Resident Evil: Apocalyse -- 2004 -- R

Should I really bother reviewing Alien From L.A.? Nah, how many times can you comment on Kathy Ireland's bad (bad, horrible) acting? Let's go for something with a lot more cultural significance: RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE!

Okay, so this film picks up a little bit before where Resident Evil left off, and really does a decent job of filling in the gaps that were so prevalent and sequel-ready in the last film. In fact, from an action and interest perspective, I would go so far as to say this one was better than the last one in many respects. But we're also dealing with two totally different films.

Last time, we didn't know what was going on and were trapped in an underground facility just trying to escape. This time, we have escaped from the facility, but get trapped in a city very much aware of the consequnces of being so. Conspiracy theories run rampant here as the big-time Umbrella Corporation takes complete control and tries to stifle what is going on.

The plot comes across a lot clearer now that we've suffered through the first film, so this time, a lot more time is spent ironing out the details of what is going on and who is doing what to whom...of course, therein also lies the film's greatest fault. Plot, plot, plot...I could swear there were some kind of characters in this film.

Yeah, there were. About a million of them. Which ones do we pay attention to? Who is going to develop? Who is zombie fodder? Please, oh please, stop introducing new people! You're not giving us time to get attached to anybody! And so it went through the film. We could follow the lead character because we had her journey in the first film, and we even got (sort of) the guy she survived with. It was a nice moment. One of...um, one.

It all boils down to a decent action movie with lots of action moments and very little letting up on the engine for anything. A good effort was made to give the condition a back story and reason and to give us a plot to follow, but other than that, we get zombies and a big freakin' dude who is scary looking...and that no one will shoot at his head. Yeah, a big point is made to shoot at the zombies' heads, and when big, bad, and ugly shows up, the bullets are bouncing off his torso. Aim up! Aim up! Aim up! No one aims up. They all get wiped out. Ugh. And don't get me started on "we should split up to cover more ground." Who would do this? Seriously.

Anyway, it was a good follow to the first film that had sme decent progression. More effort could have been put in to characters, and we had our typical slew of idiotic actions, but to be honest, I'll probably watch the next one (which is due out September 21st in theatres) when it comes out on video.

And a final comment: I mentioned Alien From L.A. for a reason. In that movie, there is a funky shaped building that serves as the Law Center or something. That very building (or one like it) is City Hall in RE: Apocalypse. Pretty wild.