pure entertainment - for whoever likes it

Rating: 5/10 (21 January 2005)

I liked more the original 'Resident Evil'. It was not a masterpiece or a very original film either, but at least the idea was rather new, and seeing Milla Jovovich as the principal action hero fighting armies of zombies created by a scientific experiment gone wrong was refreshing. The problem with 'RE2 - Apocalypse' is that the film turns again around seeing Milla Jovovich as the principal action hero fighting armies of zombies created by a scientific experiment gone wrong, and what was new a couple of years ago looks like a repetition here. Paul Anderson who directed the first film only wrote the script here, leaving the task of directing to somebody else, who could not bring too much life in this second film in what looks will become a long lived series. A sequel must have new elements, keep some surprises to attract the viewers - this is not the case here. Nothing is very wrong, the new cast around Milla is quite OK, but we have seen too many times the same or similar characters in similar situations, and as in many other movies the outcome is just too physical and too expected. So, zombie films and action films fans will get an average product that most of them will probably enjoy because this is what they expected. Fans of good cinema will come out with empty hands. 5 out of 10 on my personal scale.