*Disclaimer, this is a review of the edited version of the film so that it is TV-14. The uncut version would likely get a lower score*

It looks like it’s time for the sequel to be reviewed! Well, after the first installment in the movie franchise, we can expect that the soundtrack will still be excellent. Will the rest of the film manage to surpass the original or is it doomed since it’s a sequel? Looks like it’s time to find out!

The film takes place immediately after the first one and we even get an early scene to show us what happened before the ending. Scientists quickly head into the facility that Alice and friends were in, but they’re overpowered and the zombies escape into the cities. We jump into the near future and see Alice grab her shotgun and get ready for some action. Meanwhile, the zombies take over the city and the Umbrella corporation shuts off the area. There are a few different plots at first, but eventually they all merge together.

Jill is one of the top notch officers of the city and she takes out a few zombies with ease as she heads to the outer perimeters of the city. Unfortunately, Umbrella quickly locks it down and they have their men shoot at anyone who gets too close. Meanwhile, Carlos and his team of trained professionals try to take down as many zombies as they can. Unfortunately, they realize that Umbrella has abandoned them and now they must try to live through this. Finally, LJ is just trying to live through this. He didn’t start this fight….but he may just survive it!

The plots are all completely separate at first. After all, this is a pretty big city and having a few different subplots makes sense. Eventually, Alice, Carlos, and Jill meet up with LJ and they prepare to leave the city. The only way out is through a helicopter, which is there to take away a few government officials and Nemesis. A scientist will tell them where the helicopter is once they rescue his daughter. His daughter is currently hiding out at a school, but that area may not be safe for long!

Alice is pretty intense in this film because she finally has her memories back. That’s a pretty good boost by itself, but Alice has also gotten superhuman abilities thanks to the experiments that were done. She’s essentially the strongest character in the series now right? Well, she does get a super enemy of her own to fight. Alice is a seasoned pro in this film and it’s always good to see that. It may be hard to call her a hero, but it’s definitely good to be her ally.

Nemesis is the final boss of this film and his abilities are definitely comparable to hers. He may be physically stronger than Alice, but they are nearly equal in that area. Alice’s big edge is definitely her speed and she’ll need it since Nemesis comes equipped with a handy rocket launcher/missile launcher. There is a big twist about Nemesis, but you’ll already know it if you saw the original film.

Including Jill in this film was pretty cool since she’s essentially the only Resident Evil character that I knew aside from Wesker and Chris. Unfortunately, while she does look great in her first appearance, she’s quickly out shined by Alice. Jill is only a human so it’s not inaccurate that Alice would outperform her, but Jill could have looked better. She was essentially a non factor during the second half of the film. She could have learned a few things from Chris.

Carlos was another one of the main characters and he’s also human. The big difference is that he still looks really good. He’s not at Alice level, but he takes out around 100 zombies and many of the guards who protect the helicopter. He was the best human character in the film and he was how I picture Chris Redfield to be. I thought that he was Chris for a while there. He held out against the zombies for a while and that’s no small feat for a man with a gun.

LJ is the surprise hit of the film. This guy definitely plays for keeps and he gets some of the best scenes in the film. At one point, it’s LJ vs Nemesis. All I’ll say is that LJ is confirmed to be in the sequel; can Nemesis say the same? LJ has a pair of golden guns and he’s prepared the whole time. He adds some comedy that the film really needed and it’s actually decent comedy. Not something that you typically see in any action film, much less a zombie film. He also owns a Cadillac, which is easily the greatest car company of all time. He confirms this towards the end of the film, right before he completely pulls one over the entire cast. That’s what I like to see from new characters that want to prove themselves in an established franchise. Let’s not achieve a Giant Condor performance folks.

That’s basically all of the major characters. I could mention the main villain, but he’s as generic as they come. Let’s head into the holes, which unfortunately…always overpower the positives in this franchise. First would be the excessive violence issue. It’s to be expected since this is a zombie film and all of the characters use guns. That being said, it makes The Lord of the Rings look tame! You’ll be seeing zombies get destroyed in every way possible and a lot of humans are also taken out. Every scene is sure to come with a pile of violence.

The film actually goes a step further than the last one since we get significant animal violence. At one point, a few zombie dogs attack and you can probably guess what happens to them. I own a really cool, amazing, super dog myself so I find it inexcusable when dogs, or any other animal, get hurt in a film. As a famous man once said, “It’s disruptive, it’s undisciplined….” I completely took the quote out of context, but it works perfectly for this film. It’s unnecessary and completely destroys whatever score the film was going to get. Some series manage to survive through that like One Piece, but it has over 600 episodes to try and get away from that. This film only has around 90 minutes to make me forget…and I did not forget! One of the characters even insults the dogs and he’s quickly eaten. Why must the humans be as unlikable as the villains!? I can’t even……

Anyway, another unnecessary addition was the Alice fanservice scene. Why do we get one of these scenes in Every single film? I’m pretty sure that there is one of these scenes per film, but I can’t verify until I see the 5th film. The first 4 had them and that’s already sad. The excuse this time is that she was knocked out/died and taken to a research facility which pulled a Wolverine origin on us. After the scene is over and Alice has her outfit from the end of the first film, she quickly murders or gravely injures the staff that was there. It’s “hardcore” and all, but the first part could have been cut out. Why couldn’t she already be in full uniform instead of in stasis?

Are there any other negatives? Well, the rest is the more minor things, routinely expected to be in these films. These include: Zombies, Language, Unlikable characters, etc. That being said, the cast of characters was better than your average horror/slasher film so that’s some progress.

Let’s get back into the positives! The soundtrack was great as expected and this series continues to impress in that area. We get some perfect battle themes and a lot of cool sci-fi as well. The soundtrack is 5 stars and while Avatar may have gotten a Grammy for its soundtrack; it can’t hold a candle to this film.

Another positive is the fact that this film plays out more like a superhero film. That will continue for parts of the next film and the beginning of the 4th as well. Since Alice is stronger than the MCU Avengers is superhuman, she can do a lot of things that she couldn’t before. This includes her super speed and a large array of athletics. There’s even a pretty good one on one fist fight at the end with Nemesis. The fact that the whole film takes place in the city instead of in a facility is another major positive.

Overall, it’s better than the first film in some areas like the action and setting, but it also has some downfalls like the animal violence and fanservice. The franchise has potential to be a winner, but it’s probably going to take a reboot to generate a higher score. That, or just changing up most of the staff that is working on these films. I want something that’s more of a summer blockbuster with laughs and aliens. Make it happen guys!

Overall 2/10