Director Alexander Witt not up to it

Rating: 5/10 (2 January 2014)

The Umbrella corporation's secret underground lab quarantine has been breached. Zombies and other mutants are escaping into Raccoon city up above. Umbrella has sealed off the city, and intends to nuke it to wipe out any evidence. Alice (Milla Jovovich) and various people are scattered in the city trying to survive. Meanwhile Dr. Ashford who has escaped is guiding them to rescue his daughter who is still trapped in the city.
This has the unenviable position of opening up the scale of the franchise without the needed support. The virus has spread out into the open. This movie is city wide, but the CGI has barely improved. It needs mass zombie armies, and that means lots of CGI. Instead, they're relying a lot on real stunts and real people. Director Alexander Witt just doesn't have the skills or the people to make it work.
The other problem is that the characters are widely scattered. It would be more compelling to gather them together. It would be a more simple action-horror, and it would be a better quest movie.