Film Review: Resident Evil: Afterlife

Resident Evil: Afterlife. Rated MA15+ (Strong horror violence, blood and gore.) 97 minutes. Written and directed by Paul W S Anderson.

Fans of the phenomenally successful undead/horror/survival game series Resident Evil (Biohazard) and fans of high-concept (with an equally high body count) film-making, will find hours of enjoyment arguing over the merits of Resident Evil: Afterlife – the fourth in the series of films adapted from the popular video game.

Since its debut on the Sony PlayStation in 1996, in excess of 40 million games have been sold – making the series one of the most popular and commercially successful in the world. The equally successful film adaptations that followed are Resident Evil (2002), Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) and Resident Evil: Extinction (2007).

Anderson (who has written all the screenplays and also directed the first movie) returns as director, as does Milla Jovovich as the series’ heroine ‘Alice’. Having defeated the evil Umbrella Corporation’s tyrant and witnessed the awakening of thousands of clones at the end of Extinction, Afterlife begins with a dazzling sequence as Alice and her clones infiltrate the corporation’s state-of-the-art underground facility where the human tests of the deadly virus continue. Alice intends to free the humans and take them to ‘Arcadia’, a safe-haven where the infection-free survivors have apparently fled.

Filmed using the 3D technology pioneered by James Cameron for Avatar, Afterlife unquestionably has its moments, with cinematographer Glen MacPherson (The Final Destination), editor Niven Howie (Extinction, Dawn of the Dead) and production designer Arvinder Grewal (Exit Wounds, Dawn of the Dead) responsible for all of them.

Ms Jovovich is, as one might expect, perfectly serviceable in the lead role, and there is fine support from Ali Carter as the feisty ‘Claire Redfield’ – while the rest of the cast manage to look suitably dazed, confused and bewildered on cue. Sienna Guillory’s mid-end credits cameo as ‘Jill Valentine’ will ensure you either leave the cinema delighted or rolling your eyes – but you’ll certainly have had some serious gun-toting, daredevil, sci-fi razzle-dazzle in the process. And that can never be an entirely bad thing, can it?

This review was commissioned by the Geraldton Newspaper Group.