Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Viewed: 9/12/04
Written: 9/12/04


I had pretty high expectations going into Resident Evil Apocalypse. Its predecessor was a solid zombie flick based on the wonderfully modern and groundbreaking storyline from the videogame. Thanks to the 80’s, George Romero’s nightmare attack of the living dead has turned into more of a goofball laugh along. Don’t get me wrong, I think Dead Alive and the Evil Dead series are masterpieces, but lately I’ve been praying for a serious zombie picture to devour the light hearted fare of Return of the Living Dead (no relation to Romero), and Re-Animator. Unfortunately for me, Apocalypse is by no means a solid film, not even living up to Resident Evil’s pleasant mediocrity.

The tragedy of the film lies in the fact that the Resident Evil premise (videogame, not movie) is so strong. The high profile and extremely powerful Umbrella Corporation, in its development of chemical weapons, has created a virus that reanimates dead cells. Of course all hell breaks loose as the best laid plans of mice and men are murdered and then risen from the grave when the T-Virus is accidentally let loose. Raccoon City, a brilliant portrayal of sleepy, small-town America ultimately pays the price for Umbrella’s tinkering in the form of a zombie holocaust.

Why the writer’s of the Resident Evil films decided to complicate the plotline is beyond me. If they had any sense at all they would stick to a plotline closer to the videogame, perhaps centered around S.T.A.R.S taskforce members, or around a plucky, determined heroine trying to find her brother amongst the carnage of Raccoon City.

Stylistically, Apocalypse is a disaster. Every MTV-era bell and whistle is put to use here. Remember that thing in Chungking Express that almost (almost) worked, where they slowed down the frame rate and everything became all choppy? Well its put to use here to mortifying effect, (I suppose) to illustrate the shambling, unnatural movement of zombies. The editing is also terrible, fluctuating between times and setpieces nonsensically. The quasi-futuristic industrial design of the Umbrella facilities, not to mention the foreign accents and attitudes of its management and employees are equally ridiculous, making the propaganda of corporate evil cartoonish and facile. The computer animated “lickers” are a joke as well. They just plain suck. A big problem with Apocalypse also is the trade in of decent exposition and story for quick, barely explained references to the videogame.

And I haven’t even mentioned Nemesis yet. A giant mutated moppet who was once Jovovich’s bud, gets fitted with a gatling gun and a rocket launcher and is tested on Raccoon City as Umbrella’s ultimate weapon. Think Andre the Giant in a Cenobite Halloween mask. I accept the whole mutated super-monster spiel as part and parcel of the Resident Evil storyline, but this is by no means a way to portray it.

I think Resident Evil: Apocalypse will be the end of this franchise. I can’t imagine a film this awful being profitable. However, I can’t help feeling a little sad about this. Resident Evil is a concept that has enormous potential to it, both as a story in its own right and as a symbol of hope for the serious zombie movie. Danny Boyle’s 28 Days Later was a gesture of hope for the genre, but not really anything to write home about either. For now I’ll bide my time and endure the agony of waiting for a more adult zombie film. I’ll Enjoy Shaun of the Dead and tell you how good it is while secretly hoping that the producers of Resident Evil will offer me a shot at writing the third installment.

Until then…remember to aim for the head.

Review by Brett A. Scieszka