A bit too far . . .

Rating: Null/10 (15 September 2004)

Usually people go into films with preconceived expectations, and when those expectations are not met that person is disappointed. I went into Resident Evil: Apocalypse with lots of expectations, every one of them was met, and part of me is still pretty disappointed. I enjoyed the film, knowing before hand what it was and the mindsets it was made for, but this was a case where I would have been overjoyed if Alexander Witt proved me wrong and went for something more.
My biggest complaint involves the writing and direction surrounding the Alice character (nothing against Milla, herself, or her performance.) So many camera moves, editing choices, scenarios, and ill-conceived action cues came across as cheap gimmicks to pander to mindless fans and elevate Alice to a larger than life, superhuman, camp comic-book level that just did not feel a part of the Resident Evil world.
Sure, making one of the main characters genetically enhanced levels the playing field against the hoards of infected zombies and monsters, but the beauty of the Resident Evil games was the fact that you played on Umbrella's turf with a very distinct disadvantage, and there we had a real reason to worry that the characters might not survive. Then again, this film isn't made for those appreciative of a challenge; this film was made for the people buying the strategy guide and downloading walkthroughs since designer's have taken out cheat codes enabling God Mode. 'I won.' Congratulations, I'm still not impressed.
I praised Paul Anderson for excluding the game characters in the original film. I for one realize Raccoon City has enough people in it that we can focus on different people within the Resident Evil world (hell, Resident Evil 2 on the Playstation followed new characters.) I've played the games, and I never had any interest in watching a scene for scene, character for character, non-interactive remake. If I wanted to see Chris or Wesker or Leon, I'd play the games.
The inclusion of game trademark characters has also killed suspense for the film. Is anything significant going to happen to RE's precious 'master of unlocking' on screen? Answer: No on two accounts. 1, Capcom won't let it happen, and 2, the obsessive fans will whine so loud and long we'll never hear the end of it. As a part of the audience, how am I supposed to be worried about the characters in this film when I know beyond all doubts that nothing will happen to them in the end? The games have suspense because Leon, Claire, Jill, and Chris can die at any time. 'Game over man! Game over!'
If you're going to include a trademark character, don't pander to obsessive fanboys and show them doing nothing but kick butt without getting a scratch (or the obligatory 3 hits that don't even phase the good guys). Go ahead and kill off the trademarks and let the audience know that anything can happen to anyone. Then they'll really have reason to be worried about the characters that they care for. I mean really, in a film like this the game-characters won't even get a story arc. So why bother inserting game characters?
Final set of irritations: the endless reminders that this is based on a video game, reminders that all but halt the on screen action just to reassure the fans who need it spelled out to them that this is, indeed, based on the game. I do like and appreciate nods to the Resident Evil games when done right. I loved hearing Jill say, 'We can run around them (the zombies); they're slow.' I loved hearing sound effects from the game, or when Jill went off on her own in the church to investigate and stumbled across a set that reminded me of an early scene in the first game. Throwbacks to the game are perfectly fine, but this film wants to advertise them, wink at the audience, wave and get your attention then point at 85 percent of the game elements (Jill's outfit, the Umbrella logo everywhere). Then it's just obnoxious. (Thank God they didn't recite the 'master of unlocking' dialogue from the game.)
Anyway, praises for the film  though Alexander Witt's direction bothered me, I do think the film shows some promise for him. There's a mixed bag of nice touches and not so slick moves combined in an 'eh' way. Overall the film felt a bit shallow, like someone who's learned to play the notes but not the music. Apocalypse is a pretty decent start, granted, maybe Witt will learn the underlying music and soul of his craft.
Sienna Guillory notably stood out in my mind. As much as I did not like the idea of Jill appearing in this film, it was interesting to see someone suit up in the characters wardrobe, look and move like the game character, and finally give a personality to that generic polygon creation we were introduced to in the games years ago.
Overall, the film delivers exactly what someone should expect from the next generation of MTV action flicks based on a video game. It could have been much better, but it was just meant to please and entertain on the level of the lowest common denominator like just about any horror/action flick these days . . .