After destroying the Umbrella Corporation's Tokyo headquarters with help from her clones Alice escapes to find a group of survivors amidst the ruins of L.A. Once again she attempts to help them survive the undead intent on their destruction. But is Umbrella really defeated?
Here we go again, with another instalment of the videogame franchise that will not die, Resident Evil. For those that have sat through the previous films (would anyone who hasn't watch this?) it's more of the same. The same bland formulaic action scenes featuring the same bland formulaic characters led by the same bland formulaic heroine, Alice – boringly brought to the screen once more by Milla Jovovich. This time round she meets another group of trapped survivors and has to shoot, stab and kick her way to safety (in slow motion) against the usual mix of zombies and mutants, alongside a monster lifted with zero explanation from the console series. Returning director and franchise producer Paul W.S. Anderson applies his usual insipid style; a mix of cheap looking CGI and feeble Matrix inspired action set to a thumpingly annoying rock soundtrack.
Resident Evil: Afterlife, like its predecessors, resembles a lazy straight-to-video genre movie. Then again, is there any incentive to do anything remotely entertaining or unique with this now overused idea of a zombie apocalypse? This franchise is bewilderingly successful and will no doubt continue regurgitating the same formula forever, as evidenced by yet another cliffhanger ending.
British director who specialises in noisy, flashy sci-fi action. Made his debut in 1994 with the ram-raiding thriller Shopping, and scored his biggest critical success in 1997 with the scary space shocker Event Horizon. Anderson's Kurt Russell vehicle Soldier was a costly flop, but his computer game adaptations Mortal Kombat and Resident Evil proved more entertaining than they probably should have done. His Alien Vs. Predator was a hit, but was controversial amongst fans of the two franchises. Remake Death Race, a liberal version of The Three Musketeers and more Resident Evil sequels followed before he had a go at 3D peplum with Pompeii. Monster Hunter was a return to the gamer milieu with wife Milla Jovovich, but underperformed. Not to be confused with Magnolia director Paul Thomas Anderson.
