The infection is spreading faster than anyone could have anticipated.

Rating: 3/10 (13 January 2005)

I have to admit I loved the first film. It was one of the few films that I thought best represented the video game that it accompanied. Milla was perfectly cast as the lead and the non-linear structure of the film allowed us to see the who, what, where, when, and why of the events. There was just the right amount of terror, the right amount of action, and a whole bunch of originality. I wish, I really wish that I could say the same about it sequel. As the credits rolled and we were brought back up to speed from the last events that occurred in the original only to discover that a new director had decided to helm this project and was obviously handed more money and forced to follow the footsteps of Hollywood. Everything from the original was lost and discarded as a mainstream horror film with maybe zombies (couldn't tell due to the blurry nature of which they ran) moved in to take its place. More money was on the table with, in this case, meant more explosions and less story. A disgrace to the name of both the video game and the original film came in several ways with this inferior sequel, mainly horrible acting, clichéd characters, a recycled plot, and especially with a amateurish, craft sale created monster known as the Nemesis.
To begin the characters were very disrespectful to the original. I remember hearing of this sequel and hoping they would build more on Milla character, giving her more to work with and more past stories of her time at the Umbrella Corporation. I was a hopeful viewer who wished for more deeply rooted characters with many layers, but found the Hollywood cliché instead. The entire character known as LJ could have been eliminated with the greatest of ease and without any remorse. His lines were the epitome of every other zombie film created while trying to bring his own game references into a franchise that was doing well on its own (the GTA line nearly took my rage over the top). Like any good supporter of films and video games, I don't mind when they bring in more characters from the series, but let us know who they are first. There was no introduction to Valentine for those less familiar with the series other than she knows how to shoot zombies and she was disbarred from the force (see the writing on the wall). This goes the same for Carlos, who just wandered through his part without really contributing anything worth while, and Nicholai, whom I always considered another villain of the series. Oh well, I guess when tons of Hollywood cash is being thrown in your direction, you can just go crazy with creativity and forget the basis of your film. Yet again, who am I to say? Milla was the only one worth watching in this entire film, and even her character seemed to be turning to cardboard by the end. It was a sad change of events for the Resident Evil group.
The bad acting was the only trouble with this film, the horrible script allowed the Hollywood character and plot clichés to pour in like the flood gates had been opened. The wise cracking character that always has something to say and obscure pop culture references that try to gain a couple laughs from the audience was present. The no-nonsense female cop that has a strange past, but finds out that she has the heart of gold. The corporation boss that is willing to kill everyone for the sake of science and proves that he has no heart what so ever. Finally, there is the large overbearing monster that was nothing more than table scraps of every other Hollywood big budget horror movie, which discovers the true meaning of Christmas. YUK. Could director Alexander Witt either not do his homework or just try for once to build upon the original instead of slicing and dicing. Not just the characters were cliché, but also the story. Lines were replaced with explosions and CGI. Gore replaced the sci-fi element and 1984 Big Brother moments were just the mother load. Seriously, I would love to know what happened.
I would like to end this review by saying that I laughed at Nemesis the entire time it was on screen. For any of you that did not, I question your sanity. The reality, if that is what you want to call it, the creative imagination of the original was lost when Nemesis made his screen debut. It was sloppy and cheap. Definitely not something for Witt to be proud of.
Overall, this was not a crowning achievement for the series. The themes were jumbled mess of save humanity and science is bad. Milla did the best with what she was handed providing some of the better parts of the film, but everyone else were just worthless. I hope that the makers of this film see the error in their ways and the fact that they completely butchered a great concept. Video games are an amazing source of imagination, but sometimes when Hollywood money becomes involved, you get projects like Resident Evil: Apocalypse. I loved the video games, but after the original, this series needs to tighten up to regain control.
Grade: ** out of *****