More of the same in this first sequel, with even less plot

Rating: 4/10 (30 October 2016)

Previous readers may be aware that the original RESIDENT EVIL wasn't one of my favourite genre flicks, despite the presence of flesh-eating zombies, and the sequel follows in much the same vein as the first. There is one major difference, however; this film dispenses with the story altogether, and the result is a typically mindless action fest with absolutely loads of shooting and martial arts high-kicking action. Normally I'm all for that, but sadly APOCALYPSE succumbs to the same clichéd formula as the original, in its story of a bunch of people running around in a sealed-off location and trying to avoid getting bitten by zombies.
Director Alexander Witt (Paul W. S. Anderson isn't missed) has some annoying techniques of shooting his zombies in slow motion like in a Michael Jackson video, the result being pretty funny and not at all scary. Hardcore gore lovers will enjoy the flesh-biting fun but the camera always shies away from anything stronger than a little nibble on an arm or neck. The action tends to be repetitive, but kids will love the noisy theatricals with the incessant bam-bam of the guns and the outrageous stunts on hand. In this film, Jovovich is a kind of super woman who runs down the side of buildings and can jump over parked cars. The background to the plot is pretty murky and left unexplained. Jovovich is a strange lead in that I find her half sexy, half unappealing; she's back in her skimpy attire but still looks like an undernourished supermodel and I'm sure she has a cold sore on her lip at one point – not the most attractive of heroines, it has to be said. Much better is Sienna Guillory, who resembles and acts like Lara Croft far more than Angelina Jolie.
Special effects are the main draw of the film, with the zombies looking fine and those skinless dogs back and just as good as in the original. Sadly, the pink mutant from the original's climax is back and seems to have multiplied in a church, still as unconvincing as ever. The film does score points by having a massive monster running around, a really ugly guy with a minigun who stomps and shoots in equal measure. I love men in monster suits and this inclusion – his name is Nemesis and he was once human apparently – is no exception; any scene with him in is so OTT as to be a whole lotta fun. Sadly, the bits involving the zombies are clichéd beyond belief – at one point they burst out of a graveyard, yawn – and the weird ending, which starts a whole new story, will leave viewers thinking "what the heck?". Pretty much the same experience as the first film offered then.