Well, I can think of many a better way to spend a Friday night than sitting in a sparsely populated cinema watching the latest instalment in the Resident Evil franchise. But then again I don’t have the opportunity, money or libido to do any of those things so the cinema was really the only option for me tonight. Sad huh? I would like to say it will be different when I get back to Uni but i doubt it, third year syndrome seems to have already set in!
Anyway, the point of this post is to give you all my views on Resident Evil: Afterlife (in the overused and rapidly becoming boring medium of 3D). While i am aware that none of you (actually, who am i addressing, nobody reads this anyway!) care what i think about the world of cinema, i have already made it clear that i have nothing to do on Friday nights.
This latest outing from Paul Anderson and Co does not break the mould, and why should it? The franchise has been a fantastic success and has been dubbed the most successful ‘terrible’ collection of films ever. Lets face it, fantastic cinema, Resident Evil is not. It is a bit of fun. Unrealistically attractive women and suspiciously clean shaven men blowing stuff up, delivering cheesy one liners and generally kicking undead ass. Why would Anderson change a thing? If it aint broke don’t fix it (or in this case, if it is broke but still generating ridiculous amounts of money even consider fixing it ... you fool).
In short, this film is not great. In my opinion the franchise lost its way after the second film, mainly by the decision not to include Jill Valentine in the subsequent films....anybody who has seen the second one will know what I mean. There are a few decent moments in this fourth outing to be honest, the fight scenes are good fun and there is a great deal of comedy to be found in the fact that Wentworth Miller is yet again trying to break out of a prison...poor lad. However, this isn’t enough to save the film from the realms of the mediocre. The plot lacks originality, there is no chemistry between the leads and the ending is wholly unsatisfactory. However, my biggest issue is with the latest use of Hollywood’s most recent toy. I am of course talking about the 3D. To be honest, it looks forced and unnecessary. There is no need for it and it just turns the film into more of a farce. The most irritating thing is that the money used to fund this needless commodity could have been used to bring Jill Valentine back!
However, having said all this, I will still go to the cinema to see the next one. I’m not sure why, it is just that power that Resident Evil has over punters, and to be honest it is good fun without taxing the brain..at all. Plus, I am one hell of a sucker for a franchise.
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