"Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D" Movie Review

"Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D"

Movie Review

Written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, 90 minutes, rated R.

By Christopher Smith

The new Paul W. S. Anderson movie, "Resident Evil: Afterlife," features one scene that's memorable, if only because it's so comical. You were looking for more than one memorable scene? Wrong movie.

The scene takes place on a rooftop. On it is Alice (Milla Jovovich), who returns to this fourth installment in the franchise with her poreless skin and vicious death moves in an effort to take down the Umbrella Corporation. Those who follow the franchise will know that the Umbrella Corp. is responsible for creating a virus that has turned most of the world's human population into a scrambling, unattractive herd of the hissing undead.

In this particular scene, Alice is pitted against thousands of them, all of which are closing in on her in an effort to eat her, because that's what zombies do. Since Alice is resourceful, she tricks them into chasing her off the building's roof just as she drops a bomb in her wake.

The movie was shot in 3-D, which allows Anderson a unique opportunity to embrace a perspective. Not unlike the writing itself, the undead in these movies are dumb and so they naturally follow Alice off the roof without hesitation, thought or question. What we're left with is a funny shot that allows the viewer to look up at the undead as they pinwheel through the air (and presumably to their undead deaths) with their tinker-toy arms and legs. When the bomb explodes, it catches bits and pieces of them on fire. Meanwhile, the ever-resourceful Alice is swinging like Tarzan on the rope she attached to her body before jumping. She lands on the ground, where the falling zombies are popping like pinatas--and where more zombies await. Gunfire ensues. Cut. Print.

What's refreshing about this scene is how it uses 3-D technology--it's safe to say you've never seen zombies tumbling at you quite like this. Unfortunately, everything that comes before and after this moment is just what you expect--a convoluted scattershot of hyper editing best served for fans of the franchise or for junkies of the computer games on which they're based. Those who enjoy their horror movies with a trace of story and a measure of dialogue to boost character development will be left wanting.

After all, the lot of it is plot. This time out, Alice is up against Wesker (Shawn Roberts), who wears sunglasses at night and who is determined to take down Alice and her posse. Said posse includes loads of Alice dopplegangers, Ali Larter as Claire, Wentworth Miller as a handy inmate (because, you know, he's comfortable in such a role after starring in "Prison Break") and Boris Kodjoe as Luther West.

Making a heroic return from the last movie, the misleadingly titled "Resident Evil: Extinction," is a young lass named K-Mart (Spencer Locke), whose name redefines the way Hollywood markets corporate America in movies (fight the real evil, Alice!)--and which is where you likely will find this movie on DVD soon enough.

Grade: D+

New on DVD and Blu-ray disc

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