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Resident Evil Apocalypse reviews? (1 Viewer)

MattFini

Supporting Actor
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May 7, 2004
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607
Mike Epps supporting role as the "comic" relief was terrible also. The worst kind of annoying stereotype that I was hoping was behind us.

I didn't mind the rest of the movie though. :)
 

Alex Spindler

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Jan 23, 2000
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The first half of the movie was quite terrible, but once they hit the school, I think it got marketedly better.

I'm not a big fan of the original film (although I did like the game series), but I'd have to concede that it was better than this one. The film shares the same low-gore quotient of the first one (only marginally uses its R rating) but still managed a few good moments here and there.

Probably not worth having to slog through the first half, but the last half was fair enough to not be outraged by it.
 

Andres Munoz

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Dec 21, 1999
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2,489
I saw it on saturday. I got mixed feelings about this one.

The setup was nice...group of people trying to get out of a whole CITY alive, while having to fend off zombies, lickers, dead dogs and Nemesis. It could've been very interesting (if done well).

The execution, on the other hand was bad, really bad.

The first movie was good, most of the scenes made sense and you actually felt a bit scared of what would come next.

With this sequel, all of that goes out the window. Lots of mindless action pieces. Like Alice appearing out of nowhere in the church, crashing through the window and killing the lickers. Or the group of survivors walking through a friggin' CEMETERY!

The first one made sense in the sense that the characters reacted in a realistic manner. The characters in the sequel behaved in a very ilogical manner.

I guess I was expecting this movie to be a little more intelligent but it was just dumb fun. I was entertained, I give it that. But it just didn't meet my expectations.

PS: This movie is LOUD! I can't remember ever wishing the theater would lower the volume just a little bit.
 

Ruben Z

Auditioning
Joined
Sep 21, 2004
Messages
14
I saw this movie and not being much of a RE fan I guess helped me like it a tad bit more.


But I agree, how did the dead contract the T-Virus? The only thing my cousin and I came up with were the WORMS inside :) had the virus LOL and made the corpse move LOL...


Aside from that, I found myself REALLY REALLY wanting to know more about ALICE at the end. Another thing. Project Nemesis, why did no one ever thing of shooting him in the HEAD? I hate that. Its obvious he's not going down when you shoot him in the chest, get his freaking FACE!!!
 

Steve Bjorg

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
May 9, 2002
Messages
114
Finally managed to see this one today. I agree that it is not a great movie. However, it is a good action flick. Much, much better than that POS of AvP. That was the worst movie I have seen in many years. Completely devoid of any rational thought... but I digress. RE:A has many short comings, but action is not one of them. I felt that the hectic photography lend itself very well to this fast paced movie. I was quite entertained throughout. I'm looking forward to its sequel, as well as picking up its DVD when it hits the shelves.
 

Will_B

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Joined
Mar 6, 2001
Messages
4,730
Resurrecting the thread. Just rented Resident Evil: Apocalypse. I loved the first one.

Indeed on rewatching the original Resident Evil the other day (to prep for the sequel!) I realized just how much it moved me: on rewatching the original, every scene moved more quickly than I'd remembered it. I suspect that effect has to do with how much detail your brain is recording -- my theory is that if you are really interested in a film then you record so much that in a subjective sense even a fast paced film like RE seems epic.

Anyway, the sequel wasn't so epic.

I tried to quiet my internal monologue the moment I noticed that the film seemed to lack the style of the first one, but before I could silence it I observed that they seemed to be introducing another female lead character without good cause.

I realized the cause appeared to be simply because back when it came time to write the script, they were probably worried they wouldn't be able to get Milla back for the sequel, so they wrote up a storyline that didn't need Alice. But they did get Milla back (and for good cause: she's the balls). So they ended up with two female leads, and the film remained fractured from that initial mistake onward. The filmmakers, having been unable to determine who to focus on, ended up with a film in which there was no one to relate to.

When "generic seven foot tall comic-book supervillain" showed up it was clear that this film was firmly aiming for "Let's Suck!".

The film played out like a cross between Escape from New York and an episode from the subpar seventh season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I can't forgive the filmmakers for making Milla's character so unhuman. I don't mean in a DNA way, I mean in making her so difficult to connect with. She was the spirit of the first film but for this second one she was just some generic muscle. It's a shame really.

I expected, naively I guess, that a sequel to a highly praised film like RE (it was praised, wasn't it? It deserved to be!) would mean that they'd make a sequel as good or better. I was not prepared for the old school "let's ride on the coattails of the first film by making a low budget film that sucks, and hope no one notices the drop in quality!" I feel betrayed. I bet the actors (MJ) feel betrayed. This film series could be redeemed by a third film, but only if they bring in someone like Ridley Scott to do the honors.
 

Will_B

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 6, 2001
Messages
4,730
I just want to add a quick follow up to my harsh review of RE:A.

The disc may be worth picking up (at least renting) if only for the commentary track by Milla and her male co-star. They are totally cracking up through the whole film, it is a real pleasure to listen to -- and thankfully distracts from the film itself. Indeed you can just close your eyes and listen along if you want to avoid seeing the film again.

Their humor is intentional.

But there's also an unintentional bit of humor about this commentary track. It comes in the form of the way another commentary was edited into it. There are some seperately recorded comments from the actresss who played Jill Valentine. They cut to that one now and then, revealing a stark contrast: whereas Milla and her guy are in hysterics over the film, the actress who played Jill is super-serious and intent upon the craft of her character. The DVD producers should not have attempted to blend these two seperately-recorded commentaries together, as the tones could not be more radically different. One set of folks are comparing the sounds of being hungry for a sandwhich with the sounds zombies make, and in the other Jill Valentine is waxing philosophical on the Craft. Oddly neither set of folks come off as silly, but it is a silly contrast!
 

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