Wentworth Miller Is The Evil In Residence

Resident Evil: Afterlife, the forth entry in the video game adaptation franchise, does exactly what it says on the tin. If you've not liked the series up until now, then this sequel isn't going to change your mind; it's a cool sci-fi action/horror starring sexy chicks in a near future zombie apocalypse. The story is built around a series of action set pieces that, as usual aren't designed to enhance the story, deepen character relationships or create dramatic tension, but just to look cool. And if you like 'cool' on it's own, then you'll like this.

Director Paul WS Anderson is a director with no discernible style of his own, changing editing techniques, production designers, effects companies and photographers for each movie (aping Cameron for AvP, MTV editing and bleached look for Death Race, etc)..imposing no over-arching style of his own on to his crew members...which means you never quite know what you're going to get from him. In this case he's plumped for an ultra-clean, slick Matrix-like style...complete with hyper-slow motion, bullet time editing and action. It's the best looking of the franchise, having a considerably bigger budget to spend. The effects are of very high standard and the extra cash allow for digital matte paintings that open up the scale of the Resident Evil world.

Milla is as imposing a female lead as you'd expect and Ali Larter is cute as her less prominent sidekick, but the remainder of the cast are a dull and humourless bunch. If there's a criticism to be had of Afterlife it's that of anti-hero Wentworth Miller and villainous Agent Smith rip-off Shawn Roberts. With no laughs in the script, everybody's playing it straight...but Miller and Roberts are so over-the-top, deadpan corny in their deliveries it makes you want to gag. They're both terrible...and the only thing dragging an otherwise fun piece of popcorn spectacle down.

The 3D works well, especially in the slow motion action sequences (prompting the thought...I wonder what The Matrix would look like in 3D). It has to be said, films shot in 3D are far better than those converted into 3D, after the fact (like Piranha, Alice In Wonderland). And like the rest of Afterlife, that's cool.