Today’s Prayer Focus
MOVIE REVIEW

Resident Evil: Afterlife

also known as “Resident Evil 4,” “Resident Evil: Afterlife: An IMAX Experience,” “Kaptár—Bioterror,” “Resident Evil 4: La resurrección,” “Resident Evil 4: Recomeço,” “Resident Evil: Ultratumba”
MPA Rating: R-Rating (MPA) for sequences of strong violence and language.

Reviewed by: Julia Micheals
CONTRIBUTOR

Moral Rating: Very Offensive
Moviemaking Quality:
Primary Audience: Adults
Genre: Sci-Fi Action Thriller Horror 3D Sequel IMAX
Length: 1 hr. 40 min.
Year of Release: 2010
USA Release: September 10, 2010 (wide—2,800+ theaters)
DVD: December 28, 2010
Copyright, Screen Gems, Sony Picturesclick photos to ENLARGE Copyright, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Copyright, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Copyright, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Copyright, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Copyright, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Copyright, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Copyright, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Copyright, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures Copyright, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures
Relevant Issues
Copyright, Screen Gems, Sony Pictures

About death and Final judgment

VIOLENCE—How does viewing violence in movies affect families? Answer

Resident Evil video game reviews

Zombies

Viruses

Cloning

Featuring Milla Jovovich (Alice), Ali Larter (Claire Redfield), Kim Coates (Bennett), Shawn Roberts (Albert Wesker), Sergio Peris-Mencheta (Angel), Spencer Locke (K-Mart), Boris Kodjoe (Luther), Wentworth Miller (Chris Redfield), Sienna Guillory (Jill Valentine), See all »
Director Paul W.S. Anderson
Producer Constantin Film Produktion (as Constantin Film), Davis-Films (as Davis Films), Impact Pictures, Paul W.S. Anderson, See all »
Distributor
Screen Gems
Screen Gems
, a division of Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment

“She’s back… And she’s bringing a few of her friends.”

“Resident Evil: Afterlife” is the fourth installment in the movie series based on the Resident Evil games and the first in the franchise to be in 3D. If you are a fan of the games, you may or may not be interested in seeing this for varying reasons, usually one in particular: That it is loosely based on the games. If you’re a fan of the last three Resident Evil films, you’ll feel right at home. If you’re not any of these you might feel a little lost, but I’ll try to sum up the series thus far…

A zombie apocalypse wiped out most of humanity, and civilization as we know it has collapsed. The cause was a virus manufactured by the Umbrella Corporation. One person in particular, an ex-Umbrella employee named Alice managed to bond with the virus after being experimented on by the company. Instead of becoming a zombie, she gained superhuman qualities from the T-Virus such as superhuman strength, invincibility, and so on. Although Alice sorely resents these powers she uses them to fight against the Umbrella Corporation. I believe that Alice is driven by guilt for her involvement in Umbrella. In one scene, while continuing to search for survivors she asks herself if being alone on Earth is her punishment.

The movie contains many nods to the games Code Veronica and “Resident Evil 5.” A majority of the references are from “Resident Evil 5,” which was released as recently as March 2009. This Resident Evil movie contains probably the most references to the games than the previous movies, which may or may not make it a must see for fans of the games.

The movie was very true to the trailer that advertised it. The trailer reveals some of the best moments from the movie that reference “Resident Evil 5.” If you liked the trailer you’ll probably enjoy this movie. The movie is in essence a horror/action film. It’s full of moments that may frighten some, but excite others. The movie includes gratuitous bullet time showing damage caused to enemies, both human and monsters.

The two major issues that Christian viewers may have with the movie is the violence and language. The violence consists of horror/action type violence. There is a fair amount of blood and gore involved. People are shot, sliced apart, and stabbed, and of course attacked by zombies and other monsters. In one scene a major enemy is killed by a gory head shot. Although the movie is not overly saturated in foul language like many other R-rated films, swear words are used a handful of times. The F-word and variations of it are used at least two or three times. God’s name is taken in vain at least once or twice. Other words used include s*** and d**n. Unlike the other films, there is no overt nudity in this one. However, there is a scene where a survivor seems to be looking at an adult magazine and later tries to peak at Alice who is about to shower, but she quickly finds him hiding, gets angry and tells him to get out.

The movie, like the games, does have a very strong theme of good vs. evil. The villains are portrayed as selfish and twisted while the heroes are shown to work together and care for each other, even in the worst of situations. The movies also have had a consistent theme of guilt for ones past actions. However, forgiveness isn’t earned, it’s a free gift that just needs to be acknowledged.

Overall, the purpose of the Resident Evil movies is to bring the games to a more mainstream audience. If you do decide to see the movie, make sure to stay after the credits for a surprise scene that helps fill in some of the movie series' prior plot holes.

Violence: Extreme / Profanity: Heavy / Sex/Nudity: Moderate

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.


Viewer CommentsSend your comments
Positive
Positive—Never did I think after watching all three of those jarring, slightly (okay so more than “slightly”) chinky “Resident Evil” movies that I would sucker myself into going to yet another RE film. But somehow I did. I think it’s a combination of having seen all the Prison Break lore and wanting to see continuity in the RE story. Ali Larter returning as Claire Redfield doesn’t hurt either, nor does the trailer’s headbanging rock song by the ex-Tool frontman.

Why “Prison Break” you say? Fair enough. Michael Scofield, the protagonist of PB, is Chris Redfield, an (oddly enough) imprisoned cop slash brother of Claire Redfield. He talks the same, he walks the same, and he still struts that belly they tried to hide with long, baggy shirts (in the Florida heat no less!) in season 4 of “Prison Break.” In “Resident Evil: Afterlife,” Wentworth Miller is for all intents and purposes Michael Scofield, just with a few guns and no Lincoln Burrows to bail out.

That being said, I knew full well I’d get a cheesy, no-reload, over-the-top, wire-acrobatics slash video game action extraordinaire. Parts one thru three were nothing but. Normally, I would tear a movie like this apart. But being well-prepped, knowing full well what my $10 3D showing would throw at me (sometimes literally), I was able to check my brain in at the door and the leave the conscientious movie critiquing by the curbside. I’m glad I did. …
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 4
Mega Tron, age 24 (USA)
Positive—OK, I have come to terms with the fact that I don’t have a common interest with most people when it comes to movies so I just thought I’d let you know. This was defiantly my favorite one out of all the Resident Evil movies so far.

When I first saw the beginning of the preview I was like “oh no, another Resident Evil movie,” but by the end of the trailer I was like “that looks awesome”. I was a little disappointed with the first movie but still entertained. It had more of a replay value than a strong first impression. I enjoyed the second one more and the third one I just felt like it was kind of there and incomplete. This one was what I was hoping for from the beginning.

***POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERT*** I really like the style of the villain and the main characters better in this one. They definitely stole an aspect from silent hill franchise. In the Silent Hill 2 video game I played a long time ago, Pyramid Head was a creepy villain that walked slowly and dragged a huge axe type thing behind him just like one villain in the movie. Although I spotted that instantly it didn’t bother me cause of the familiarity with the game Silent Hill which I probably wouldn’t play at this point in my life or video games in general but I still don’t know where this character came from or how it relates to the resident Evil story line. It was still cool though.
***END SPOILER ALERT***

Also, I did not see this in 3D, and I was still very satisfied. I did not notice that much language (there may have been more than I noticed) or any sexual content worth as much as a pg 13 rating but there is violence.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Jeremy, age 24 (USA)
Negative
Negative—I watched “Resident Evil: Afterlife” without too much trepidation, as I’d watched the previous RE films and had not been overly struck by the gratuitousness of them, compared to other modern films. However, to my eyes, “Resident Evil: Afterlife” was subtly different from its predecessors.

The first thing which struck me was the violence. It seems to have been stepped up a notch since the previous film: violent action includes graphic slow-motion zombie head-shots and a human character being sliced in half. Enured as I am to violence by the previous RE films, I found certain moments in Afterlife somewhat shocking.

The second objection I have to the film is the obvious sexuality which unnecessarily enters into it. During a long fight scene the two lead female characters are drenched with water while clothed. Say what you like about the scene being atmospheric, I see it simply as ploy by the filmmakers to interweave a new level of titillation into the drama.

All-in-all, the film is entertaining enough, but not worth the time of a Christian viewer which could be spent much more profitably. Lust and violence, two vices which mar many modern productions are definitely present here, making this movie not only unprofitable but potentially morally polluting.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Offensive / Moviemaking quality: 4½
Grant Melville, age 21 (Scotland)
Comments from young people
Positive—“Resident Evil: Afterlife” was a fun ride, albeit a short one. That’s my main complaint with the movie: it’s length. I felt like I could’ve gotten more for my money and the years I’ve waited for its release. That said, I enjoyed Afterlife. I didn’t go in expecting a highly artistic film, and that’s not what I got. I expected some ridiculous action with cool fights and sweet looking zombies, and I most definitely got that; totally worth a matinee in my mind.

Content wise, I was pleasantly surprised. Afterlife has no sexual content whatsoever. The language was worse than what we had in Extinction but not as bad as the first two films; the f-word makes an appearance around 5 times, basically appearing twice in the film in short bursts. Other milder language is scattered throughout, including maybe 3 S-words, a use of B**ch, and… that’s it.

It was the extreme gore, or lack thereof, that really surprised me. This is probably the cleanest zombie film you’ll ever see when it comes to violence, although that’s not exactly saying much. The first scene is the bloodiest by far, with guards being impaled and beheaded with some bloods spraying. A large zombie’s head explodes from a shotgun blast, and the body crumples to the floor. One of the bloodier scenes involves Alice shooting towards the camera and “bullets” (not exactly) going through some zombie brains (used to great 3D effect). There’s some bloodspray, but nowhere near as much as you’d expect in an R rated film.

Another bloody moment involves an axe slicing through a man diagonally, but it goes by so quick you barely see anything. Zombies are shot constantly, but it usually doesn’t involve much blood. I would probably compare the violence in Afterlife to that of “The Book of Eli” or “Gladiator.”

In conclusion, Afterlife was a fun way to spend an afternoon. The 3D was lots of fun, being the first movie since Avatar to do it right, and the action sequences were intense. Alice and other characters put their lives on the line to help others, which is contrasted with one man’s selfishness (it doesn’t end well for him). It’s not for the extremely squeamish, as there are a couple of fairly bloody scenes, but if you’ve seen any other zombie movie, or any other relatively violent R rated movie, then nothing here will surprise you.
My Ratings: Moral rating: Average / Moviemaking quality: 3
Joe, age 17 (USA)