The Kyiv-born actress/model stars in "Resident Evil 2: The Apocalypse," the sequel to her big action thriller of the same name. Now playing.
Don’t expect Kyiv native Milla Jovovich to be in town for the local premiere of her new movie “Resident Evil 2: The Apocaplypse.” In 1980, as a child, she skipped the country with her family (her mother was a Russian actress, her father a Yugoslav doctor) and since then has become huge as a model, a musical “talent” (she’s got some recordings out) and a film star.
“Resident 2,” which debuted stateside just this past October, has Jovovich returning as the female super-agent code-named ALICE, one of two survivors of a nasty biochemical disaster in Raccoon City. Previously she had been subjected to biogenetic experimentation by the sinister Umbrella Corporation, to give her superhuman strength, dexterity and ultra-keen senses. Now she and several compatriots must escape the decrepit Raccoon City, blowing legions of the undead. It’s pure Hollywood action/horror schlock, but it’s good that way. The first film grossed more than $100 million, and Jovovich, with her impish good looks, comes across in “Resident 2” the same way she did in movies like “The Fifth Element” and “Joan of Arc”: a charismatic, enigmatic femme fatale.
It’s interesting to imagine Jovovich coming back for the Kyiv premiere of this film. She’s about as Ukrainian now as Khrushchev was a social democrat, and she’d arrive here between the two rounds of this contentious presidential election only to run a gauntlet of photographers at the airport and be surrounded by gossip.
It would be an incredible ego-trip. She belongs in Hollywood, not here. But if she does another sequel about a city full of the dead that comes back to life, maybe she should think of shooting that film here – depending on what happens Nov. 21.
“Resident Evil 2:
The Apocalypse”
Starring Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Sandrine Holt and Mike Fehr.
Opens citywide Nov. 11. Please see page 37 for a full list of theaters and showtimes.
