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A Zombie Bowl recap, and film review by Casey C. Corpier

Well I had an interesting week.  This past Labor Day I went with camera in tow to the Bigfanboy.com sponsored Zombie Bowl at 300 Lanes in Addison.  Are you wondering what this was?  It is like a Zombie Walk, except people dressed as Zombies were bowling.  If you got a spare you got a pass for an advance screening of Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D.

Now I have to admit the first turn I didn’t get crap… actually, I bowled a split and then I remembered how I bowled so well a decade ago.  I called in good ol’ Captain Morgan and his first mate Pepsi, and then I got the strike and received my T-Shirt and a free Ticket for Resident Evil: Afterlife 3D.

Now anyone that follows my Tweets or is friends with me on Facebook knows that not only am I a movie buff but I am also a gamer.  Two of my favorite franchises are Tomb Raider and Resident Evil.  Almost any game in which you can kill zombies, while avoiding genetic creations from an evil corporation… that is my kind of game.

Now as for the Resident Evil films, I liked those as well. Let me explain. You see, almost a decade ago there weren’t too many “zombie” flicks. Circa 2000-01 there were none. I know that’s hard to believe. Well after the new millennium arrived the popularity of video games were getting the attention that they needed. In 2001, Lara Croft finally arrived to the screen portrayed by Angelina Jolie with mixed reviews and small success, and as you can tell Resident Evil wasn’t too far behind. The flick was successful enough that it made it clear on no uncertain terms people wanted to see zombies.  Everyone gives credit to 28 Days Later, but it was Resident Evil that fired the first shot and brought back the walking undead to the place that they are today.

7 years and 2 sequels later, that film franchise is still going strong, and not a reboot in sight.

Now you may ask why this franchise is so successful. My opinion is because of the director.

Paul W.S. Anderson is not only a great director but he has admitted that he’s a fan of the games, and he tries to incorporate both elements in terms of good filmmaking and references to the source material to keep anyone that is a fan happy.

Now I admit that the movies have veered into a different direction than the games such as the world going into a total Apocalypse with few survivors, where as in the games the Umbrella corporation as well as the government has covered up the zombie outbreak, and the STARS agents are fighting both the company as well as any zombie threats that they come across. Not to mention the principal character of Alice (played by series star Milla Jovovich) – the film series goes in a different direction around the time of the 3rd outing, which also introduces to Claire Redfield (Ali Larter), who is a playable character in a few of the games. Not to say anything bad about Larter in the role, because she does a great job, but I still feel that she is the wrong casting decision for the role.

Let us move on to Afterlife.

Picking up where Resident Evil: Extinction left off we see Alice and her clones attacking Umbrella’s facility in Japan, where she encounters game villain Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts), who is the films main antagonist. Searching for survivors, Alice heads to Alaska where her friends from the third film were heading, only to discover that there was no help and that Claire is the only one of the survivors to remain… and she has no memory of what has happened. Alice and Claire head to Los Angeles where they find survivors in a building, including Chris Redfield, all leading to a confrontation with the Umbrella Corporation and their ghastly creations, including the Executioner and once again the guard dogs.

I stand by my statement about fans of the games enjoying the flick.  There are plenty of characters from them to keep you interested as well as enough to make it a fun horror flick. You can definitely see the influence of Resident Evil 5 in this outing.

Now Lets talk about the effects. Zombies (as always) look great, but I am referring to the 3D. Resident Evil: Afterlife is the first flick to utilize the cameras invented by James Cameron for Avatar like this. There are some cool sequences, but I really like the fact that it is not relied on like so many of the other films that use 3D as a gimmick to sell the movie. I feel that this film can be watched on DVD without the 3D experience, therefore I give the movie extra points.

The pacing flows very fast, I noticed. When you arrive at the climax you don’t realize it, and I honestly enjoyed the flick so much for this fact that myself and my brother can’t wait for the next one, and I hope that this one does well so that we can get more installments of this film franchise.

I feel that it wasn’t as good as Apocalypse, but it is still enjoyable.

Just for the record, please stay seated after the end as there is a cut scene after the cast credits that fans will really enjoy, as long as there is no one standing in front of you.

15 Dead Bodies
0 Breasts
1000 Zombies
2 Dogs
8 Alices
1 Executioner
1 Jackass Producer
4 Explosions
Heads Roll
Hammers Roll
Zombie Fu
Security Guard Fu

3 Stars
Check it out

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