This could have been brilliant...

Rating: 6/10 (2 August 2007)

Resident Evil: Apocalypse starts as the Umbrella corporation opens up the secret bio-weapons research facility the Hive to try & discover what happened, all they succeed in doing is releasing the T-Virus & a horde of flesh eating zombies into Raccoon city... A few hours later & Raccoon city is overrun with zombies & genetically created mutations trapped there by a huge wall around the perimeter of the city, cops Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), her partner Peyton Wells (Razaaq Adoti) & a TV reporter Teri Morales (Sandrine Holt) are trapped in Raccoon city when Umbrella decide to close off the only exit out of the city & have to fight for survival with limited ammo. They team up with genetically enhanced babe Alice (Milla Jovovich) & strike a deal with Dr. Ashford (Jared Harris) on the outside who says if they find his young daughter Angie (Sophie Vavasseur) who is trapped somewhere in Raccoon city he will tell them a way out...
This German, French, English & Canadian production was the directorial debut of Alexander Witt & is a decent action horror film but it could have been so much better. Based on the computer game series of the same name the script by producer Paul W.S. Anderson moves along like an absolute rocket, this film is literally none stop which is just how I like them but it lacks depth as the character's are very shallow & have nothing to them apart from their names & jobs, I also don't understand how Umbrella could erect a large wall around an entire city within hours as it seems impossible, the script wisely decides not to tackle this issue though. The basic plot is pretty good & I love the basic notion of a small group of human survivors having to fight off hordes of flesh eating zombies using their wits & whatever else they can find as it reminds heavily of George A. Romero's Dead trilogy & the fact that it's based on a popular computer game where the whole idea is to kill zombies & survive means there's a lot of potential here for a cracking horror action film. Unfortunately while I love it's pace, energy & style I hated the fact that it was so tame in the gore & violence department. I would say Resident Evil: Apocalypse is the least gory zombie film I've ever seen, the potential for an out-and-out blood fest is here, there could have been countless shots of zombies having their heads blown off as well as human victims being torn to pieces & eaten but strangely it's as if the makers wanted as little blood & gore as possible. Then there's the fact that about halfway through the zombies are almost completely forgotten about & don't really feature again, very disappointing. I hated the ending as well, it doesn't make any sense & it seems to set up an entire story which obviously comes to nothing because it finishes!
Director Witt does a good job, he keeps things moving along that's for sure & there are some cool action set-pieces here like motorbikes blowing up, Jovovich running down a building, fights with huge mutated monsters, explosions, shoot-outs & even a zombie dog attack but the lack of blood or any decent violence is just so distracting & disappointing. If this actually had balls & had lots of memorable gore scenes as well as the action & explosions Resident Evil: Apocalypse could have been brilliant as it is it's an average horror action film that's fairly forgettable. Looking at the rating for this film it's 'R' which really surprises me as there are a few bloodless bullet wounds, some martial arts fights, a few bloodless bites & a couple of severed hands & that's it. Why oh why didn't they just pile on the blood & gore? There's a nice feel to the film with suitably dark locations, there are some effective moments here & there as well like the school full of zombie children. I also have to mention Jill Valentine's kick ass outfit, even though it looks similar to Lara Croft's in Tomb Raider it's utterly cool & as a general rule I think more cops should wear outfits like it.
With a supposed budget of about $43,000,000 this is well made with good production values, shot mostly in Ontario in Canada which was where the Dawn of the Dead (2004) remake was shot so if you notice they look very similar you know why. Oh, & for what it's worth Romero's Land of the Dead (2005) was also shot in Ontario in Canada, what is it with Ontario & zombies? The special effects are good & the big Nemesis creature looks pretty mean & nasty. The acting is alright considering the material at least the cast are easy on the eye.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse could have brilliant if it had gone flat out & been a gore-fest, as it is it's a mild horror action film that doesn't really stick in the memory that much apart from Jill Valentine's outfit. I will never understand the decision to make this film so kiddie friendly, it just doesn't make sense to me. Good but not great. A sequel to Resident Evil (2002) & followed by Resident Evil: Extinction (2007).