RESIDENT EVIL: AFTERLIFE (Blu-ray)

Release date: January 10th 2011
Certificate (UK): 15
Running time: 93 minutes

Director: Paul W.S. Anderson

Cast: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Wentworth Miller, Sienna Guillory, Shawn Roberts, Kim Coates

Paul W.S. Anderson returns to direct the fourth in the Resident Evil series based on the computer games first introduced in Japan in 1996.

Afterlife also reunites Alice (Jovovich) with Claire (Larter) and introduces Chris Redfield (Miller) who features prominently in the games.

In this chapter we see Alice leading a handful of survivors of the T-virus epidemic to Arcadia, a place free of infection. After trying to locate Arcadia in Alaska, Alice finds out that it might actually be a ship but first they have to get through an entire city overrun by the undead. Rather than reaching the harbour by flying them one by one in her chopper or on ground, they decide to go underground.

They face an awesome battle with the Executioner and his giant axe-hammer which looks and sounds just as amazing at home as it did at the cinema. Once on board Arcadia their troubles aren’t any closer to being over; they learn what the ship is really being used for and who Alice’s next battle will be with.

Resident Evil: Afterlife could have been made much better in terms of casting, plot developments and how the kills are handled. Wentworth Miller does the Prison Break routine with pretty much the same facial expression throughout and Kacey Barnfield as British starlet Crystal Waters adds absolutely no value to the storyline. That being said, it’s still a fun movie, especially with Shawn Roberts doing his best Mr. Smith from The Matrix impression as Albert Wesker, the evil head of the Umbrella Corporation.

The movie was filmed with 3D Fusion Camera System developed for Avatar. For the home release it comes as a 3D Blu-ray as well as 2D Blu-ray and DVD. Both Blu-ray formats contain a very good selection of special features including deleted scenes and outtakes.

There’s also a collection of seven featurettes. If you’re a die-hard fan and really want to go behind-the-scenes there’s the picture-in-picture mode where you can find out all about the challenges faced when putting together a film in 3D.

If you’ll be watching the 2D Blu-ray version there’s no need to worry that it might not look as good as the 3D version – it looks great and sounds amazing! As well as the big speciall effects and stunts, the movie has a lot of small details too such as the opening credits where the raindrops bounce off the titles. It’s a film that’s truely made for a HD expereince.

The only left to decide now is who Alice will be taking on part 5?