Did Anyone actually see this movie??

Rating: Null/10 (16 September 2004)

We are in a world of CGI, and special effects that are created by computer rather than man. Superman will never fly on wire and crane, and UFO's will never attack intricately made recreations of cities and the earth. Instead producers, directors, and actors, spend millions on computer technology to create something that does not only not exist, but never even really happens. Do we ever stop to wonder why we don't see the absolute smash BLOCKBUSTERS of yesteryear? Where is Indiana Jones gone, or the old Star Wars? or the Lethal Weapon type action movies where you know those actors are rolling, jumping, shooting, and doing their own stunts or at the very least they have stunt doubles? Ladies and gentlemen, after that rant we rest on Resident Evil: Apocalypse. YES this is based on a video game, get over it. It doesn't make it a bad movie, it doesn't make it any different than based on a book, or a play, or a previously crappy movie. This movie was absolutely incredible, it was the best action movie, I have literally seen in years. The first Resident Evil was good...but it could not touch this unbelievable horrorfest, mixed with kick butt action, and a great cast.
Best of all the CGI was apparently NIL and not necessary when you have the best action going.
POSSIBLE SPOILERS***
The story begins slightly before the end of Resident Evil 1, but doesn't only recap but fills in some blanks that were missed at the end. Some extended information so to speak. Alice (Milla Jovovich) stumbles out of captivity having been infected with a strain of the T-Virus (confused? Go rent the movie and/or game) This tiny detail enables Milla's character to become an awesome kick butt heroine with super hero strength, speed, and power. Plus she still wields guns like nobody's business. The Umbrella corporation has succumbed to the fact that their virus is loose in the city, and destroyed everything. Although they are trying to evacuate as much as they can, they realize there is no stopping it so they quarantine the city and begin preparation to obliterate the whole works and cover it up from the outside world. Then there is Alice, stumbling around inside the quarantine...not sure what to do or where to go, her former friend/partner Matt haven been taken away from her and brought into the "Nemesis" program. All of us who had played the game knew where that was going. Enter the new characters. Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory) makes her entrance as a rogue STARS agent. Locked in the city with a fellow STARS member, and eventually some other random citizen who stumbles upon them and turns into the comic relief of the film. Basically the story unfolds that if Jill, Alice, and the rest of her friends/team can search the city for the lost child of an Umbrella Scientist, that Scientist will help them out of the city before Umbrella nukes the whole works. What ensues is a kick-ass piece of action entertainment laced with the perfect works of a horror movie. Granted there are plot holes, how certain people get infected, and the duration of the infection before it turns people seems to change with each character, but plot holes are expected and acceptable in something that is just meant to be FUN!! This movie was FUN!! Awesome fun. First of all the weapons are just plentiful and cool!! And the moves when it was hand to hand was just perfection in fighting. I read some reviews that said the direction was choppy and inconsistent and I can't imagine where they got that from?? Granted, a few scenes seemed to be a little quick where you couldn't catch exactly what Alice was doing to these Zombies but even still you could sit back and just watch her whoop!! The one liners are a plenty and they are good, and funny, and several people even clapped in the theatre I was in. The director, Alexander Witt, who has worked on some of the most incredible action movies of the last ten years, knows his stuff and it's obvious. He knows exactly what makes a movie goer pump and he's got it all in here. The cast works together like magic, and Jill Valentine is given a dark, harsh edge that makes her mysterious and mean and a good guy all in one. I would like to have seen more of the STARS survive, but in all good horror movies, people must get picked off one by one and in their favor, more people survived then I thought would initially. That's what made this a unique horror movie was that in truth you didn't see the kills coming necessarily, and you couldn't say exactly who was gonna get it. The first Resident Evil felt almost Science Fiction but Witt took Resident Evil to it's horror roots and gave us a zombie flick to die for. Unlike Dawn of The Dead (which was good, but not great) Resident Evil has a story, a back story, a future. And frankly girls should LOVE this movie because it is one of the only, if not the only, where the lead characters are women and not just women, but women that lead, take out everything in their path and they are strong. They aren't utilized as sex symbols, or eye candy but rather actual characters who are gonna save everyone. Let's face it, Jovovich's Alice, or Guillory's Jill Valentine could make mince meat of Angelina Jolie's Lara Croft. Nemesis was an absolute awesome addition to Resident Evil and his declaration of "STARS" which was used ONLY ONCE (thank you for not ruining it Mr. Witt) made me smile. He was a killer enemy...or nemesis if you will.
Especially knowing Alice's emotional attachment. To have him then turn from her enemy to her ally, was brilliant and fun and added to the action. I hope he'll be back. Also it was cool to bring back the demon dogs which everyone loved from the first and Alice definitely got her vengeance another cool factor of Witt's story. Downsides...Jill Valentine tried her best to throw in the movements from the video game to little avail. For one thing they sucked in the game, let alone on screen. In that factor she didn't measure to Jolie's Lara Croft who perfected the noises and movements of the video gaming heroine. Certainly several plot holes made the movie implausible at parts, but perhaps one of the biggest reasons there was the length. The movie clocked in at an unfortunate ninety minutes. Everyone seems to be bitching about their attention spans and they want to pay 12 dollars for less than 2 hours of entertainment. I would have killed to see another half hour of those crazy zombies. All in all I don't know what people saw wrong with this film, it was possibly one of the best action movies I have ever seen. I pray there will be a third which there appears there will be although I am hesitant to think about what they will do with it. It probably will go sci fi which could kill the series but I just hope they'll think about it first. I don't compare this movie to anything else but itself as an action movie...I must give it what I thought and that's a strong 9/10....must see!!!