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BY MITCH KRPATA
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The first Resident Evil was the best cinematic adaptation of a video game I’ve seen. Resident Evil: Apocalypse is one of the worst sequels. It takes place immediately after the first film, with the dreaded T-virus escaping the confines of the Umbrella Corporation’s headquarters and infecting all of Raccoon City. The resulting zombie Armageddon is disappointing, to say the least — the same ground was covered to much greater effect in this year’s remake of Dawn of the Dead. First-time director Alexander Witt is content to supply quick cuts of incomprehensible motion instead of lingering shots of the undead horde; any suspense he attempts to create is quickly supplanted by histrionics. This is a movie where it’s not enough to have an eight-foot-tall super-zombie called the Nemesis prowling the streets. No, in Resident Evil: Apocalypse, the Nemesis must also wield a rocket launcher. Milla Jovovich, who returns from the original, sounds as if she were reading her lines off a Teleprompter, and it says something that the most engaging character is the wacky black guy whose job is to look confused and say, "Daaamn!" The film gets bonus points for the impressive Nemesis make-up, but that’s hardly enough to salvage a screenplay more brain-dead than the ghouls stalking the streets of Raccoon City. At the Apple Valley, Entertainment, Flagship, Holiday, Providence Place 16, Showcase, and Tri-Boro cinemas, and the Rustic Triview Drive-in. (94 minutes)
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