Too fast, too furious

Rating: 3/10 (13 October 2004)

As time goes by, everyone becomes wiser, or at least the saying says so. These sequels, always such intricate matters! Especially if you think you're a smart bastard and don't bother appreciating the work of others, who actually facilitated you're "creation". Most will probably agree that Anderson is a terrible screenwriter, lacking creativity and originality. But when you give up on a film to wreck another, I can't but ask myself how that looks in the eyes of a professional. It doesn't look too good in my eyes. Actually it proves lack of interest. I guess all have their priorities, don't they?
RE:Apocalypse is a film like few other: little to nothing dialogue, zero character development, endless fight scenes. But is that really bad? It definitely isn't great, however, if you take into account the intention of the creators, you have to agree it fulfills its purposes, but not its potential. I regret that no one bothered to add some depth to the movie because it would've rocked, especially if there had been some time to breathe without hearing a few bullets swoop by. A bit of mystery and a bit of suspense, would've made this here creation a real killer. Sadly, though, P.A doesn't bother that much and simply relies on other people and films to do the job for him.
Spoiler
What is even worse, is the way he chose to prepare us for a sequel. I have to admit, it was one of the worst endings I've ever seen and it didn't even nearly equal the cliff hanger of the first film. All that I can hope is that Anderson will somehow miraculously step down from this project, or at least leave the script to someone else. If I were to compare Apocalypse with the original title, I'd be content to say it's a teeny, tiny bit better. RE loses because of the little details which make the movie rather annoying at a second viewing. Actually, it loses because it's very sloppy.
End of Spoiler
Then there is also this Alexander Witt. He does a decent job for a first timer, but he just doesn't succeed in blowing you away. His attitude towards the audience doesn't involve the viewer enough, and even though this is where that screen writing issue pops up, I still believe Witt could've done more about it. I also think I have to agree with some other people: there's little to no visual eye candy, something Anderson is pretty good at.
I feel I have the obligation to mention that I am a big fan of the games (which kind of means I'm totally against this "Resident Evil" that has reached the cinema screens). I've even read Romero's script (which isn't that great, but I suppose it would've summoned in one film that which Anderson spreads over this possible trilogy - or whatever it will end up being), expecting RE:Apocalypse to be just more than its predecessor was. I suppose I should be satisfied, but I'm only half satisfied, because it could've been so much more! But, hey, couldn't life have always been so much more?