Resident Evil: Apocalypse

What a busy year for zombie movies. First, there was Dawn of the Dead (the remake), then came Resident Evil: Apocalypse, and later Shaun of the Dead. All of them are available on DVD, but the most popular of all these is the middle of the three movies: Resident Evil: Apocalypse, a filmed remake of the 1999 videogame Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, which I played before. Like the original game, this movie features Nemesis, a Terminator-like zombie with guts, as the main bad guy as well as Jill Valentine (Sienna Gullory) along with Raccoon City as the backdrop. Added to this remake is the survivor from the first film, Alice (Milla Jovovich), who is infected with the T-virus and wants a cure. Umbrella Corporation is back, this time testing a new kind of weapon against terror, Nemesis. It's up to Jill Valentine as well as Alice to stop the ugly looking zombie from terrorizing Raccoon City.

After watching this movie on DVD, I thought that this movie was better than the first one, since the last one was loosely based on the original Resident Evil and more on the creatures of the game, such as lickers and rabid dogs. More explosions, more zombies, and more Milla. That sums up what's in this film, which is directed by an unknown (but produced by the movie's director and Milla's boyfriend, Paul Andersen, who directed the hit movie Mortal Kombat and the cult classic Event Horizon). The surround sound is loud and the special effects are pretty good, as well as the quirky dialogue between Jill and Alice and the impressive martial arts stunts. The special features on the DVD include three commentaries by the stars and makers of the film, as well as a dozen or so deleted scenes, many making of docs, trailers, and clever posters designed by fans just for the DVD release.

If you want to see a great zombie movie, then Resident Evil: Apocalypse is for you.

Coming soon: A review of Troy as well as Napoleon Dynamite.