The best zombie movie since Dawn of the Dead

Rating: 10/10 (7 January 2005)

If you felt the first "Resident Evil" movie didn't quite capture the atmosphere of the original game, you can sleep a little easier now. "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" has EVERYTHING: from dark, creepy graveyards, a Gothic cathedral and classic lorries in an "Escape from New York"- style deserted city to a cigarette smoking Jill Valentine and half naked hooker zombies. Although this sequel clearly had a much bigger budget than the original film, director Alexander Witt has kept it credible and didn't use digital technology to bombard your senses and keep your mind of the lack of a decent storyline. Rather than making you feel like you're watching a computer- made movie where nothing seems real, the special effects help create a desolate and panicky atmosphere with credible characters who struggle to survive in a city that's infested with their undead compatriots, partially decayed K-9s and other creepy lifeforms. The scene where one survivor has to go up against a class of elementary school zombies is just terrifying. Unlike the director of the "Dawn of the Dead" remake, Witt and producer/ script writer Paul W.S. Anderson have opted not to follow in the footsteps of the fast- moving "28 Days Later" zombies, but has clearly been inspired not only by George Romero's view of walking corpses, but also by his opinion of our western society. The real evil in this movie is not the zombies or even the killer mutant Nemesis (who looks and sounds like he has just stepped out of the original game and into this movie), but a Big Brother- style multinational that puts itself above the law and has no respect whatsoever for morale, decency or anything human. Even if you've never played the video game, didn't like the first "Resident Evil" movie or don't care for a lot of high tech military action in a horror film, I'd still highly recommend you take the time to watch this one. If you liked both the 1978 version of "Dawn of the Dead" and "Aliens", you're going to love "Resident Evil: Apocalypse". Besides, if internationally acclaimed Milla Jovovich agreed to add it to her résumé of, among others, "the Fifth Element", "the Messenger: the Story of Jean of Arc" and "the Million Dollar Hotel", it has to be good!