Next greatest blind-buy: “
Resident Evil: Afterlife.”
The first three “Resident Evil” films have provided quite an entertaining thrill ride, and would have been an adequately complete saga in itself. But this fourth film continues the franchise pretty well, adhering to the previous films while driving the story/characters forward and throwing in huge helpings of action and style.
From the start, the film features loads of high-flying stunts, bombastic shoot-outs, high-octane explosions, crazy swordfighting, and incredible vehicular mayhem. All with glorious bursts of slow-motion photography, topped only by the opening scene of “Antichrist” (or more appropriately, “The Matrix”
). And there are plenty of impressive special effects. This is easily the most entertaining RE film since “RE: Apocalypse.” But, at times it does feel like too much of a gimmick, using the action and slow-mo photography to showcase the 3-D craze. Regardless, it is great fun to watch (and it probably is impressive in 3-D).
Of course, bigger may not always be better. This film is loaded with stuff that’s very absurd and unbelievable, and probably will be too insipid for some folks. But I think most of it rocks.
As far as the story goes…well, let’s face it, RE has never had much brilliance in its storytelling prowess. It is a good continuation in my opinion, as it carries over elements of the last film (including the presence of the Alice clones, surprisingly; it’s something I always thought was a little too absurd, but they closed off this subplot pretty well) while setting up for this one. Truth be told though, it feels a lot like a video game in itself (some games start off letting you play with full upgrades and powers, then strips it all away and makes you play from the start. Guess what? This movie does the same thing to the main character!). Aside from that little quibble, the story is fairly interesting, but I feel the characters are very lacking.
As an adaptation of the video game…I really can’t say for sure since RE5 is the only one I’ve ever played. But yes, elements of #5 do appear in “RE: Afterlife,” and it is pretty cool seeing Wesker in action, zombies with splitting jaws (kinda like “Blade 2” actually), and one badass zombie with a massive axe. Ah yeah…
Cinematically, the photography is very slick and stylish, and is a pleasure to watch. Acting is okay for what this movie is supposed to be. Writing is so-so at best. Production value seems quite high (maybe too high; some sets, props, costumes, etc look so slick and polished that they are probably too out-of-place in a post-apocalypse setting, and some of them do look a little fake). Music totally rocks.
It’s interesting seeing Paul WS Anderson returning to the helm on this one. I believe he brought back a few important elements to this franchise that he previously established in the first film and were lost in the sequels in between; it’s like he’s realigning the series. Moreover, in the ten years between the first RE and this one, his style has improved at least aesthetically.
By the end of the movie, it’s pretty clear they’re gearing up for another sequel. What’s next, “RE: Oblivion?” Whatever it’ll be, it probably will kick butt!
4/5 (entertainment: 4.5/5, story: 3.5/5, film: 3.5/5)
This Blu-Ray is great. Picture quality looks darn near perfect; it is sharp and clean with plenty of detail. Colors are a bit dull, but I think its part of the film’s style. Contrast is not bad. Sound quality seems really good to me.
PQ: 5/5, AQ: 5/5
This UK Steelbook edition is region-free.
All countries
Argentina
Austria
Belgium
Brazil
Bulgaria
Chile
China
Colombia
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Estonia
Denmark
Finland
Greece
Hong Kong
Hungary
Iceland
Indonesia
Ireland
Israel
India
Latvia
Lithuania
Malaysia
New Zealand
Norway
Philippines
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Russia
Singapore
South Africa
South Korea
Sweden
Switzerland
Taiwan
Thailand
Turkey
Ukraine
United Arab Emirates
)
Linear Mode
