AfterLife movie review (2010)

After.Life (2010)

"After.Life" tells the story of Anna, who after a horrific car accident, wakes up to find the local funeral director Eliot Deacon preparing her body for her funeral. Confused, terrified and feeling still very much alive, Anna doesn't believe she's dead, despite the funeral director's reassurances that she is merely in transition to the afterlife. While lacking in execution, Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo's "After.Life" is a smart, dark and twisted story, that forces you to think and guess while watching it. It's actually so smart, you might struggle to figure it all out, and you'll find yourself think even harder, after you leave the theater. The point of "After.Life" is to provoke conversations and debates, and it certainly succeeds. Much of the clues they put in the movie were illogical and misleading, but they were there for just that reason - to make you wonder if Eliot Deacon was a crazy psycho killer, or if he really could talk to dead people; and to make you question, if Anna Taylor was actually dead or alive?! Another important question concerned is "Do we really deserve this life?", as most of the people just waste away their days on monotonous and pleasureless tasks, and don't spend enough time with people they love care for, and things they like to do. The acting in "After.Life" was top-notch. Liam Neeson did a good job as the funeral director, and Christina Ricci was excllent in her role as the terrified and largely confused Anna. Justin Long gave his all as Paul - he acted with such care and passion, and showed so much emotion, he managed to outshine both Liam Neeson and Christina Ricci. Technically, "After.Life" was nothing special. The atmosphere was mysterious and creepy, but the low budget was noticable, at times obvious, and the CGI effects, while minimally used, looked poor and cheap. Agnieszka Wojtowicz-Vosloo's direction was average at best. Perhaps in different hands, this film might have been a masterpiece. Although, it has its flaws, "After.Life" is nicely-acted, smartly-scripted, unpredictable and thought-provoking psychological thriller, that will tease your brain. Solve this mysterious puzzle yourself!

• My Rating: 6.50/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 26% (4.5/10)
• IMDb: 6.4/10

Don't Look Up movie review (2010)

Don't Look Up (2010)

Short review: "Don't Look Up" is a remake of 1996 Japanese horror film with the same name, directed by Chinese filmmaker Fruit Chan, best know to the western audiences as one of the directors of "3 Extremes". In this story, evil spirits get released from old celluloid, which causes a film crew to slowly go insane over time whilst in production on a new project. Despite its intriguing plot, creepy Transylvanian settings, and a couple of good scares, "Don't Look Up" does nothing to challenge its good premise, and simply falls flat on its face. The film suffers from poor direction and editing, beyond horrible acting, one-dimensional characters and laughably bad special effects. The pathetic attempt for shocking twist at the end was the rotten cherry on top of this terrible mess of a film.

• My Rating: 3.75/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
• IMDb: 5.9/10

Resident Evil: Afterlife D movie review (2010)

Resident Evil: Afterlife [3D] (2010)

With a new villain and anew location, "Resident Evil: Afterlife" sees Alice trying to find Arcadia, the so-called last safe haven for survivors of the T-virus. She finds her old ally Claire from the previous installment, who has lost her memory, and together they meet up with a new group of survivors trying to get to Arcadia. Easier said than done when they're all surrounded by the undead. While I equally enjoyed the previous "Resident Evil" films, I found "Afterlife" to be the most spectacular of all four, in terms of action and special effects. Paul W.S. Anderson's direction is rather impressive this time, offering some creative camera angles and inventive camera movements. The 3D Fusion Camera System is used perfectly, and the end result is effective and at times impressive. I even dare to say, the 3D effects in "Resident Evil: Afterlife" are the best since James Cameron's "Avatar". It's that good! The stunning, obviously Matrix-inspired, action sequences are hugely entertaining to watch, alternating slow-motion shots with fast cuts. Sadly, aside from the visuals, everything else is still rather formulaic. The script is sub-par, and of course there are more characters to kill off, none of whom you would ever develop a connection with, with the exception of Alice, of course. Milla Jovovich is a total badass chick and born to play Alice. Luckily, she also can act, as she does a great job as the feminine gun totting action hero. Milla is what sells this film, because she's a natural when it comes to action films because of her on-screen presence. The other characters are really just there for Alice to have someone to interact with and for the zombies to have someone to kill. Ali Larter does well with the physically demanding parts of her role and just as good with her performance. Wesker, as the villain, speaks and moves just like Agent Smith, and that's not the only clear Matrix reference. "Prison Break"'s Wentworth Miller does just alright as Claire's brother Chris. The other supporting actors are mediocre at best. Formulaic and predictable, yet visually-arresting, "Resident Evil: Afterlife" offers eye-popping 3D effects and amazing kick-ass action sequences, that should please any action fan. Arguably, the best of the series!

• My Rating: 6.50/10
• Rotten Tomatoes: 21% (4.0/10)
• IMDb: 6.6/10