Alice (Milla Jovovich) has returned in the fourth installment of the Resident Evil franchise. The film spends little time getting to the action as the first scenes in the film are an abundant display of Alice taking down yet another Umbrella Corporation headquarters, Tokyo. In all of its great display of explosions, gunfire, and fancy acrobatic stunts the real fun comes with the twist that occurs; setting in motion something new for Alice. The twist: she is now human. No longer is Alice a weapon, and her goals change because of the fact. What this installment spends a great deal of time on is the search for the elusive Arcadia, the idyllic place where infection does not exist and life can go on after the contagion. Prepare yourself to spend a great deal of time with Alice alone as she searches for survivors, ultimately finding her way to Los Angeles. There is also more of the same fun of watching Alice, with some help from a few other non-infected, including Claire (Ali Larter) from the third film, battling the infected, just not as much as one may expect. This film seems more interested in the idea of survival and re-birth for the human race, and not as much about the destruction of an evil corporation. It has its share of action and plenty of effects but the spacing is more sporadic. It remains entertaining on a lower level, as the dialogue is spotty and unemotional, and the action small-scale. Jovovich still gives her all as the not to be messed with Alice, even in her pure human form; and watching her wield a sword, shoot a gun, and move with graceful swiftness as she chops off someone's head or blows it to bits is every bit as exciting as it has been in the past. She also remains every bit as sexy while doing it, something time has not taken away from her.

If you like the "look" of a video game you will be more than happy with the effects in this film. The entire movie has a very holographic feel to it and the images are constantly being manipulated. The abundance of slow motion can make one weary for some fast paced fight sequences but it is the aesthetic of the entire film so one learns to accept it and move forward. The infected are not a large part of the effects, as strange as that may sound. The skill level of their creation is adequate as the editing is always rapid when they appear as to not give that great a deal of focus. The city creation of Los Angeles leaves something to be desired in terms of rendering but again, quick shots and not important. Where the effects shine is during the fight sequences where bullets are flying, massive explosions happening, and everything is set in motion on a large scale all at once. This is a hard film to judge the effects on because of the dramatic differences in how it wants things to look versus how we may be used to things looking. This is an imagined future, the world has been obliterated, and human life lives underground. The imagining of this world is something our eyes and minds have to adjust to and then accept that it is a tad grainy, the shine not always present, and anything but colorful. As for 3D, it has a few key scenes where its worth the extra money, especially the one with the infected giant wielding an axe of massive proportions, but overall it was not something to be impressed about.