It has been whispered in discreet circles, very, very quietly, that the Resident Evil franchise films are a guilty pleasure... all respectable critics will look down their noses at them and only sad, geeky non-girlfriend teens will fork out money to see the continuing saga of Alice (Milla Jojivich) vs. the evil Umbrella Corporation based on the ever popular games institution.
Well, I admit that I originally loved the first Resident Evil films and so did enough people because despite the apathy directed towards them from the "critics" the world has now been presented with the fourth film in the series!
The original man behind the idea - W.S. Anderson - has returned to behind-the-camera duties as well as producing after relegating himself to "producer/writer" for part's two and three (Resident Evil: Apocalypse ) but unfortunately this time he hasn't brought with him the spark that made the original outing a discreet cult classic.
What we have is a movie that feels hacked to death to achieve it's incredibly short 93 minutes running time and a feeling that the original cut would have at least put some meat-on-the-bones that explains the incredible jumps in plot and dialogue that take place.
Despite the added attraction of 3D, this only goes to help the case of the people who say that here is a franchaise that never should have made it past the first outing. I never thought I'd say it about one of my guilty pleasures, but, yes, it is time to store it away and only look back at it with rose-tinted glasses and the folly of youth. R.I.P. Resident Evil.
UK release date: 10/09/10
Certificate: 15
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