| Resident Evil: Apocalypse | |
|---|---|
Theatrical poster |
|
| Directed by | Alexander Witt |
| Produced by | Paul W.S. Anderson Jeremy Bolt Don Carmody |
| Written by | Paul W.S. Anderson |
| Based on | Resident Evil by Capcom |
| Starring | Milla Jovovich Sienna Guillory Oded Fehr Sophie Vavasseur Sandrine Holt Mike Epps Thomas Kretschmann |
| Music by | Jeff Danna |
| Cinematography | Derek Rogers Christian Sebaldt |
| Editing by | Eddie Hamilton |
| Studio | Constantin Film Davis Films Impact Pictures |
| Distributed by | Screen Gems |
| Release date(s) | September 10, 2004 |
| Running time | 94 minutes |
| Country | Canada United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $45 million[1] |
| Box office | $129.3 million[1] |
Resident Evil: Apocalypse is a Canadian-British[2] 2004 science fiction action horror film directed by Alexander Witt, from a screenplay written by producer Paul W.S. Anderson. It is the second installment in the Resident Evil film series, which is based on the Capcom survival horror series Resident Evil.
Borrowing elements from the video games Resident Evil 2, 3: Nemesis, and Code: Veronica, Resident Evil: Apocalypse follows heroine Alice, who has escaped the underground Umbrella facility, who must band with other survivors including Jill Valentine and escape Raccoon City alive.
Contents |
The film begins with Alice (Milla Jovovich) recalling key events from the first film, Resident Evil. Thirteen hours after the initial T-Virus outbreak in The Hive, the Umbrella Corporation sends in a research team to re-open the complex. The team is slaughtered by zombies and Lickers. Since The Hive's entrance is not sealed, Umbrella establishes a security perimeter around Raccoon City to keep citizens in a quarantined area safe.
After surviving The Hive, Alice was recovered by Umbrella and was experimented on. She now has superhuman strength, speed and agility because the T-virus bonded with her on a cellular level, the only person yet to do so. Waking up in an empty hospital, she wanders outside to find the virus has escaped and the city is a ghost town. She arms herself with a shotgun from a police car and starts walking. (a continuation from the end of the first film.)
While Umbrella is evacuating civilians at the last open bridge, police officer Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory) confers Sergeant Peyton Welles. T-Virus begins to affect citizens at the checkpoint, and Peyton is bitten. Umbrella supervisor Timothy Cain seals the exit and orders his soldiers to fire rounds over the crowd's heads, scaring them back into the infected city. Elsewhere, Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) and other Umbrella soldiers, link up with multiple Special Tactics And Rescue Squad (S.T.A.R.S) units to defend against an onslaught of zombies. However, they are overrun, causing Carlos and his team to fall back with a bitten and infected Yuri. Jill, Peyton and a news reporter named Terri lock themselves in a Raven's Gate Church which turns out to be full of Lickers; they are saved at the last minute by the heavily armed Alice.
Umbrella soon dispatches their Nemesis program to kill all remaining S.T.A.R.S. operatives. The Nemesis also butchers hundreds of the undead during the mission. When he encounters L.J. (Mike Epps) a surviving citizen, and members of S.T.A.R.S, they open fire. He guns the S.T.A.R.S down but spares L.J's life when he drops his weapons. Dr. Charles Ashford (Jared Harris), an Umbrella scientist and creator of the T-virus, has refused extraction until he has located and rescued his daughter Angela (Sophie Vavasseur). He soon figures out she is hiding out in her school. He tells Alice, via telephone, that Umbrella will sanitize Raccoon City by using a nuclear weapon, but offers to arrange their evacuation in exchange for rescuing Angela. Alice is separated from the group when Nemesis appears and kills Peyton. Jill and Terri make it to the school, picking up L.J. on the way, and encounter Carlos and Nicholai (with no Yuri), acting under the same offer. After encounters with zombie dogs and infected children who respectively kill Nicholai and Terri, Alice saves the group again and they find Angela.
Dr. Ashford gives Alice the location of the extraction point, but after he talks with her he is confronted by Major Cain. The group makes it to the point but are cornered by Major Cain, holding Dr. Ashford. All but Alice are restrained and seconds later Nemesis appears. Major Cain commands Alice to fight Nemesis. Alice refuses until Dr. Ashford is shot. Realizing that unless she fights Nemesis, everyone else will be killed, she relents. Defeating Nemesis, she realizes he is Matt Addison and refuses to deliver the killing blow. Her stand rekindles a trace of Nemesis's former humanity and they join forces to attack the Umbrella group. Nemesis is killed while Alice and the others escape in the helicopter. Alice throws Major Cain out of the vehicle, alive, but injured and out of bullets. Ironically, the zombified Dr. Ashford is the first to take a bite at him while the town is nuked.
The helicopter is caught in the blast wave, and crashes into the Arklay Mountains. Alice is impaled by a metal pole and recovered by Umbrella. She is taken to a midwest Umbrella research facility. After several weeks, she awakens in a giant water tank. Led by Umbrella scientist Dr. Isaacs (Iain Glen), the doctors begin questioning her. At first, she appears to have no memory, but soon states with contempt "My name is Alice… and I remember everything." She fights her way out of the facility and makes her way outside only to be surrounded by more Umbrella guards. Suddenly, Jill, Carlos, Angela, and L.J. pull up in an SUV, disguised as Umbrella employees. Carlos shows the guards a written order placing her in his custody.
Alice enters the vehicle and as they drive away Angela asks her if she is alright. She doesn't respond, and Dr. Isaacs is shown saying, "Let them go," and then "Program Alice Activated." A close-up of her eye shows a flashing Umbrella logo.
Resident Evil: Apocalypse was first discussed by Milla Jovovich and Paul W. S. Anderson while promoting Resident Evil (2002). Anderson stated that he began writing the screenplay for the second film after completing the first. He revealed an idea to have Jill Valentine meeting up with Alice,[3] however this idea was scrapped as he wanted two separate stories occurring at the same time.[4] Anderson mentioned the film would go ahead if the first film was a success and promised that "the sequel will be even better" stating that "there is more of the story to be told."[5] The sequel was officially greenlit by Sony in mid 2002,[6] however Anderson chose not to direct but rather stay on as the film's producer and writer due to commitments to Alien vs. Predator (2004).[7]
Alexander Witt was hired by Sony to direct the sequel.[8] Milla Jovovich confirmed her character would return in the sequel if the first film was successful,[3] and when the film was greenlit, Jovovich officially signed on.[9] In March 2002, Eric Mabius (who played Matt Addison in the first film), confirmed the story would revolve around his character becoming Nemesis. He also revealed he would portray the character and study his movements whilst playing Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, however before production began he pulled out[6] and Matthew G. Taylor was cast as Nemesis.[7] It was reported that Gina Philips would appear as Claire Redfield and Natasha Henstridge as Jill Valentine, however both actresses left before production began.[7][10] Sienna Guillory was cast to portray Jill Valentine and Oded Fehr was cast as Carlos Olivera,[11] while Claire Redfield's role was scrapped after Emily Bergl dropped the role.[12] The role was later offered to Ali Larter in the film's sequel Extinction (2007). Jason Isaacs was originally intended to return and portray Dr. William Birkin,[13] however passed on the role and the character's name was changed to Dr. Isaacs, with Iain Glen being cast in the role.[7]
Jack Noseworthy was originally rumored to portray Brad Vickers, however, this was later revealed as a rumor.[14] Two weeks before production began, Jared Harris was cast as a new character called Dr. Ashford who developed and produced the T-Virus.[15]
In March 2002, it was revealed the film would borrow plot elements from Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, as the film's subtitle was revealed as being "Resident Evil: Nemesis".[6] It was also revealed the film would include new characters from the video game series such as Jill Valentine, Claire Redfield, Carlos Olivera, Dr. William Birkin and Nemesis.[4][10][16] In April 2003, it was confirmed that the story would begin minutes after the ending of the first film, where Alice is a survivor lurking amongst the ruins of Raccoon City.[17]
The film borrowed numerous elements from the game series including re-enactments of certain scenes from the games, such as Alice running through a building with an Umbrella helicopter firing at her, up to the point where she drops her gun, falls, re-grabs it and fires, which is reminiscent to the introduction scene of Resident Evil Code: Veronica.[7] Another scene involves where Raccoon City is overrun by zombies, and the police and Umbrella mercenaries are fighting back, up to the point in which a zombie reflects off a fallen police helmet, which is reminiscent to the introduction scene of Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.[7] Other scenes involve the launching a missile to destroy Raccoon City and the attack at the graveyard scene.[7]
The film references Resident Evil such as the crash site of the helicopter being located in the Arklay Forest near the Arklay Mountains, where the Resident Evil series first began.[7] Other similarities include Jill basing her moves from the first game.[7] The recording of Terri's death is similar to Kenneth's death which is also recorded.[7] A white goddess statue can be seen in the church as artwork of goddesses has a large role within the puzzles in the Resident Evil series.[7] Whilst walking on the Arklay Overpass, Jill speculates that there is no way out, and that Ashford may just be watching them on the cameras, as if the whole thing were some sort of sick game. The games themselves use a fixed camera perspective, and in most of the earlier games resembles a mounted camera's perspective.[7] Another similarity includes where Jill finds a gun under a pew, mirroring the game when you find ammo or weapons in certain areas.[7]
The film references Resident Evil 2 such as when Alice visits the gun shop which is similar to Kendo's Gun Shop.[7] Angela Ashford's character is based on Sherry Birkin, as they are both children, dressed in school uniforms, and in need of rescue. Both of their fathers are also researchers working for Umbrella.[7] The Ashford name, however, comes from the founders of Umbrella revealed in Resident Evil : Code Veronica. The film also references Resident Evil 3: Nemesis such as Jill wearing the same outfit. Nemesis is a character taken directly from the game, and also mentions "S.T.A.R.S." on numerous occasions.[7]
Actors portraying zombies were trained at a zombie "boot camp" where they were coached to act as zen-zombies and liquid zombies. Anderson and other crew members intended to make the zombies move faster but decided that it would be breaking a fundamental element of the games.[7] The design for Nemesis was to include an actor in a suit (Matthew G. Taylor) with only special-effects applied to certain parts of the character's body, such as the eye.[7] The Lickers were fully computer-generated, though the use of physical puppets was originally considered.[7] To avert issues faced during production, the CGI work of the lickers began early.[7] The film was filmed on location in Canada, with the film entering pre-production stages in mid 2003. Principal photography was slated to originally begin in July 2003,[17] before being bumped up to August 6, 2003.[9]
The film was shot in Ontario, Canada, with Toronto and its surrounding suburbs being a stand-in for Raccoon City.[18] Toronto City Hall and Exhibition Place (namely the National Trade Centre) were used as Umbrella's worldwide headquarters, while the logos of Canada's largest banks feature prominently in the skyline shots of the city, and the Prince Edward Viaduct was used to represent Ravens' Gate.[19] It was originally feared that production would be shut down due to the 2003 SARS outbreak in Toronto;[20] however, production resumed, with filming ending in October 2003.[21] The film was also shot at the Hamilton cemetery in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.[22]
The film was planned for an October 31, 2003 release,[23] although was pushed back to September 10, 2004 due to the 2003 SARS outbreak.[24] In late 2003, a teaser trailer was released titled Regenerate[25] and was directed by Marcus Nispel. The preview was noted for being reminiscent of the Olay product Regenerist advertisements and can be viewed in RealMedia[26] and Windows Media formats.[27] In May 2004 It was later revealed the trailer would actually be part of the film.[28] Milla Jovovich's official website later released promotional images that showed Alice in several scenes from the film.[29]
The theatrical trailer was released on Yahoo! Movies on July 7, 2004[30] and prior to the film's release, two albums for Resident Evil: Apocalypse were released. The first was the soundtrack which was released August 31, 2004 and featured music from the film.[31] The second was the film's score, which was released in late 2004 and was composed by Jeff Danna[32] and performed by the London Philharmonia Orchestra. A day before the film's release, numerous props from the film were auctioned on the website Premiere Props.[33] The film opened at number one in North America on September 10, 2004 and received an estimated $23.7 million on its opening weekend[34] and $129,394,835 worldwide.[1]
A novelization written by Keith R. A. DeCandido was published by Pocket Star on August 31, 2004. The novel is 288 pages long.[35] DeCandido also wrote the novelizations for the first and third films.
Reaction among critics was poor. Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 21% on based on 121 reviews.[36] Metacritic gives the film a score of 35% based on on 26 reviews.[37]
Leonard Maltin rated the film a "BOMB" in his book Leonard Maltin's Movie Guide, and called it a "Tiresome follow-up to Resident Evil that plays more like a remake".
Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film a score of one half star out of four, saying: "The movie is an utterly meaningless waste of time. There was no reason to produce it, except to make money, and there is no reason to see it, except to spend money. It is a dead zone, a film without interest, wit, imagination or even entertaining violence and special effects. [...] Parents: If you encounter teenagers who say they liked this movie, do not let them date your children."[38]
Dave Kehr of The New York Times gave the film a positive review, saying: "Anderson's screenplay provides a steady series of inventive action situations, and the director, Alexander Witt, makes the most of them. His work is fast, funny, smart and highly satisfying in terms of visceral impact."[39] M. E. Russell of The Oregonian said: "The bad news? The movie is monumentally stupid. The good news? It's a fun kind of stupid."[40] Nathan Rabin of A.V. Club said that the film "takes too long to get going to qualify unequivocally as a good movie, but when Jovovich finally starts kicking zombified ass, it becomes good enough."[41]
Gregory Kirschling of Entertainment Weekly praised Jovovich but felt that "the rest of the cast is strictly straight-to-DVD."[42] Ben Kenigsberg of The Village Voice said the film is "not without its moments of elemental dread [but] also obviously padded, too long on action, and painfully short on irony. The satirical element still packs a minor jolt."[43] Carrie Rickey of The Philadelphia Inquirer said that "those who want something more substantial from a movie than a vid-game script with centerfold appeal will not find it in this noisy, bone-crushing survivalist flick."[44] In 2009, Time listed the film on their list of top ten worst video games movies.[45] It is understood, according to the DVD extras of Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), that Paul W. S. Anderson, the director of the first film and writer of the series, was critical of director Alexander Witt's work.
The film was released on DVD in North America on December 28, 2004. Releases on UMD and Blu-ray Disc formats followed on April 19, 2005 and January 16, 2007, respectively. The film was released in Australia and New Zealand on March 16, 2005 and February 2005 in UK. The release included an audio commentary by the director Alexander Witt, producer Paul W.S. Anderson, and actress Milla Jovovich. The release included 20 deleted scenes with numerous outtakes and a featurette titled "Game Over: Resident Evil Reanimated". 6 other featurettes were included which covered behind the scenes of the film's production. The blooper reel included on the DVD edition is not included on the Blu-ray edition of the film.
Special "Resurrection Editions" of both Resident Evil (2002) and Resident Evil: Apocalypse were released in a two-disc set on September 4, 2007. An exclusive sneak peek scene for Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) was included, along with several other bonus features including Diary of an Apocalypse and The Evolution of Resident Evil: Bridge to Extinction.[46][47]
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||