Resident Evil: Afterlife | D+

How would you feel if you were made to sit and watch a film of a fly mindlessly buzzing around the screen for 97 minutes? Many who aren't fascinated with the mechanics of insects would object to such a cruel and unusual punishment. Now, what if that same viewing was spiced up with a nifty pair of 3D glasses and a cool, action soundtrack in the background? Well that would obviously intensify the journey of the fly, but sooner than later the average viewer will get bored and fed up with the antics of the winged pest. This can be said of Resident Evil: Afterlife, the fourth film in Paul W.S. Anderson's Resident Evil series. The lack of a well-developed plot and the complete overhaul of 3D technology make the film appear more as a commercial for an action video game than a coherent movie with stylized effects.

Resident Evil: Afterlife begins in a similar fashion as the previous films with a voice over of the red-headed heroine, Alice (Milla Jovovich, The Fifth Element) recapping the events of the previous movies and establishing the current status of the zombie infected planet. After the somber introduction, Alice confronts the main antagonist Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts, X-Men) who injects her with a serum that makes her mortal again. Wesker then destroys the base, though Alice barely escapes alive. Months later, Alice is reunited with Claire Redfield (Ali Larter, Final Destination 2), who flies with her to Los Angeles. There they take refuge with a group of survivors in an abandoned prison, who are forced to battle hoards of flesh-eating zombies in an effort to make it aboard Arcadia, a ship that is rumored to be a safe haven.

To say that Resident Evil: Afterlife is devoid of a coherent plot would be an understatement. Not only does this film fail to include important characters or events from the previous movies, it also relies on special 3D effects to make up for the loosely connected string of cheesy action sequences called the storyline. You can't even claim that the action scenes are stylized enough to give the film aesthetic value like previously seen in 300 or many Kung-Fu films. To add even more oil to the fire, the acting in Resident Evil: Afterlife felt duller than a butter knife. Ali Larter and Shawn Robert's constant over-dramatization of every spoken line will have you wondering if you should laugh or cry.

The overwhelming action in Resident Evil: Afterlife may bring about a few "oohs" and "ahhs," and the introduction of some characters from the video game may touch base with hardcore gamers. But when a solid plot and strong character development is thrown out and replaced with an excess of special effects, the final product is a withered shell of what made the Resident Evil films unique in the first place.