One punch, cut away to a building. A kick, cut away to a stupid facial expression. A fast forward scene of a roundhouse kick and you’ve got your fight scene.
This type of direction is just one of many problems that exist in the new Resident Evil movie.
Milla Jovovich returns as Alice in the sequel entitled Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Though the movie has its problems, Milla is actually a bright spot.
The first movie left us hanging with Alice waking up in a hospital, alone, and to a deserted city. The second one does a nice job of picking up right where the first left off.
Before the movie unveils itself, we are treated to an almost complete recap of the events in the first one. Although unnecessary and very soap opera like, it’s a nice plate of ‘last time on Resident Evil’.
After the recap, the movie begins its roller coaster-like ride, some ups and some downs.
The main problems with the movie are the erratic camera angles and the quick cuts. The camera moves at such a high speed that half the time your wondering what happened.
A perfect example: a graveyard scene where the action is so fast that you barely see anything. The camera is so quick that you should consider yourself lucky if you make out the action. In no way is the action at all bad. The way the action is presented, however, is down right horrible. It cuts scenes only milliseconds after a punch or a kick to (what seems like) a fast forward movement of the character.
I get it, she moves at fast speeds, but isn’t there another way to do it?
Fans of the video game may once again be disappointed in the fact that the movie still doesn’t give the video game justice.
Paul W.S. Anderson (director/writer of Alien vs. Predator) craps on the games again by giving us nothing but the characters and the Umbrella Corp. From the eyes of a Resident Evil game player, it seems Anderson only played the third – and in fact inferior – game in the series.
Nothing from the first two games are incorporated into the first and second movie. All the elements from the third game, from Nemesis to Jill’s “outfit” are alive and well.
Say we throw all that aside, though. Forget the erratic cameras and the fact that this movie has almost nothing to do with the game, and you have yourself a really good action film.
Seeing this as just a sequel to RE the movie and not a sequel to a video game movie you have a fast pace, decent action film.
Milla shows even more of her fighting skills and athletic ability in this latest installment of the RE movies.
Hollywood is moving towards a genre where woman are the new action film stars. Milla is a poster child for this genre and in this movie she kicks serious … butt.
Milla is not the only one kicking butt, however. Sienna Guillory, who plays Jill Valentine, does her fair share with the shoot ’em first ask questions later attitude. Chicks rule this movie.
The story, while bleak at times, satisfies the audience. Fast pace action that would be great to look at, if not presented badly.
Milla and Sienna show us that woman are not there to act helpless in action movies anymore, they are there to open a can of … well, we know how the saying goes.
Mike Epps graces us with a great comic relief character and the make on Nemesis shows us not everything needs CGI (cough-George Lucas-cough). Dark and gritty at times, Resident Evil: Apocalypse is a decent action film that most people will love. HHH
* Rated R. Running time 94 minutes.

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