Picking up roughly where the first 'Resident Evil' left off, 'Resident Evil: Apocalypse' continues the trials of Alice, played once again by Milla Jovovich.
Written by RE director Paul W.S. Anderson, and directed by Alexander Witt, the film diverges from the video game series' story this time and combines with elements of RE3: Nemesis for PS1 game system. Ommitted is the overall storyline for RE2 for PS1. Normally I would seek out the film makers and hand them their intestines for such alterations (I'm kind of a purist; I hate when an original story is seriously altered from its initial book, film or game format), but the writing is so tight and the action sequences and performances so good I have decided to let them live.
As the insipidly stupid employees of the sinister Umbrella Corp. seek to unravel the mystery of what happened in the underground laboratory dubbed "the Hive," S.T.A.R.S. member Jill Valentine finds herself trapped in Raccoon City as it is quarantined to prevent the spread of the deadly T-Virus. Alice is awakened from her lab-induced slumber and she finds herself wandering the streets. She is forgotten for a time as the movie's other characters are introduced.
The characters:
Alice (Milla Jovovich)
Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory)
Carlos Oliviera (Oded Fehr; he was in the Mummy & the Mummy Returns)
Angie Ashford (Sophie Vavasseur)
Dr. Charles Ashford (Jared Harris)
L.J. (Mike Epps)
Terri Morales (Sandrine Holt)
Nemesis (Matthew G. Taylor)
Valentine holes up in a church with a bitten S.T.A.R.S. teammate and a reporter (Holt), where they are rescued by Alice--who has undergone some noticable changes sine the last film, both physically and in demeanor. She's colder, more driven than in the first 'Resident Evil.' Also stronger, faster and more agile. Once the main characters come together, they are contacted by Dr. Ashford, the creator of the T-Virus, to rescue his young daughter who is trapped in the city--alive. If the girl seems at all familiar, it's no coincidence; her face and voice were the model for the "Red Queen" computer hologram in the first movie.
Lots of carnage ensues, people die, and the final group of survivors comes together for the final battle against the Nemesis creature--which has been loosed upon the city by the film's chief villain played by Iain Glen to go after S.T.A.R.S. members.
I have to admit the film's ending seemed a tad drawn out, actually introducing a new villain in the process, but seeing as how this movie was actually filmed back to back with the third of a planned trilogy, it is to be expected. Overall, I enjoyed Apocalypse and the music was much better than in the first movie especially that used in the end credits. I give the whole thing three out of four chainsaws, mainly because the fright factor was subdued in favor of action--not a bad thing necessarily but for a horror/sci-fi not quite scary enough to rate a four.
Written by RE director Paul W.S. Anderson, and directed by Alexander Witt, the film diverges from the video game series' story this time and combines with elements of RE3: Nemesis for PS1 game system. Ommitted is the overall storyline for RE2 for PS1. Normally I would seek out the film makers and hand them their intestines for such alterations (I'm kind of a purist; I hate when an original story is seriously altered from its initial book, film or game format), but the writing is so tight and the action sequences and performances so good I have decided to let them live.
As the insipidly stupid employees of the sinister Umbrella Corp. seek to unravel the mystery of what happened in the underground laboratory dubbed "the Hive," S.T.A.R.S. member Jill Valentine finds herself trapped in Raccoon City as it is quarantined to prevent the spread of the deadly T-Virus. Alice is awakened from her lab-induced slumber and she finds herself wandering the streets. She is forgotten for a time as the movie's other characters are introduced.
The characters:
Alice (Milla Jovovich)
Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory)
Carlos Oliviera (Oded Fehr; he was in the Mummy & the Mummy Returns)
Angie Ashford (Sophie Vavasseur)
Dr. Charles Ashford (Jared Harris)
L.J. (Mike Epps)
Terri Morales (Sandrine Holt)
Nemesis (Matthew G. Taylor)
Valentine holes up in a church with a bitten S.T.A.R.S. teammate and a reporter (Holt), where they are rescued by Alice--who has undergone some noticable changes sine the last film, both physically and in demeanor. She's colder, more driven than in the first 'Resident Evil.' Also stronger, faster and more agile. Once the main characters come together, they are contacted by Dr. Ashford, the creator of the T-Virus, to rescue his young daughter who is trapped in the city--alive. If the girl seems at all familiar, it's no coincidence; her face and voice were the model for the "Red Queen" computer hologram in the first movie.
Lots of carnage ensues, people die, and the final group of survivors comes together for the final battle against the Nemesis creature--which has been loosed upon the city by the film's chief villain played by Iain Glen to go after S.T.A.R.S. members.
I have to admit the film's ending seemed a tad drawn out, actually introducing a new villain in the process, but seeing as how this movie was actually filmed back to back with the third of a planned trilogy, it is to be expected. Overall, I enjoyed Apocalypse and the music was much better than in the first movie especially that used in the end credits. I give the whole thing three out of four chainsaws, mainly because the fright factor was subdued in favor of action--not a bad thing necessarily but for a horror/sci-fi not quite scary enough to rate a four.
posted by:
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Cleveland
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