Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) Reviews

• Not bad

  tay-sedai2013-05-26

  I wouldn't call this a brilliant movie, but it certainly kept me watching from start to finish. Michelle Rodriguez's character is replaced by another kick-arse heroine to work alongside Jovovich's Alice. There's also a new super-evil dude to contend with. Naturally the biggest baddies of all are the people who work for the Umbrella corporation! And, man, those zombie dogs are just freaky! In this movie we get to know a bit more about how the T-Virus came to be, and get a new perspective on how it can be used for good and not just bad. Naturally, though, it's mostly all bad! As usual, there's a lot of action and a lot of death. And the Umbrella Corporation sure is good at twisting the facts of the truth. I'm intrigued to know what happens next. So I'm ready to watch movie #3.

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• 'Apocalypse' doesn't do everything wrong, but it certainly doesn't do everything right.

  Darth_Nebuchadnezzar2004-09-30

  Following the success of the 2002 adaptation from video game to film that was 'Resident Evil', comes its tantalizingly-trailered sequel, 'Resident Evil: Apocalypse'. I have to say, I was entranced by the trailer of this film. I seriously thought that this film had the potential to rise above 'Mortal Kombat' (1995) and 'Resident Evil' as the best cinematic event to spawn from a video game. 'Apocalypse' doesn't do everything wrong, but it certainly doesn't do everything right. Let's start with a brief synopsis. Firstly, this film picks up literally days after the first drops us off. 'Apocalypse' opens with a rehashed explanation of what we learned about the two main characters in the original, Alice (Milla Jovovich) and Matt Addison (Eric Mabius). Again, we are told that this Umbrella Corporation is an international super-power and that Alice is (or more accurately was) the head of security in an underground research facility dubbed "The Hive", which harbored research and specimens pertaining to biological weaponry. After that, we are treated to the scientists who wheeled Addison away at the closure of 'Evil', opening the zombie-infested annals of "The Hive". Immediately before the audience 'knows' what happens (its pretty obvious and is given away in the final shots of the first 'RE') we transition into a militaristic evacuation of important personnel associated with Umbrella Corp. After a few assorted events that do (and simultaneously do not) move the plot line (a 'do not' being the lead-scientist asking how bad the situation is). After this, we are introduced to nearly a half-dozen other characters, including a renegade police officer (Sienna Guillory), the remaining members of an elite task force (Oded Fehr, Zack Ward), a VERY stereotypical Black man (Mike Epps) and a hulking creature (which, if you paid attention to the first 'RE', you would be aware of its appearance) that totes both a rocket-launcher and a hand-held chain gun named the "Nemesis". As far as performances go, the aforementioned actors and actresses do well with the material that they are given. Guillory has Helen of Troy (not from the film 'Troy') on her resume, as Jovovich has Joan of Arc, Fehr has the mummy hunter, Ardeth Bay from the 'Mummy' series and Epps is credible in several comedies. There is no real emotion in the script, so the viewers really can't ask for any emotion from the actors (sadly true). That is where 'Apocalypse' stumbles, and in many places, falls on it's face. The plot is paper thin with nearly no real complications for the audience until the last ten minutes (which is a near-complete turn around from the original, which actually evoked SOME thought from the audience). It is basically unleash zombies on the city and shoot 'em up. The small sub-plots really vary from little to no relevance in the story whatsoever. It is pretty predictable that there is some kind of 'oh no, my friend was bitten and eventually, I'll have to kill him just before he bites me' situation, and the big action/set pieces are blatantly set up. The characters are thinner than the plot, with their arcs being straighter than a steel arrow. Alice begins the movie as an ass-kicking femme fatal, and finishes the film being...oh, you guessed it, an ass-kicking femme fatal. Jill Valentine (Guillory) is another one of these masculinely tough females, although sans Alice's super powers. The only real life that is brought to the script is through the epitome of black stereotypes, played by Mike Epps. It was sadly ironic, however that my favorite bit of 'Apocalypse' involved a reference to another video game franchise. Again, 'RE: Apocalypse' is not completely bad. Although few, it has its moments. Mike Epps has his funny lines and his one encounter with the Nemesis brought laughs from the entire audience, which was something needed in the film. The Nemesis was done well a majority of the time (although there is a bit where the big oaf crashes through a wall and his head piece actually shifts visibly on the actor's shoulders) and makes a formidable villain for a good margin of the film (although his closure is a bit weak). Many of the action sequences had great potential...but the majority of those action scenes were fast-cut, much like 'AvP', so much so that it was very hard at moments to see exactly what was happening in the shot. 'Apocalypse' suffices much more as an action movie than it does as a horror film, and it struggles to keep interest, even for someone who has faithfully played the video games. I will be glad to admit, though...'Apocalypse' has the BIGGEST, most unexpected scare of 2004. I won't say when or where...but I am glad to have experienced it. 'Apocalypse' isn't exactly worth all eight dollars of your admission fee, but it doesn't make a bad Saturday afternoon matinee...6/10.

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• Pretty Girls, Big Guns, Ugly Monsters...

  MrRazorz2005-04-01

  The sequel to Resident Evil – in which a group of scientists and special forces get trapped in a giant underground facility overrun with zombies and mutants – is pretty much what you'd expect. After being captured by the Umbrella Corporation at the end of the first film, almost-sole-survivor Milla Jovovich (the only supermodel in the world who you can take seriously as an action heroine) wakes up in an abandoned laboratory in Raccoon City to find that the zombie-animating "t-virus" has spread to the surface. Half the city are already zombified and killing the other half, and Umbrella Corporation has sealed off the city limits and is planning to "sanitise" the area. Hooking up with a rag-tag group of survivors, Jovovich makes a deal with a rogue Umbrella scientist who promises to get them out of town as long as they rescue his missing daughter who's hiding somewhere in the ruins. Meanwhile Umbrella has its own plans for the lovely Miss Milla, involving a seven-foot armour-clad mutant called the Nemesis who's using the infested city as a training ground. Much shooting/fighting/exploding ensues, and - just like in the first film - the mysterious cliffhanger ending leaves things wide open for another sequel. Probably because it's based on a Japanese video game, this movie isn't afraid to embrace the clichés that Hollywood's spent the last decade or so trying to avoid. Lurching zombies, machine gun-toting monsters, smarmy suit-wearing villains, hard-as-nails soldiers and a wisecracking streetwise black dude are all essential ingredients, as well as not one but TWO sexy ass-kicking heroines. While Jovovich rides in to save the day on a motorcycle and carries so many guns it's a wonder she doesn't fall over, Sienna Guillory (as tough bitch cop Jill Valentine) has the dubious honour of performing various athletic action sequences in a miniskirt and boob tube. Am I complaining? Hell no. To be honest, it's really quite refreshing to see a movie like this in this day and age. Like the timelessly cheesy horror/action flicks of John Carpenter, the Resident Evil franchise throws realism and political correctness to the wind and just has fun pitting Pretty Girls With Big Guns against Ugly Monsters With Big Teeth. Be honest – unless you're a metrosexual poseur or a card-carrying member of the PC Police, you probably love this stuff as much as I do.

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• Resident Evil: Apocalypse (of plot)

  Jrdn8532005-02-22

  Hollywood is known for its summertime action "flicks", and recent action films such as The Matrix began to show a hopeful turn towards a trend of thoughtful plots and interesting stories. Unfortunately, the large success of Resident Evil: Apocalypse may very well be the deathblow to this promising new trend. In a sense, the title speaks for itself; Resident Evil: Apocalypse may very well be the apocalypse of intelligent action movies. After a new virus breaks out in a large industrialized city, citizens begin mutating into cannibalistic, flesh-eating zombies. The Umbrella Corporation, consisting of the people most directly responsible for the outbreak, takes measures to quarantine the city, turning it into a horrific sanitarium. The story follows several characters as they attempt to survive and escape the city with the help of an unseen ally who keeps contact with them from outside the city. Things further complicate when "Nemesis", the movie's biggest, toughest monster, arrives for the sole purpose of killing just about everything he perceives as a threat. The plot of Resident Evil: Apocalypse is, perhaps, the single worst piece of writing recently played out before the eyes of unfortunate movie fans. From the very beginning, the story begs questions that are never answered: who gave the Umbrella Corporation a building permit for a gigantic wall that would circle the city and with which they could, at a moment's notice, lock everyone inside? Why does Alice come crashing into a church through a stained-glass window, on a motorcycle, "armed to the teeth" with weaponry, to rescue the protagonists with perfect timing, despite the fact that she has never met them before and was, in the previous scene, walking around in the street with only a shotgun and no motorcycle at all? These and many more mind-boggling questions are completely ignored; the person who was in charge of this film's continuity should never work in Hollywood again. In fact, Resident Evil: Apocalypse has more plot holes than moldy Swiss cheese. However, even when ignoring the numerous plot holes -- which is almost an impossibility -- the story itself is still laughable, revolving partly around an insipid "fight for survival" that seems to rely on the main group splitting up and one of the subgroups being brutally slaughtered for no good reason, with the other part being about Alice (a character invented by the script-writer, as she was never in the game it is very loosely-taken from) and her relationship with the monster "Nemesis". Surprisingly, the director managed to craft a story that is significantly less interesting the one presented in the video game version. To cap off all the "excitement", the movie reaches its climax a full fifteen minutes before the end of the film! After a handful of survivors have escaped, Alice is caught and put in a lab, where she not only manages to escape, but also to manifest psychic powers while quipping off several lines that were used to advertise the movie in commercials. What was the purpose of this 15-minute epilogue? To set up the next movie in the series - a completely unnecessary task, as the film has already made it clear that there is absolutely no help for the next sequel in terms of quality. In a way, it could be said that the one thing the plot truly accomplished was setting the stage for even more cinematic fodder in the future. The acting was not bad, and, in general, was as good as it could have been, given the material the actors had to work with. Although Alice is mildly interesting (do largely to her reflections) and well played by Milla Jovovich, the rest of the characters were mostly stale archetypes. The most blatant example is the character of L.J., played by actor Mike Epps, who embodies every "black" stereotype that is popular today. This character's only true purpose is comic relief, and to that respect, he does it dryly. The cinematography offers a wide variety of different camera shots, as well as providing a constant supply of "eye candy". In what is easily the highlight of the film, Resident Evil: Apocalypse shows some impressive-looking stunts, such as a scene of Alice running down the side of a sky scraper with either the intent to kill, or the intent to break her legs. Either way, the scene was a joy ride for the vision. Truthfully, the only badly shot scenes that come to mind are the blurry scene (unnecessary, ugly, and pointless), and the climatic fight scene at the end (badly cut and confusing). Overall, though, the cinematography was decently good, which is likely the cause for this film making so much money in the box office. The setting was exactly what you would expect for an apocalyptic zombie movie - a big city with lots of undead people. The sets maintained a Gothic look throughout, and few scenes took place in daylight. Thankfully, the lighting was very well done, so the film maintained a dark, night-time look while simultaneously allowing the viewers to perfectly see all that was happening. Sets based on real buildings, such as schools and police stations, all looked exactly as they should. Resident Evil: Apocalypse had a big budget, and that fact is made apparent by the great sets and props. Unfortunately, nothing saves the movie from its horrible plot. A plot should provide any movie with its base, and with a plot so holey and incoherent, everything that could have made Resident Evil: Apocalypse good simply falls apart. Despite the big budget, some reasonably well-known actors, and a license and subject-matter with a cult following, nothing can gloss over the essential flaws that keep this movie from any kind of greatness. People who prefer to see mindless exaggerated action sequences, devoid of any decent plot, will likely enjoy Resident Evil: Apocalypse. However, those interested in intelligent, well-written stories will do well to look elsewhere.

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• Resident Evil Apocalypse Has a Lot to Offer

  politehere2014-04-02

  I've watched Resident Evil 1 to 5 many times, and I have RE 4 and 5 in 3D. Having seen all these movies numerous times, I now have come to the realization that Resident Evil Apocalypse is my most favorite in the franchise. Granted, the first movie in a franchise is usually also the most enjoyable because it introduces us to the movie's universe. As such, the first half of Resident Evil 1 surpasses all others and can be watched many times without regret; however, while Resident Evil 1 is one of my favorite movies of all time, it fails to deliver enough thrills in its second half; and this is exactly what RE Apocalypse compensates for. Apart from that, RE Apocalypse has a great first half, because it is one thing for the T-virus to spread inside the Hive and a completely different thing for it to spread to the entire city. That being said, RE Apocalypse is thrilling and engaging from start to finish, because the universe in which the story unfolds is entirely different from the one in the original RE. Also, while we had some bland characters in RE 1, such as the medic or the first guy that is pulled in and killed by a horde of zombies, almost all of the characters in RE 2 are colorful and each of them contributes to some aspect of the movie. It also feels good to distance oneself from the claustrophobic feeling one gets in RE 1. RE Apocalypse is an action-packed horror movie that has a lot to offer. We are presented with a stronger and more agile version of Alice who can perform fascinating Kung Fu kicks and acrobatic moves, the most interesting of which, in my opinion, is where Alice is running down a vertical building. The Nemesis is a real life replica of the most feared monster from Resident Evil games. Jill Valentine is simply perfect and makes a video game character come to life. Moreover, the sense of humor helps the movie to not get boring. I remember the first time that I watched this movie, it left me wanting for more. It has a cliff-hanger ending, and you can't help but wish to know what happens to Alice next. This is very important, given the fact that many great movies let the audience down by a disappointing or predictable ending. The movie has been shot beautifully and the background music is exciting. This movie is strongly recommended to all action-horror fans right after RE 1.

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