December 31, 2013

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)


Let's see what surprises lie behind door number two!



First things first. Let's address the title. Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Apocalypse. The destruction of the world. So, you might gather this film is going to be about the T-virus spreading across the world and wiping out the whole human population. Not so. This movie takes place solely in Raccoon City. Basically, the Umbrella Corporation went back down into the Hive after kidnapping Alice and Matt. In doing so, they released the virus into the city and now the zombie outbreak is going down. Luckily, Umbrella was at least smart enough to quarantine the whole city before things got too out of hand. Still, losing a city to a zombie outbreak hardly qualifies as an apocalypse. But I digress...

Last we saw Alice, she had woken up on an examination table in Umbrella's research facility. She walks out into Raccoon City, now in shambles, and picks up a discarding shotgun. "What exactly happened to her?" you might ask. Well, Umbrella exposed both her and Matt to the T-virus... and, well... Alice is basically going to discover she's a superhuman now. Run at lighting fast speeds. Leap 20 feet in the air. Take a punch from a super strong monster and still keep on kicking. Yup, that's what she does now. Although, the writers decided they finally need to bring some explanation on how the T-virus came to be, so we're introduced to its creator, Dr. Ashford. He's some genius researcher who he and his young daughter are suffering from some degenerative disease. To correct this, he made the T-virus. Apparently it's original intention was to help humans heal and regenerate from any illness or injury. Unfortunately, it turns them into zombies and in rare cases mutates them into horrible creatures. Alice is the exception to the rule and is the only person to have successfully bonded with the T-virus without succumbing to its horrible side effects. She is the Umbrella Corporation's prized possession... so it only makes sense that she was left behind to die in the research facility when the outbreak began. Oh, but they do get Dr. Ashford out and Matt -- or what's left of Matt. 

Anyways, this film is basically about Alice (and a handful of others) trying to get out of Raccoon City alive even though Umbrella has barricaded everyone in. They do find a ticket out, though. Dr. Ashford's daughter who got trapped in a car wreck while being transported from school. Ashford establishes contact through pay phones and security cameras with Alice and gang (who are now probably the only survivors left in the city) and offers them a chopper out of the city if they can locate his daughter. 

I'll make the rest of the movie simple. With a many zombie/mutant fights... they find the little girl... battle against Umbrella (who use Matt -- now a giant, powerful mutant under their control -- to fight Alice)... and make it out of the city. Only, one of the last scenes is of the escaping helicopter crashing in the middle of the woods on the outskirts of the city after Umbrella sets a nuke off destroying Raccoon City -- and, hopefully, containing the outbreak. 

Few points I need to raise. One, I'm confused about Dr. Ashford's role with Umbrella. Yes, they establish him as the creator of the T-virus. And, because he's a cripple in a wheelchair, I guess he just works from home which is why he didn't perish in the Hive in the first film. What's also weird is that his daughter is the avatar for the Red Queen (the Hive's state-of-the-art security system). In the last film they made a reference that the computer's avatar was designed after the maker's daughter. So, Dr. Ashford isn't only the creator of the T-virus, he's also the designer of the Red Queen. Which also begs the question, shouldn't he have known shit was going down the second the Hive went into quarantine mode? When you first see him in this film, Umbrella is in the process of collecting him before the city is sealed in. He greets the Umbrella henchmen at the door to his house and is somewhat confused by everything. He only says, "How bad is it?" I feel like this guy should have been thought out a little more. If he's responsible for everything gone wrong in Umbrella, he should at least have some insight into it. 

My last grievance is the final scene. As the helicopter goes down during the nuke blast, Alice takes a piece of shrapnel in her chest saving Dr. Ashford's kid form death. Presumably, Alice dies and the rest of crew survives the crash and escapes into the woods. Next, we see Alice wake up in Umbrella HQ in some sort of water tank. Was she saved? Is she a clone? No clue. But in a matter of seconds her memory returns to her and she remembers who the enemy is. She kicks ass and makes her way out of the research facility. Next thing you know, she's greeted by all of her old cronies from the Raccoon City disguised as Umbrella henchmen sitting in a getaway SUV. They (apparently) came to smuggle her out. What? Was this all planed? How the fuck did they know, "Oh, this is the day they're waking Alice up from a regenerative sleep so we got to bust in and sneak her out." Much less, one of the men in crew was a wise-talking pimp from Raccoon City who somehow managed to survive. And now he's prepared to fight elite mercenaries? No. I don't buy that. I don't buy any of this shit. 

Still... show me more!

I know all of this should just be ignored. Focus on the crazy, over-the-top battle scenes and have fun, but some of these plot holes are so glaring it's ridiculous. Can't wait to rip into the next film, though. (I've got some serious problems with that one.) But -- sadly -- that will have to wait for 2014. 

Happy New Year's everyone!

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