Resident Evil: After life is Paul Anderson's fourth go around as writer-producer, and second as director for the Video Game turned Movie Franchise. Resident Evil: Afterlife includes a pretty good cast including Milla Jovovich as Alice, Ali Larter as the forgetful Claire Redfield (Heroes), Shawn Roberts as Wesker(Who reminded me of what Hayden Christensen should have looked like playing Anakin Skywalker, but with sunglasses on. Vader wasn’t that tiny of a human!), and Wentworth Miller as the films X-Factor, Chris Redfield(Prison Break).
I was really impressed with the film's opening segment. The Special Effects were flawless and they looked amazing on the Portage 16 IMAX Screen way up North in Portage IN. The film's introduction really drew you in and prepared you for the story it was going to tell. If you see it in IMAX the scene where the camera is zooming into a specific location (like you’re falling from space down to earth)is pretty cool and eerily realistic.
I compare 'Resident Evil: Afterlife' to other Sci-Fi Horror movies such as Robert Rodriguez's recent successful crack at the 'Predators' franchise, or a 'Halloween' flick. Basically saying here that you know the lesser known actors and actresses are going to bite it first, someway, somehow! You just hope it's in a cool, bloody kind of way. 'Resident Evil: Afterlife' had a few of these cool kill moments but throughout most of the film you’re basically left knowing what’s going to happen next on screen, and turning out correct, making the movie a bit predictable.
‘Resident Evil: Afterlife’ is being advertised as having the same caliber of special effects that James Cameron's 'AVATAR' displayed. Sadly this is not the case. The special effects were nowhere near as crisp as ‘AVATAR’s fully digital and live action scenes were in IMAX 3D. Seeing the movie in IMAX3D did have its perks however. The scene's that are shot in front of a real background are nice and sharp, displaying Milla Jojovich, in my opinion, better than the previous 3 Resident Evil installments. Somehow, someway she got Hotter!
If you're a 'Resident Evil' fan you will enjoy this movie. Go see it in either IMAX 3D or on the small screen in normal vision or 3D. The 3D gimmicks are there but are in no way distracting and don't take away or really add anything to the overall performance of the film. If you want to see the film in IMAX but not in IMAX3D than unfortunately, you’re out of luck. 'Resident Evil: Afterlife' is being shown only on the IMAX screens in 3D. I would have preferred to see the film on the IMAX but 3D was unnecessary. In fact I would like to see any future titles on an IMAX screen, if done well, then in IMAX 3D, studios that don't use Cameron's brilliant 3D tech from the start of filming a movie they wish to present in 3D are wasting their time.
If you’re looking to see an 'Experiment gone bad turning the world's population into Zombies so a couple hot chicks can get a few gun shots to the Zombie's forehead point blank' type of flick then 'Resident Evil: Afterlife' wont disappoint. Just don’t expect the franchise to end on this 4th note. The Resident Evil franchise could quite possibly go on forever the way the fourth installment ended!
Many thanks to the Portage 16 IMAX theater!!!
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