RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE - DVD review

The "Resident Evil" line of video-games is so popular with video-game players that it inspired 2002's "Resident Evil", an expensive-looking action movie that was too loud and too nonsensical to be worth its budget. "Resident Evil" generated enough money to yield a sequel, "Resident Evil: Apocalypse". "Resident Evil" was a prequel to the video-game series, and "Resident Evil 2" takes place during the video-game narrative.

In "Resident Evil 2", the Umbrella Corporation decides to release the T-virus to all of Raccoon City. That way, a state-of-emergency can be declared, allowing Umbrella's scientists to use Raccoon City as a battleground for two fighting machines that it has bred. The first one is Nemesis, a huge monster who can take a lot of bullets in the chest. The other warrior is Alice (Milla Jovovich), a woman pumped full of chemicals that make her capable of doing a lot of things without the usual training that even the most-talented soldiers have to endure.

As she battles Nemesis, Alice encounters people who also haven't turned into zombies yet--a soldier (Oded Fehr), a little girl (Sophie Vavasseur), and Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), one of the heroines in the "Resident Evil" video-game series. For an hour and a half, you get to see a lot of people shooting at a lot of zombies, though despite the fact that Jill tells everyone to shoot the zombies in the head, a lot of bullets are pumped into body parts other than the heads.

Sienna Guillory, who plays Helen in the recent TV miniseries "Helen of Troy", is prettier with black hair than she is with blonde hair. When she has blonde hair, she looks like a blank sheet of paper. Black hair gives her face a frame, which ultimately accentuates her fine bone structure. Despite having fewer lines, having less screen time, and showing less skin than Milla Jovovich, Guillory managed to deliver a performance that hinted at possible character development.

You know a movie's in trouble when a viewer thinks more about what kind of hair color an actress should have than he does about the movie.

Video:
"Resident Evil", like "Spider-man", was framed at 1.85:1. "Resident Evil 2", like "Spider-man 2", was framed at 2.35:1. "Resident Evil 2", like "Spider-man 2", is better than its predecessor. However, "Resident Evil 2" is no "Spider-man 2".

Nonetheless, this disc's 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen video transfer shares many qualities with the DVD video transfer of "Spider-man 2". While the image is entirely free of any physical defects (probably because it was taken from a digital source rather than a film print), it often looks soft and blurry. Therefore, some of the CGI looks awful. There's also a plastic or glass sheen that makes the actors look less real than you know they are. On the other hand, contrast levels are pretty good, allowing you to differentiate between objects despite the generally dark look of the movie.

The movie disc also has a Pan-and-Scan 1.33:1 transfer.

Audio:
The Dolby Digital 5.1 English track delivers the expected--a lot of whizzing noises crisscrossing your viewing environment whenever possible. Booming bass--courtesy of weapons fire and headache-inducing music--floods the room constantly. Through it all, you can hear the actors' voices intelligibly, though you have to deal with the fact the script doesn't give the cast anything meaningful or clever to say.

Optional English subtitles and English closed captions support the audio.

Extras:
Disc 1 offers three audio commentaries:
1) director Alexander Witt, producer Jeremy Bolt, and executive producer Robert Kulzer;
2) cast members Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, and Oded Fehr;
3) writer/producer Paul W.S. Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt.

As the commentators all thought that they made a good movie, they talk about how much fun they had making it and how cool it is rather than discussing how not to make a bad movie (which is the only worthwhile angle to use when talking about "Resident Evil 2"). Disc 1 also has some previews of other Sony movies.

Disc 2 houses the majority of the extras. "‘Resident Evil' Reanimated" is a six-part "making of" documentary that covers various aspects of the production. It's fairly comprehensive, though if you find the movie as boring as I do, then you'll find the documentary less than worth your time, too.

Next up are some featurettes. "Game Babes" tells us that it's great that women can wear revealing clothes and shoot guns. "Symphony of Evil" uses multiple frames to show viewers how special effects shots were achieved and how some sequences were taken directly from the "Resident Evil" video-games. "Corporate Malfeasance" compares the Umbrella Corporation to real-life companies, though you shouldn't mistake this for a life-changing socio-political documentary.

Finally, you get to "enjoy" a lot of deleted scenes, an amusing outtakes clip, a poster gallery, and additional previews, including the two trailers for this movie. The teaser trailer for "Resident Evil 2" is really nifty. Alas, the movie sucks.

--Miscellaneous--
An insert advertises other Sony DVDs as well as the "Resident Evil" video-game series. A transparent plastic slipcover fits over the slim dual keepcase.

Film Value:
"Resident Evil: Apocalypse" is a better movie than "Resident Evil", but that's not much of an accomplishment. I mean, when the method that's used to be better than something else is to offer a lot of action and as little exposition as possible in order to avoid saying something stupid, then your achievement bar is so low that you shouldn't have bothered in the first place. This movie's a waste of time, even for fans of the "Resident Evil" video-games. After all, you at least get to be the hero when playing a video-game; watching one is never fun.