Resident Evil: Apocalypse | 2004
"Resident Evil: Apocalypse" is a 2004 action horror film directed by Alexander Witt and written by Paul W.S. Anderson. It is a direct sequel to the 2002 film "Resident Evil" and the second installment in the Resident Evil film series. The film is loosely based on the video game series of the same name. This film marks Witt's feature directorial debut, while Anderson, the director of the first film, declined to direct due to other commitments but remained as a producer. Milla Jovovich stars as Alice, with Sienna Guillory and Oded Fehr co-starring as Jill Valentine and Carlos Oliveira, respectively.
"Resident Evil: Apocalypse" is set immediately after the events of the first film, where Alice escapes from a zombie-infested underground facility and teams up with other survivors to escape the zombie outbreak that has spread to the nearby Raccoon City. The film borrows several game elements, including characters like Valentine and Oliveira, as well as the villain Nemesis. Filming took place in Toronto, with locations including Toronto City Hall and the Prince Edward Viaduct.
The film received "generally unfavorable reviews" on Metacritic and is rated the lowest in the Resident Evil series on Rotten Tomatoes, with a score of 19%. Despite this, it grossed $129.3 million worldwide against a budget of $45 million, surpassing the box office earnings of the original film. It was followed by "Resident Evil: Extinction" in 2007.
In the previous film, former security officer Alice and environmental activist Matt Addison fought to escape the Hive, a genetic research facility that was the cause of the zombie outbreak. Their struggle was part of an attempt to expose the illegal experiments conducted by the pharmaceutical company Umbrella. The film ends with Alice and Addison being captured and separated by Umbrella.
A team sent by Umbrella to investigate the Hive is overwhelmed by zombies, which quickly spread to the nearby Raccoon City. Umbrella quarantines the city and evacuates key personnel. Angela Ashford, the daughter of Umbrella researcher Dr. Charles Ashford, goes missing during a security vehicle accident. Meanwhile, disgraced STARS officer Jill Valentine returns to her former jurisdiction to urge her fellow officers to evacuate. Alice wakes up in an abandoned hospital and wanders the city in search of supplies, while Umbrella uses the only exit, a bridge, to evacuate civilians. On the bridge, Valentine encounters her former partner, Peyton Wells, who is bitten and infected by a civilian who has turned into a zombie. As the virus reaches the bridge, Colonel Tim Cain, the leader of Umbrella's military in Raccoon City, seals the exit and forces residents back into the city.
After a failed attempt to rescue civilians, Umbrella soldiers Carlos Oliveira and Nikolai Ginovaef, abandoned by their employer, team up with surviving STARS members to fend off the zombie attacks. Their position is overwhelmed, and Oliveira is bitten and infected. Elsewhere, Valentine, Wells, and news reporter Terri Morales are on the verge of being overwhelmed but are rescued by Alice. Umbrella deploys the mutated experimental super-soldier Nemesis, who kills the remaining STARS members and begins searching for Alice. Dr. Ashford hacks into the city's CCTV system to contact Alice and the other survivors, offering to arrange their escape in exchange for rescuing his daughter. He makes the same offer to Oliveira and Ginovaef, explaining that Umbrella plans to destroy the city with a nuclear bomb to eliminate the zombie infection.
On their way to find Angela, Alice and the others are ambushed by Nemesis. Valentine kills Wells after he turns into a zombie. Alice confronts Nemesis but is injured and forced to retreat, luring Nemesis away for the rest of the group. Valentine and Morales continue on, rescuing a civilian named L.J. along the way. Valentine meets Oliveira, and they find and rescue Angela, but Morales and Ginovaef are killed. Angela reveals that the zombie outbreak is a result of the T-virus created by her father and that she must take an antiviral serum to prevent herself from turning into a zombie. Alice uses some of the antiviral to heal Oliveira. Dr. Ashford informs Alice of the location of an extraction point where a helicopter is waiting. The group arrives at the designated point but is ambushed by Umbrella's military. Colonel Cain kills Dr. Ashford and forces Alice, who has gained superhuman strength from the T-virus, to fight Nemesis. Alice gains the upper hand but realizes that Nemesis is actually Matt Addison, who has mutated due to Umbrella's experiments, and stops fighting.
Nemesis rebels against Colonel Cain and attacks the Umbrella soldiers but dies protecting Alice. The remaining survivors take control of the helicopter, chasing Cain away, who is killed by the zombies, including the zombified Dr. Ashford. As the survivors escape, a nuclear bomb explodes over the city, causing a shockwave that crashes the helicopter. Alice sacrifices herself to save Angela, impaled on a metal beam. TV news reports attribute the explosion to a meltdown at the city's nuclear power plant, covering up Umbrella's involvement.
Alice wakes up in an Umbrella research facility and escapes with the help of Oliveira, Valentine, L.J., and Angela, demonstrating her telekinetic powers by killing security personnel. During their escape, Umbrella's high-ranking official, Dr. Alexander Isaacs, reveals that Alice's escape is part of Umbrella's plan.
Media studies scholar Steven Harper states that "Apocalypse" and the first "Resident Evil" film present a "very ambiguous" perspective on corporate power, race, gender, and sexuality. Describing both films as postmodern and post-feminist texts, Harper argues that while they contain progressive elements, including feminist themes that undermine patriarchal power, they also reinforce several stereotypes. He points out that the relationship between Alice and Valentine differs from interactions among male characters, lacking camaraderie and cooperation. Unlike the male characters in "Apocalypse," Valentine and Alice are shown to "protect and nurture" the young Angela, and Harper notes that even violent female heroes are often depicted with such traits. He also criticizes the objectification of Alice and Valentine through their revealing outfits and camera angles throughout the film, mentioning that through the African American character L.J., "Apocalypse" presents an "ironic awareness" of racial stereotypes but "fails to challenge them and often exploits them."
Douglas Kellner from the University of California, Los Angeles argues that the film's ending evokes fears of "uncontrolled nuclear technology and government cover-ups." The news segments depicted in the film claim that reports of corporate wrongdoing are false and that people should instead thank the Umbrella Corporation, which he describes as "a nearly hidden parable of corporate and state lies during the Bush-Cheney era."
