RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE

"Activate the Nemesis"

Investigating the incident in The Hive, the Umbrella Corporation unwittingly releases the T-Virus into Raccoon City. As the virus starts to take hold, the Corporation seals the city in an attempt to contain the outbreak and cover up the incident. Locked in the city, surviving Special Forces soldiers and members of the elite S.T.A.R.S. team now have to fight for their lives against the undead hordes and a new enemy released by Umbrella to destroy any evidence of the virus, the Nemesis. Their only hope is the lone survivor of the Hive disaster, Alice (Jovovich).

The first Resident Evil movie was a missed opportunity that didn't really live up to the source material. Can the sequel reanimate the series?

As a movie, Resident Evil: Apocalypse is a far better product than the lack lustre original. Fans will probably be relieved to hear that original director Paul W.S. Anderson is not behind the camera for the follow up but he did produce and write the script. Debutante Alexander Witt, who was a second unit director of photography on films like Pirates of the Caribbean, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down and The Bourne Identity, revs up the action quota ten fold to deliver a popcorn movie that is surprisingly entertaining.

Apocalypse captures all the elements of the games that made them such a hit in the console market. The destroyed, disaster ridden streets of Raccoon City are invested with the undead who are fanatically searching for anyone living to feed their (insatiable) hunger. The unstoppable Nemesis patrols the city, killing the remaining threats with his missile launcher and mini-gun and the Lickers hunt in packs. Fighting these rampaging hordes are the heroes of the game Jill Valentine and Carlos Olivera, who are joined by the only survivor from the first movie, Alice. This is what we expected and hoped for from a Resident Evil movie.

All these elements are backed up by a script that is far more cohesive than the original. We now have a plot that actually drives the movie to an anticipated action packed finale. Subplots and flashbacks answer a lot of the questions raised by the original film and in this one, leading to a more complete and well-structured story. This isn't awarding winning material but for a popcorn movie, it raises the film above average.

The cast does a good job with the limited amount of dialogue and the excessive action responsibility. Milla Jovovich has grown into the role of Alice, the woman who is mysteriously connected to the Umbrella Corporation and a survivor of the Hive incident. She excels in the action sequences, especially the hand-to-hand combat and actually does some acting in the role. Sienna Guillory is exactly how you would picture Jill Valentine. Besides from been incredibly sexy, she also handles a gun extremely well, disposing of the undead with pinpoint accuracy. Oded Fehr doesn't really have much to do as Carlos Olivera however. Out of all of the main characters he is probably the least developed. The supporting cast also does a decent job as well.

Resident Evil: Apocalypse is a big improvement on the original because the filmmakers have incorporated many of the game elements that were so sadly missing from the first one. This isn't a movie that is going to stay with you for a long time but it is good piece of popcorn entertainment and for people you are fans of the games the sight of The Nemesis on the rampage it worth the ticket price alone.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Widescreen 2.40:1 Anamorphic with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, the transfer is extremely good. For a movie that movie that takes place mostly at night, the picture is extremely clear throughout. The sound quality is also very good, filling your speakers every time the explosive action starts.

BONUS FEATURES (Special Edition)

The Evolution of Resident Evil: Bridge to Extinction (5.03 mins)
This is a short introduction to the third chapter in the Resident Evil franchise, Extinction. With clips from the first two movies and exclusive footage from the new movie, this is just a long trailer for the next film.

Featurettes (47.19 mins)
Entitled 'Diary of an Apocalypse', 'Zombie Dog POV test' and 'Undead boot camp' and with contributions from director Alexander Witt, production designer Paul Austerberry, stunt coordinator Steve Lucescu, producer Don Carmody, visual effects supervisor Alison O'Brien, armourer Charles Taylor, undead choreographers Sharon Moore and Derek Aasland and stars Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory and Oded Fehr, take you behind the scenes of the production. With behind the scenes footage and audio commentaries throughout, the featurettes look at the production of the rooftop rescue, church battle, street fight, the cemetery confrontation and the undead boot camp, this is a fascinating insight into the production of the movie.

Evil Archives
View images from the 'Art Department', 'Production photos', 'Publicity', 'Set design' and 'Storyboards'

Memory Training
An interactive game that shows you scenes from the movie and then asks you questions about them.

Exclusive Sneak Scene from Resident Evil: Extinction (2.08 mins)
Watch a zombie-riddled scene from the third film in the trilogy, 'Resident Evil: Extinction'.

OVERALL

Releasing a special edition DVD usually means that you would get more special features than the original release but strangely this isn't the case. The original release of 'Resident Evil: Apocalypse' was an excellent example of how a DVD should be released, filled with extras and three commentary tracks. This release has a good featurette but nothing else to write home about. It just seems to be an advert for the release of the third movie. Seek out the original release, as this is the far better version.

DVD

BONUS FEATURES (Original Release)

Filmmaker Commentary with Alexander Witt, producer Jeremy Bolt and executive producer Robert Kulzer
This informative and chatty track covers the more technical aspect of the film's production. The trio talk about having the sequel have more elements of the game series, unlike the first film that was envisaged as a prequel to what happened in the games. They reveal secrets about casting, special effects, action set pieces and transferring the main characters from the game into the movie.

Cast Commentary with Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr and Sienna Guillory
This chatty and fun commentary comes from the performers that played Alice, Carlos Olivera and Jill Valentine in the movie. The three of them talk about their characters, highlighting the strong female element and their representation of the game's heroes. They also reveal what it was like working with Alexander Witt and how the franchise has moved on since the first film.

Writer and producer commentary with writer/producer Paul W.S. Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt
The pair talks about the creative process behind the sequel to Resident Evil in this informative and chatty commentary track. Anderson explains his influences behind the film and the fact that he wanted to hark back to the 70s conspiracy films as well as the Zombie flick. They also reveal how they wanted to make Umbrella the main villain and how to make the film noticeably different than the first. The increased budget and comparing it to other genre defining sequels is also covered, with Anderson talking about James Cameron an awful lot.

Game: Resident Evil Reanimated (49.42 mins)
Director Alexander Witt, executive producer Robert Kulzer, producer Don Carmody, production designer Paul Austerberry, stunt coordinator Steve Lucescu, visual effects supervisor Alison O'Brien, and stars Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, Sienna Guillory, Raz Adoti, Sofie Vavasseur, Mike Epps and Matt Taylor take you behind the scenes of 'Resident Evil: Apocalypse'. Split into six parts entitled 'Game Plan', 'Running, Jumping, Fighting', 'Zombie Choreography', 'Building Racoon City', 'Big Guns' and 'Smoke and Mirrors', the MTV style featurettes include interviews with the cast and crew and behind the scenes footage from the production of the movie. Revealing information about the story, casting and characters, fight design, the Toronto shoot, CG effects and the mergence of console game characters and movie plot.

Game Babes (11.05 mins)
Director Alexander Witt, Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Raz Adoti, Zack Ward and Matt Taylor talk about the emergence of powerful female action stars in films. Featuring footage of Milla and Sienna in training, we see how much work they had to go through to prepare for Resident Evil.

Symphony of Evil (7.43 mins)
A montage of visual effects shots at various stages of completion includes shots of the lickers, dogs, helicopters, zombies and costume test of the main characters.

Corporate Malfeasance (2.54 mins)
Director Alexander Witt, producers Jeremy Bolt and Don Carmody and stars Milla Jovovich and Oded Fehr take about the power of the corporations and what Umbrella represents in modern society.

Deleted Scenes (11.57 mins)
Entitled 'Weather Report', 'Extended stairway chase', 'Extended gate scene', 'Terry's big break', 'The Lord's judgement', 'Pray for help', 'What the hell was that', 'Alpha team to base', 'Stay Alive', 'Save your ammo', 'Graveyard melee', 'Umbrella laboratory', 'What are your starring at?', 'Just say no…', 'You be on the weather', 'I was a ghetto superstar', 'Point, pull, repeat Pt.1', 'Point, pull, repeat Pt.2', 'Dogs in the kitchen' and 'Closure', these deleted or extended scenes are not accompanied by a commentary track so we don't know why they were removed.

Outtakes (2.53 mins)
Watch Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, Sienna Guillory and Raz Adoti muck up their lines and have fun on set.

Trailers (2.52 mins)
Your chance to watch the teaser and theatrical trailers for Resident Evil: Apocalypse

Poster Gallery
A collection of winning submissions created by finalists of the online poster design contest

OVERALL

This is an excellent example of how a single disc DVD should be put together. With three commentary tracks, a wealth of featurette, deleted scenes and much more, this is exceptional value and should have fans of the movie jumping for joy. Other DVD producer should take note, as this is the way to produce a packed single disc DVD package.

DVD

Resident Evil

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2004