Resident Evil: Apocalypse

I like Milla Jovovich as a superhero. Her breakout role in "The Fifth Element" was all that was needed to sell me on her. She was fine in the first "Resident Evil", which was better than perhaps it was given credit for. But in "Resident Evil: Apocalypse", Jovovich's Alice is given something of a makeover. When we last saw Alice at the end of the first movie she had been captured by scientists from the evil Umbrella Corporation and was subject to some tests and experiments. At the end of the movie we saw Alice walking alone on a street that was desolate and ruined, as if there were some sort of war or battle. It is at this point that "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" begins.

Raccoon City is the victim of the T-Virus from the Umbrella Corporation. This virus turns ordinary people into flesh eating zombies (is there another kind?), and like any good zombie virus, it is highly contagious. Umbrella Corporation apparently has the power to lock down the city and prevent anyone from leaving, but there are still some citizens left alive, including "disgraced" police officer Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory). Jill, and another officer attempt to hide before leaving the city and while being confronted by some nasty zombie creatures they meet Alice. During that whole period where she was a captive and the victim of experiments, Alice has apparently picked up some sort of upgrade to her natural biology because she kicks serious butt here. She fights like a super soldier or super hero, more like "The Fifth Element's" Leeloo than anyone else.

Besides the hordes of zombies, there is also a new super zombie looking creature called Nemesis which is stalking the city. Exactly what Nemesis is and where it came from is a little bit of a mystery, though a little thinking about the clues given will solve the riddle fairly quickly.

This is a nothing special action/zombie movie. Fans of the first "Resident Evil" may be disappointed. I know that despite myself, I did enjoy the first movie. There was more character interaction and character development, but this movie just had hordes of zombies and a bit too much action. And while I like Jovivich as a superhero, this didn't seem to be a role that really needed to such an incredibly strong superhero. I guess I didn't belive it. The door was left open for a third movie, and perhaps there will be one, but until that point there is no real reason to watch "Resident Evil: Apocalypse". There are far better movies out there.

Grade: C