie lacked good gory zombie views. Well, this movie isn't about any one zombie, save the nemesis. Besides, unless a zombie is about to kill you, are you gonna really be caring about what average Joe zombie looks like? No you'll be running. One zombie is just like another zombie: dead, decaying and moaning for your flesh. Oh, let's not forget that there are so many of them, hence the idea of Apocalypse. All of it ending with you being the last one. Have some sense and forget about ogling the zombie, even if she has nice boobs! Run!
Speaking of boobs, a lot of people had trouble with the nudity. Well, most horror movies have at least 1 or 2 sexual scenes. These are usually actual sex or a shower scene. Most of these scenes are just thrown in there for the hell of it with no plot reasons. In Resident Evil, it never sexual. In this case, nudity is used for conveying vulnerability, rebirth, and in the case of the zombie hookers, comedy.
Now, what's the point of the movie? Like it or not, every director, every writer wants to make a point. They're arrogant and want to give the world a piece of their mind. If you don't know that, well, I guess you weren't awake in English or lit classes in high school. Shame on you! Here in the world of Resident evil, it's about conformity, image, and power. Umbel represents conformity in the pursuit of power hidden behind an image. The t virus starts out as a means to the power to help the powerless, the doctor and the daughter confined to crutches and wheel chairs. Umbrella seeks to snatch the virus to sell for monetary power to those wanting military power. But then, they see in Alice Regenerate: the power of the wealthy to pay for Strength, beauty, youth. If cultivated, it could be the ultimate power, or the ultimate death. Even as the ultimate in health care, it has it's prices in development and the soul should it go awry. The Nemesis and Alice are the avatars of the T virus; they personify its 2 potentials. Alice is the Regenerate cover girl, where as Nemesis is the warning sign of the zombies. Beats a Surgeon General's warning . Just remember, our world has corporations like umbrella. Think Dupont, Microsoft, Time-Warner, Wal-Mart. Not too far from the truth huh? - A. C., a.k.a. Carlos Olivera