After handing over the reins on parts 2 and 3, Paul W.S. Anderson, director of the first "Resident Evil" adaptation, takes the reins himself again on the fourth rehash. And for good reason: "Resident Evil: Afterlife" was directed with the same camera system that was used for James Cameron's "Avatar". This makes the latest installment of the video game adaptations not only a technical challenge for the director, but also an almost certain hit - and of course Paul W.S. Anderson won't let that slip away.
The story, as in the first three films, is actually a minor matter. Alice (Milla Jovovich) is still on a vendetta against the Umbrella Corporation, through whose fault a virus has been unleashed that has turned much of humanity into bloodthirsty undead. Alice, transformed by Umbrella itself into a nearly invincible fighting machine, succeeds in destroying the Corporation's headquarters in Japan, but she must also pay a high price for doing so: she is injected with a serum that robs her of all supernatural powers and turns her back into a normal human.
As such, Alice desperately sets out to find more survivors. In Alaska, she bumps into Claire (Ali Larter), whom she had last seen in Las Vegas. But something is different. Claire can no longer remember Alice or what happened to the other survivors. Together, the two women fly to Los Angeles, hoping to find clues to a supposed oasis where the last humans might live in safety from the zombies. But what they find in the City of Angels almost destroys any hope of rescue...
Admittedly, the 3D effect makes "Resident Evil: Afterlife" visually the best installment in the series. There are quite a few scenes that can only develop a certain effect through 3D. Especially such slow motion effects, which have been known as "Bullet Time" since "Matrix", unfold their full effect in the third dimension. And even though the effects are nowhere near up to those in "Avatar", it can be said here with a clear conscience that "Resident Evil: Afterlife" is one of the movies where 3D really makes sense.
What the series lacks again in the fourth installment, however, is an exciting story and, above all, good characters. Sure, Alice is cool and nice to look at, but a real identification figure she is still not. And also the side characters remain extremely pale and serve almost all of them anyway only as cannon fodder for bloody zombie attacks. Logic or dialogues with even a hint of intelligence are also in vain. But even if these are aspects that won't really bother the target audience, the film also lacks ingredients that would have been quite helpful to increase the fun factor.
So the action lacks any form of humor or self-irony. Sure, there's some unintentional comedy here and there, but otherwise the movie takes itself way too seriously, which is just wasted potential in the face of club-wielding giant monsters or zombie dogs. That also the actors (and especially the female stars) are not allowed to show more talent than looking good even in the worst situations is also not really positive.
So in the end the conclusion remains that "Resident Evil: Afterlife" has become worth seeing for fans of the series, but only because of the 3D effect, because otherwise part 3 was definitely superior to it. Visually top, content disappointing, but more was not really expected
Ein Artikel von Frankfurt-Tipp
