Resident
Evil: Afterlife
(2010/Screen Gems/Sony 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray w/Blu-ray)
Picture:
A-/B+ Sound: A-/B+ Extras: B Film: C+
As
a dedicated fan of Sci-Fi and Horror, I am immediately drawn to any
film that involves zombies, and while there are many bad ones, I also
have my guilty pleasures. The Paul W.S. Anderson Resident
Evil
movies fall under my list of guilty pleasures, as they are mindless
fun entertainment that's pure escapism. For those late to the party,
the film series is based on the popular video game series from Capcom
but doesn't bare too much similarity.
This
fourth installment Resident
Evil: Afterlife
(2010) lands on 4K Ultra HD looking more stunning than ever and
definitely worth a rewatch in the wake of the upcoming and final
installment, Resident
Evil: The Final Chapter
(2017), about to hit theaters. Afterlife
is a huge improvement over Extinction
(2007), which I felt wanted to be a Mad
Max
film way too bad and the dreadful second installment, Apocalypse
(2004) that was just downright silly. For what it is, I still think
the first film, simply titled Resident
Evil (2002),
is the best of the bunch with Retribution
(2012) being my second favorite.
Obviously
inspired by The
Matrix Trilogy,
Afterlife
pits Alice (the stunning and underrated Milla Jovovich) in the future
where the world where Zombies have risen thanks to the deadly T-Virus
which was created by the sinister (and corporate) Umbrella
Corporation. After attacking an underground Umbrella base with an
army of clones of herself, Alice heads to a safe place in LA where
she meets new survivors, but soon finds (of course) more zombies and
more elaborate traps set for her by Umbrella. Luckily, she has
seemingly infinite ammo, clones of herself, and the ability to avoid
massive gunfire in rooms full of live ammunition. The film also
stars Ali Larter (who I feel is underused in Hollywood), and (still?)
lesser-known actors Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Sergio Peris-Mencheta,
and Spencer Locke.
Sony
pulls all the stops with the presentation here as the film looks and
sounds better than ever on 4K Ultra HD disc, even versus several
previous versions. The 2160p 4K transfer has a widescreen aspect
ratio of 2.39:1 and is immediately impressive with the film's opening
titles sequence, which features beautiful photography of a Japanese
Woman standing in rain. Detail down to the last thread on clothing
is more than apparent and the sound mix sounds fantastic as well with
a Dolby Atmos 11.1 track (in addition to a Dolby TrueHD 7.1 (48kHz,
24-bit) core mix) that doesn't disappoint and even outdoes the sound
on the 2D and 3D Blu-rays from before.
The
regular Blu-ray transfer isn't quite as stunning, but still strong
for the format, presenting the film in 1080p with a widescreen aspect
ratio of 2.39:1 and a DTS-HD MA (Master Audio) 7.1 lossless mix as
its main offering. This is the safe release of the film on Blu-ray
disc as before, so don't expect too much difference except a improved
upon sound mix. The transfer itself is pretty comparable to the
former release. The score for Afterlife
is also worth noting, as its the best of the series by composers
TomandAndy (The
Mothman Prophecies)
and sounds great in surround. Overall, the film looks great on both
discs. Other films in the series are available from Sony in this
format as well.
Also
included is a Ultraviolet copy of the film for your portable devices.
Special
Features...
Undead
Vision: Picture-in-Picture
Audio
Commentary
Deleted
& Extended Scenes
Outtakes
Seven
Featurettes
While
pretty brainless in terms of story, Resident
Evil: Afterlife
is popcorn munching entertainment that will please gore fans and
those of the video game series. If nothing else, the presentation
here is something every movie fan can agree on being impressive.
While
we wait for the rest of the series in 4K upgrades, you may want to
read about the Blu-ray 3D release of the film and see why Sony picked
this as an early 4K Ultra HD release, so try this link...
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10826/Resident+Evil:+Afterlife+3-D+(Sony+Blu-ray+3D
-
James Lockhart
https://www.facebook.com/jamesharlandlockhartv/
