THE GAME COMES TO LIFE!

Fans of the game Resident Evil are committed to the game. They began with the first and moved on the each and every incarnation after. They were tickled pink to learn that a movie was being made of the game and somewhat disappointed in what they received. But those same fans should rejoice at the latest installment, RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE.

The film pick up where the last left off, with Alice (Milla Javovich) waking in the labs of the Umbrella Corporation to find it empty, then moving upwards to the city streets to find a world in chaos. It then jumps to the other characters in the film and the fact that Racoon City has been walled of and sealed with most of its citizens still inside (except for high placed scientists or company big shots).

In short order we meet Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), a tough as nails cop recently placed on suspension, who wants nothing to do with Racoon City and is looking for a way out. Of course after blowing away a few of the risen dead in her police squad room.
The risen dead you say?

For those who missed the first film or have yet to try out the game, the movie is based around a ruthless corporation that has founded a city of its own called Racoon City. Beneath this metropolis they have constructed a super secret lab known as the Hive. An accident released a toxic weapon they had been developing that killed off all of the Hive workers only to bring them back from the dead with an insatiable appetite for human flesh. Yes, we’re talking zombies here kids.

Back to the characters. We witness the special team sent in to help control Racoon City, it’s biggest name member being Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) who leads the team through the streets and alleys as they try to first control the zombies and later to find a way out. We also meet L.J. (Mike Epps), a street wise local who survives an attack by Nemesis while in the company of another elite force in town known as S.T.A.R.

The movie plays like the game in many ways. First and foremost, it offers tons of action from fight sequences between characters like Alice and Nemesis to battling the now famous genetically mutated Dobermans. These fight scenes are a mix of good and bad in that they don’t focus non stop on close ups (ala BOURNE SUPREMACY) but give us a combination of those, medium and long shots to see the entire fight instead of its participants reactions to that fight.

But beneath the action lies the conspiracy or puzzle of the film. This one offers several beginning with the crux of the picture where a scientist with access to his computer and cameras that hand on nearly every street corner in town, who contacts Alice and Jill with an offer to get them out safely. All they have to do is locate his daughter, rescue her and bring her out.

As the group working together to achieve their goal grows, they face the ever present danger of the zombies that litter the street. And eventually face off the aforementioned Nemesis. Nemesis is the mutated friend of Alice who also survived the first film. This time around, he has changed considerably, resembling something not quite human and nearly indestructible.

The last element of the game brought to life on screen and hinted at in the description of events above is that horror element found in any good zombie flick. This one features some great looking zombies with make up that stands up to any seen in horror films of late.

This combination of horror, puzzle to solve and action fare is brought together expertly under the direction of helmer Alexander Witt. A secondary director for a number of films, this is his first as man in charge. And he shows great promise with this one, combining just the right touch of each to pull of the transition from game monitor to big screen.

If you love the game, if you love horror films or if you just plain out love escapist fare that is not for the average viewer, then you will love this film. I left finding myself surprised, having expected much less after the first film. This one caught me off guard and I await its release in DVD with baited breath.