CHATTING WITH EVIL
Monday the Creature Corner attended a press presentation for the upcoming film Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Here’s what they had to say:
‘This presentation was a little odd and quite premature. Why the studio is calling on press to cover an unfinished trailer introduced by one of the films stars several months before its release it strange. My guess is they are trying to create a buzz just before the big E3 (Electronic Entertainment Expo) that starts this week in Los Angeles. After being read the riot act on no audio or video filming actor Oded Fehr introduced the new RE2 trailer.
The trailer begins with a little of what we have seen in the teaser trailer of the Regenerate commercial and then goes into a narration from Alice, (Milla Jovovich) who with scenes from the first film brings the viewers up to date on the storyline. The disease spreads through out a city and they lock it down. In doing so they even leave behind those who went in to get uninfected people out. Well its Milla to the rescue! The rest of the preview is a lot of explosions and Milla kicking zombie ass which is never a bad thing. It was a little hard to get real pumped about this trailer since a lot of the effects were unfinished. There was a really cool scene where Milla is running down the side of a high rise building at full speed which would have looked even cooler if we couldnt see the wires attached to her. This movie feels like Dawn of the Dead meets Escape From New York, a combo I dont have a problem with.
I have to admit I wasnt huge fan of the first film. I thought it was okay and over all entertaining but not something I would add to my ever growing DVD collection. However the sequel looks quite promising and dare I say better than the first. I guess we will see on September 10th.
After the trailer finished actor Oded Fehr (The Mummy) hung around to answer questions.
Q: So who do you play?
OF: I play a character called Carlos Oliviera and basically he works for the Umbrella Corporation who is responsible for what happens. He works for them as a hired gun. There is an outbreak in the city and he is sent in to actually take out the Umbrella personnel, to evacuate them. And he decides to save a woman that he sees is about to be killed by the undead and therefore is left to die by the Umbrella Corporation and realizes that they kind of double crossed him, well they didnt really double cross him but they left him to die. He joins with Alice & Jill to fight the Umbrella Corporation and try to save their lives and bring the truth out.
Q: Who had more training you or Milla?
OF: Milla by far. There is no comparison what so ever. Milla does very amazing things in this movie. The idea is that Milla is part of the experiment and therefore Milla herself is a little more than human and because of that she has abilities that are a little more than human. As an actress to portray that she worked very, very, very, very hard. I can tell you I do martial arts, and she as a person who isnt a martial artist does amazing things in this movie. It was amazing to watch while filming.
Q: Those gates that are closing in the trailer are they closing off part of a city or a whole city?
OF: The idea is that it is closing off the city. Its one of the main bridges that lead into the city and their trying to shut off the city so the disease doesnt spread.
Q: How was it this time working with more modern guns as apposed to The Mummy films?
OF: (Laughs) It was nice there was less jamming. It is a ridiculous thing to say but truthfully I dont really like guns but I end up playing characters that use a lot of guns. Its a modern movie and allows you to do a lot of new things. Working with helicopters and high tech things & lasers was a lot of fun.
Q: Are you a character from the game?
OF: Yes Carlos Oliviera is from Resident Evil 3.
Q: What was your experience with the game?
OF: You know I wasnt a big game person. Im from the Atari generation. I used to play the Pacman and all that and kind of grew out of it at a certain point. I think more out of fear that Ill get so hooked that Ill never be able to do anything else. So I kind of tried to avoid playing games. Obviously when we were shooting the movie I for research reasons I had to spend hours and hours completing Resident Evil 2 which I am very proud of. High score yeah.
Q: Did you take anything that you learned in the games for your character?
OF: We tried to bring the game alive because the story of the movie and the story of the game obviously have similarities but they’re not parallel. Its not the same exact story line, especially with the characters. The character of Alice, for example, is not featured in the games. Jill Valentine is very much so but Alice is not. So we tried to give a feeling of the games and bring that alive a little bit more with little things. Sienna was great, for instance. Youll see in the movie she stands there tapping her gun exactly like her character does in the game. Whats great about this movie is for people that enjoy the game, the whole situation of being in a city where you have all the undead and all the rest of it really brings it to life, you know? The game is still always a game and its never 100% real, but the movie makes it feel very real. It really puts you through that experience.
Q: Acting in a movie like this it is interesting for the actor that you want to balance being the tough hero and yet showing a little fear. How do you show that balance?
OF: I think it is essential. I think if you play a character that is fearless it’s boring. Then people lose the human aspect of it. That’s what is so incredible about Harrison Ford. He always seems like he is never going to survive it. Hes always scared but he always does survive some how. They dropped me from some big old descender 45 feet over a cement parking lot. That was scary. I dont think I needed to do a lot to bring that out. I was actually trying to avoid showing too much.
Q: Did you do your own stunts?
OF: I tried to. All of the fighting, kicking stuff like that I always try to do as much as I can. I think it gives the director an opportunity to really cover the scene a lot better when you dont have to hide the face or physical movements.
Q: Now that we have seen so many zombie movies how does this one keep the monsters fresh?
OF: You can ask the same thing about the games. How do you keep the games fresh? It’s a scary thought, people coming back to life, and I think people enjoy seeing it. Its not the actual zombies that will make this film special. Its more the story thats being told and the way its shot. If you remember Resident Evil, the first one, I got to admit again this isnt my type of movie. I dont necessarily like scary movies I get scared of them. (Laughs) I dont like scaring myself but when I watched Resident Evil the first one what I really enjoyed , it didnt try to be something too big. Its ridiculous to say this but it was very realistic in the situation that the characters were put in. It was very gritty and had a very real feel to the action, everything to the urgency of getting out of the structure they were in and so on. This is the same way. Its a very big movie. Its a very exciting movie, theres a lot of action and so on but I think you will find that it’s very realistic. Or as realistic as it can be. (Laughs) It’s difficult to explain because how do you do a movie about dead people realistic but it is?
Q: How did you end up in all of these monster movies if its not your type of thing?
OF: I ask myself that every day. (Laughs) I dont what to say about that one. I really dont.
Q: What would your ideal project be?
OF: I am working on something right now that is more of an adventure movie. I enjoy these movies. They are a lot of fun to film. You cant really complain when you are dressed up as the hero, you run around and kick butt and do all that. Sometimes it’s a little bit too much you know? I come up against five stunt guys and I kick their ass and you start thinking that you can actually do these kinds of things. (Laughs) Its not bad by any means. Shooting them I love, just not watching them.
Q: Shooting these films with a lot of CGI do you often wonder how they are going to come out? Or is there any particular scene you are looking forward to seeing completed?
OF: With regards to the CGI, I know you have seen a little bit of CGI in this and some of it is not 100% finished but Ive got to tell you that a lot of it is real. Real in the sense that it is make-up or its action or explosions that are being filmed there. There is definitely CGI work. There a lot of CGI to cover wires and things like that but a lot of it is real. The final scene is a huge battle scene that is mainly Alice coming up against the Nemesis. It was a huge scene to film and there were a lot of elements involved and I am very excited about seeing how that’ll come together. As far as CGI for that scene theres not that much. There are no added creatures as far as I can remember and things like that. That’s what I think is going to be special about this movie, going back to your question with regard to how is this movie different.
Q: Are the zombies the same in this movie as they were in the last or have they mutated into a different breed or anything?
OF: No I think the zombies are quite the same. They walk around and their biting and their dangerous. (Laughs) I come on set and there are two people that are in charge of the movements of the zombies and literally they would go through zombie school. The actors who would do this had to go through a zombie school of a week training to get to know how to do the zombies. It is very well thought out. I mean okay, it’s a walking dead person whats the big deal. (Laughs) But no, it seems that there is a big deal about it and I think you will feel that quality in the movie.
Q: Why are zombies always so hostile? (Laughs)
OF: If they werent they wouldnt be dramatic you know. (Laughs) I dont know. I suggested that we could walk around the street eating ice cream and they could pass by us but it wouldnt have been dramatic enough. (Laughs)
Q: Have you heard any plans for a third Mummy film?
OF: No I havent. I think Steve just this weekend released Van Helsing. I think he is probably taking a little breather off of that and Im sure Universal would want him involved in that.
Q: Would you want to do Ardeth again?
OF: Yeah, Id love to do a third one. Am I waiting anxiously to do a third one? No, but if there would be a third one and I would be involved Id love to do it. I had a great time doing it. The Mummy is what gave me a career and I love the character of Ardeth. However Im not sure what they are going to do, because going back to that movie I dont know how you top that and keep it there, you know? I think they’d have to change it around and do something new.
Q: You said you are working on a movie now are you acting or writing?
OF: My wife is the producer and we are kind of putting this movie together. Its an adventure kind of thing.
Q: How was it working with the director Alexander Witt?
OF: Great. I have to say with Alexander, you know its always a very scary thing working with a first time director in the sense that he has worked a lot but not as a director of a movie. He was great to work with. I think he has a great eye. Very nice guy.
Q: Were the Mummy films good practice for doing special effects like this?
OF: Yeah I think the similarities with regards to filming mainly the action and how to bring the action to life. How to make a punch sell on film. How to make a kick and things like that. How to shoot guns and all that. Definitely acting against something that is not there is very helpful I suppose. Thank you very much and I hope you enjoy it.
Thanks to the folks at Screen Gems for the hook up. Resident Evil: Apocaylpse opens nationwide on September 10th, be sure to check out it’s official site right here!
Courtesy of Creature Corner
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