My Review: Stoker (9/10)

¨Sometimes you need to do something bad to stop you from doing something worse.¨

I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed Chan-wook Park´s first American film considering it hadn’t received as much critical acclaim as his Korean films did. I liked Oldboy, but wasn’t a huge fan like most people, but somehow I ended up being blown away with how artistic and well made this movie was. Park can take you to dark places and his movies can be disturbing. Stoker is no exception. Park creates a dark and provocative thriller that begins at a slow pace but the tension begins to rise as we get to the climatic and surprising ending. Park´s film is very stylish, and I don’t think I have seen better camerawork and editing in a film this year. I was blown away with the images and the twists that Park creates in this film. Stoker proves that it is not necessary to sympathize for any of the characters in order for the viewer to care for what is happening. None of these characters are likeable, but Park creates such a dark and twisted atmosphere that I wanted to know what was going to happen next. The slow opening scenes were very stylish and gorgeous to look at. I was completely hooked with the story from the beginning. I was surprised to discover that the script was written by Wentworth Miller (the actor from Prison Break and Resident Evil Afterlife) because the story was pretty gripping. I don’t know if it would have worked in another director´s hands, but Park made the script look good. If this was Park´s first American film, I can´t wait to see what he does next. This film also made me want to watch Oldboy again and see what I missed the first time considering I was a much younger viewer. Park will definitely be on my radar from now on.

India Stoker (Mia Wasikowska) has always been very close to her father, Richard (Dermot Mulroney), but has never connected well with her emotionally unstable mother Evie (Nicole Kidman). India isn’t a normal teenage girl herself; she is socially awkward and doesn’t like to be touched. She lives in a large family estate in a peaceful town surrounded by the woods. On the day of her 18^th birthday, she receives the news that her father has passed away in a freak car accident. During his funeral, India is introduced to her Uncle Charlie (Matthew Goode), Richard´s estranged brother whom he has never mentioned before. Evie invites Charlie to stay with them, and despite being attracted to him in some sort of bizarre way India isn’t happy with his presence in their estate. Charlie seems to have some ulterior motives, but everyone in the family acts in a bizarre way. This isn’t your typical family and everyone seems to have some disturbed troubled past. Charlie seems to be taken with India, but she distrusts his intentions. As the movie begins to unfold we discover some hidden secrets from the family´s past.

I´ve mentioned how much I liked Park´s direction and Miller´s script, but I also have to give credit to Wasikowska´s performance. She gives a very strong performance as this troubled teen who is struggling to accept her infatuation with her estranged uncle. She has some very difficult scenes here and she delivers at every turn. She is the highlight of this film, although Matthew Goode has some great moments as well and some strange sort of chemistry going on with Wasikowska. The film finds a perfect balance between being disturbingly dark and beautifully stylish. I was really hooked with this thriller and would definitely watch this film again. Stoker may not be as raw and shocking as Oldboy but it still has its twisted and disturbing moments. Park´s style may not be for everyone, but I enjoy his craft and artistic style.  

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My Review: Resident Evil Afterlife (6/10)

¨Five years ago... A virus escaped, and everybody died. ¨

It has been three years since the last Resident Evil movie came out. Afterlife is the fourth of the franchise and lives up to the expectations most fans of the series had although it isn`t as good as the first movie. This is my favorite franchise based on a video game and in my opinion the series has worked because of Milla Jovovich. She is great in her role as Alice and has become a huge action star. Paul W.S. Anderson directed the first film of the series and now he came back to direct the fourth one, although he has written the screenplay for all four films so he has been involved with the entire process. The effects are great and if you are a fan of the franchise I recommend you see this in 3D, but if you didn`t like the other films or aren`t familiar with them I wouldn`t recommend them since you might find yourself lost in the midst of the plot. I have to admit I never played the videogames or know anything about them so I can`t say how true to the game the story is, but considering all the videogames that have been turned into movies this is by far the best series. The thing I liked least about this movie was the opening 15 minutes in Tokyo, but I understand they served to connect the end of Resident Evil Extinction with Afterlife. After Tokyo the movie really picks up and I found myself engaged in the story. This is not a movie you will enjoy for the acting, dialogue, or intelligent script, but it is an action packed movie with cool visuals, good fight scenes, and a very hot Milla Jovovich doing what she does best: killing zombies.

The movie begins right where Resident Evil Extinction left us. Alice (Milla Jovovich) is trying to destroy the Umbrella Corporation using her newly discovered clones and goes deep inside Umbrella Head Quarters in Tokyo to kill Wesker (Shawn Roberts). After a faceoff with several soldiers, Wesker escapes in an aircraft and the base is destroyed. Alice`s clones have all been exterminated in the explosion, but she managed to get to the aircraft in time and just when she is about to kill Wesker he injects her with a serum that neutralizes the T-virus in her blood. She losses her superpowers and becomes human and thanks him for that right before they crash in the mountains. Alice survives and decides to go search for any survivors left in the apocalyptic world. She travels to Alaska in search of Arcadia where her friends had parted in the third film. Once in Alaska she finds the helicopter her friends where in, but there is no sign of survivors, the place is deserted. Right when she is about to lose hope she is attacked by Claire (Ali Larter) who has no memory of who she is because her memory has been erased by an Umbrella device. Alice frees her from the device and tries to help her get her memory back, while in the meantime they travel together on a two-man plane to Hollywood in search of more survivors. Here they find the city infected with zombies, but there are a few survivors in the rooftop of a prison cell. They make a forceful landing and meet some of the survivors who think she is here to rescue them. Luther (Boris Kodjoe), Crystal (Kasey Barnfield), Kim (Norman Yeung), and Wendell (Fulvio Cecere) are some of the survivors who tell Alice what Arcadia actually is and together they have to try to get there before the zombies find a way in the prison walls.

Wentworth Miller was a good addition in this film as he plays Chris Redfield, Claire`s brother, but due to her memory loss she can`t recognize him. Alice and Claire are back from the third film and they have a lot of screen time as usual. Miller and Kodjoe give good supporting male roles, but we all know that the Resident Evil franchise is about girls who can kick zombie butts. In the first film it was Jovovich with Michelle Rodriguez, then she teamed up with Sienna Guillory in the second one, and now in the third and fourth films Jovovich and Larter are the true stars of the film. There are some very memorable scenes with great Matrix like effects. The 3D visuals are cool, and I especially liked the scene where Alice and Claire battled the Axeman in the bathroom. This is a popcorn action movie and probably not for everyone. If you didn`t like the other Resident Evil movies then there is no reason why you should go see this, but if you liked those films then you will probably enjoy this one as well.

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