Day 81- Movie 74. Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)

In my opinion, the Resident Evil movies are remarkably consistent. None of them are actually good, but they're all pretty decent movies. There are completely absurd moments, huge plot holes, and laughable dialogue. But, there's also fairly impressive action sequences in every film as well. I actually gave all three films the same rating (something that doesn't happen very often)- 6.5. There was always things I liked, and things I did not.

And so, that brings us to the fourth Resident Evil movie. Alice is back again, ready to bring the fight to the Umbrella Corporation while avoiding the marauding horde of zombies always ready for a meal. The story is basically just a slight variation of the previous movies. This might have been okay, because I'd be happy as long as the film was entertaining. And yet, unfortunately, this film is the weakest of the franchise. It's not that this movie does anything especially worse than previous installments, but the whole thing is just getting tiresome.

The Resident Evil movies have always been poorly written (sorry Paul W.S. Anderson). There's always plot holes, gaps in logic and so many far-fetched events. I can go with this as long as the movie still manages to entertain. Unfortunately, in Afterlife, there are just some completely ridiculous moments. At one point, a door opens and a character says, "It's a trap." And immediately, all three walk through the door. That's just lazy writing. There are so many weak moments like this throughout the film. Ultimately, it made this movie hard to take seriously.

While I didn't hate this movie, I started to tire of the franchise. There was enough here to support three movies- I'm not sure about four. Now, I did enjoy certain parts of the movie. There's something fun about watching people fire automatic weapons at hundreds of zombies in an attempt to stay alive. That doesn't change. This film was 3D, but the 3D scenes in 2D weren't too distracting. I appreciated that. There are some very cool action scenes in this movie. I loved that aspect of it. While none of this movie really matters, it's fun in a mindless, effortless way.

Still, Resident Evil: Afterlife is a step down from previous installments. It's not a huge step down, but I just couldn't give this film a 6.5. I'll give this movie a 6/10.

So, if they decide to make a fifth (5 movies, my god) Resident Evil movie, I'll probably end up seeing it. However, if this is the last film in the franchise, I wouldn't mind that, either.