“Resident Evil: Apocalypse” (Screen Gems)
If you need to know how to make a video game into a hit action movie then go ask Alice. Alice knows all, sees all, and does all in the new film “Resident Evil: Apocalypse.” She is the holdover character from the original “Resident Evil” film and the star of the video game on which the two movies are based.
At the start of this adventure there is an expedition into the “hive” where the last film took place. There is a leak of poison/radiation/pure evil that causes some of the people in the town of Raccoon City to become zombies. When they bite uninfected people. they cause them to also become flesh-eating zombies.
When this latest hazard happens Alice (Milla Jovovich) wakes up and goes out to do battle. She has battled zombies before and knows how to handle them. She also has been the subject of medical experiments that have left her with amazing strength and agility.
To keep the zombies and their infection contained, the people in power seal off the city. This of course keeps the uninfected in harm’s way. A cool guy named L J (Mike Epps) is forced to battle these monsters on his own until he runs into a tough babe named Jill (Sienna Guillory) who seems to know her way around the city.
Jovovich is the star of the movie and the action hero. She is toned in the Linda Hamilton style of “”The Terminator,” skinny and strong. She is not a very pretty woman in this role, but uses her bold features to good effect to make her intensity even stronger. She is not someone you would want to make angry. Even the zombies cower when she walks by.
Guillory is also a cool customer in her role. She is a more traditional beauty but is also a very strong presence in the film. Many will recognize her name as being the new beauty in Jude Law’s life.
The movie is rated R for profanity, violence and nudity.
There is action in this movie from start to finish, but somehow battling the zombies becomes somewhat boring and repetitious about halfway through the film. And there is never any real doubt as to how it is all going to play out.
“Resident Evil: Apocalypse” is more of the same old same old in this sequel. It isn’t totally dull but it isn’t anything new.
I scored “Resident Evil: Apocalypse” an occupied 4 out of 10.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
