"Why am I not surprised?"
For such a generic franchise - and for one inspired by a series of videogames at that - the Resident Evil films stand out by having the guts to hang on to ongoing characters and storylines, yet also giving each of the movies a slightly different tone and feel. For this fourth entry, after a blistering opening assault on the Umbrella Corporation's underground Tokyo base (promised at the end of the third film) with a ludicrously high body count and scale of destruction, Afterlife settles down to a more low-key and often quite reflective tone. Milla Jovovich and Ali Larter make a terrific pair of action heroines, and here the supporting cast is strong (if dispatched rather quickly). The film has an ambitious sense of (globe-trotting) scale, and the clarity and depth of field achieved by proper 3D (using the Avatar cameras) is mostly excellent comapred to recent post-conversions, augmented by some stunning virtual sets and real landscapes but uneven CGI. The sound mix is aggressive, with the soundtrack not so much a score as a rave playlist. Typically, plot and dialogue remain basic, with Idiot Plot cranked up high (including the least secure prison armoury ever), and Paul W.S. Anderson returns to direct the film with his usual sound creation of visuals and his unashamed magpie approach to inspiration from other genre hits (the Alien and Matrix series, The One, etc). As a 3D cinema experience, Afterlife has a lot to commend it, so it will be interesting to see how it fares on home DVD viewing.
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