I never thought I would see the day that the Resident Evil video games would lead to the making of four films, with a fifth said to be in the works. To be honest, I never thought it was going to get as far as the first film, based on its box office numbers. However, the franchise has grown worldwide and the market for zombie films has exploded over the past decade.
Resident Evil: Afterlife starts off where Resident Evil: Extinction left off. Alice is tracking the head of Umbrella Corporation overseas, while the rest of the crew heads for Alaska. When Alice arrives in Alaska, she finds there is no refuge there, and the only survivor is Claire. However, Claire has a device attached to her that induces a drug that makes her lose her memory. Once Alice removes the device, Claire’s memory slowly comes back, but it is not until they find a group of survivors held up in a prison in Los Angeles that things begin to make sense for her. As the walking dead around the prison are trying to get in, the message from Acadia, AK is not coming from Alaska at all, but from a ship called the Acadia, which is in the waters right outside Los Angles harbor. With the dead all around them, and even bigger mutant zombies threatening to take over the prison, Alice, Claire and the rest of the survivors try to make it to the ship where they hope to find refuge.
I have seen all four of the Resident Evil films and, to be honest, I think the franchise is slowing in its playing out. This fourth film didn’t really do much for me other than to expand the story. Now, I have only played the a few of the video games, and it was years ago, so I really don’t know how much this film takes from any of the new versions that are available; yet the film as a whole does play like a video game, with its non-stop action sequences, over-the-top gun fights and gore, and of course, the odd-looking villains. The script and story are nothing special. The character development is not really there for the new faces and the main characters are the ones that are developed more as they are the important part of the storyline.
The Blu-ray has a lot of features which include Filmmaker Commentary, Deleted & Extended Scenes, Outtakes and PS3 Wallpaper Themes. There are a lot of featurettes about the making of the film which include Back Under the Umbrella: Directing Afterlife, Band of Survivors: Casting Afterlife, Undead Dimension: Resident Evil in 3D, Fighting Back: The Action of Afterlife, Vision of the Apocalypse: The Design of Afterlife, New Blood: The Undead of Afterlife and Pwning the Undead: Gamers of the Afterlife. The Disc also includes Undead Vision: Picture-in-Picture and movieIQ+sync and BD-Live which connect you to real-time information on the cast, music, trivia and more while watching the film.
Resident Evil: Extinction is a film that is really nothing special. It does extend the story more, but once again when you think the story is finally over, the ending sets us up for another sequel. The good things about the films are that both Milla Jovovich and Ali Larter are still perfect as Alice and Claire Redfield. And for fans of the video game Chris Redfield make an appearance in the film, played by Prison Break’s Wentworth Miller. Overall, if you’re a fan of the video game you’ll probably be a fan of this one, I personally think it’s the weakest film of the franchise, but you be the judge. It is at least entertaining to say the least.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
