DVD Review: RESIDENT EVIL AFTERLIFE

One of the worst parts of this job is when I have to sit through rather awful movies . That's 2 hours of my life that I'll never get back. And it sure seems to me that the RESIDENT EVIL franchise has really "jumped the shark" some years ago. Now, this latest installment in the series comes along, with little real plot, just throwing a bunch of 3D action gimmicks at the screen of actress Milla Jovovich doing plenty of wholly unrealistic stunts. This film was merely a silly excuse to make a 3D film for the franchise. It cost a reported $60 million to make, but only grossed about $120,000 more than it cost to make. So the producers are pinning their hopes of the DVD and Bluray sales to recoup some more money.

As a 3D Bluray disc, this zombie-killing, horror/sci fi trash film is probably worth one look for the computer generated stunts and visuals. But, in the normal 2D picture, there just enough here to recommend to any serious fan of decent horror or sci fi films. And as much as I like zombie films, the fact of the matter is that George Romero just makes far better zombie films on sometimes much small budgets than the $60 million spent here.

Russian-born actress Milla Jovovich does look as good as ever. She has a new look for this film. But, that's hardly good reason to recommend this. Her family left the old Soviet Union when she was just five years old. Her grandfather and father both spent time in jail or prison, and even Milla admits to credit card fraud as a teenager. But, in the West, Milla Jovovich has been a successful model and actress. And at age 35, her career still looks bright. She has plenty more good films ahead in her career.

But, there's just not much to be seen in RESIDENT EVIL AFTERLIFE. It's just not a very good film at all.

The Bottom Line: For the love of everything holy, avoid this "Evil". It's a real turkey in 2D. However, I can certainly imagine it as having a few good moments in the 3D Bluray version.

+1/2(One and a half stars for the 2D version. ++(Two stars for the 3D Bluray version).