If there is any franchise that needs a mercy rule, it’s the Resident Evil series. You have to give them some credit, in a world where video game movies are as bad as a gunshot to the kidneys, Resident Evil has been around since 2002. 15 years has passed since the first movie debuted and most people agree it was an ok movie. Well, 15 years and 4 films later, fans are ready to tap out like the end of a 3 round fight.
The issue people have with these movies is the fact that they really don’t have anything to do with the video game series at all. The center of the films is Milla Jovovich playing a character who is not in any of the games and the films have become nothing more than a project for her and her husband Paul W. S. Anderson, who writes, produces, and directs the majority of these films to work together. Whenever a character from the series shows up in the movies, it’s usually a poorly portrayed version of that character who is seen in one film and never again.
If you watched the last film in the series, Resident Evil: Retribution, The film ends with Alice, Jill, Ada, Leon, and Wesker gearing up for a massive battle at the White House surrounded by helicopters and monsters for miles. In Resident Evil: The Final Chapter…none of that means anything because the film begins with Alice by herself three weeks later in a completely destroyed Washington D.C. meaning we have no idea what happened to all of these characters and we never will. The Red Queen (who was the evil killer A.I. in the last movie) now suddenly wants to help Alice find a cure for the T-Virus and save the world. Alice returns to Raccoon City to find the cure to the T-Virus that has been there all along. She reunites with Claire, who has been gone since the 4th film, together they are the last hope for humanity…again…for real this time.
Resident Evil may have the worst continuity of any movie franchise I’ve seen. It’s like Paul W. S. Anderson doesn’t even watch his own movies. Every movie completely brushes off the events of the previous installment when it comes to the whereabouts of characters and the events that end the film leading to the next one. In Resident Evil: Retribution, Alice had a daughter, there was an angle with clones of old characters, the Red Queen was evil for no reason, and the whole film led up to a final battle with multiple major characters and this movie doesn’t even bother to address any of it, it’s like it didn’t happen. The characters just disappear and reappear at will and only vague explanations are given about their absences and how they survived. I could ask at least 50 questions about how this makes any sense but it would be a waste of time because I don’t believe the filmmakers put too much thought into it anyway.
The film is stuffed with jump scares. Monsters constantly jump out of nowhere even when they all make screaming noises and couldn’t possibly sneak up on anyone. Dr. Alexander Isaacs returns to the franchise after dying in the 3rd movie because ‘surpise’ it was a clone. Isaacs was the person who started the outbreak in the first place because he’s a cliché villain who wants to save the world by destroying it. As far as the technical aspects go, the special effects and GCI is better than the last couple of films and the editing is much improved making the fight scenes look better than before. The action is better choreographed but it does get ridiculous to a point.
They did something with the ending which single handily made the entire series ridiculous. They introduce a twist where Alice finds out that she…was a clone the entire time. Turns out that a little girl named Alicia Marcus who was the first person to be tested for the T-Virus, her father was killed by Isaacs but she was able to maintain control of the Umbrella Corporation. Alicia has a disease which causes her to rapidly age so she created Alice and the Red Queen (who is also played by Milla and Paul daughter, as if you needed any more nepotism in this series) as a safeguard against Issacs Armageddon plan.
If you aren’t following: Alice, The Red Queen, and Alica are all the same person; The Past, Present, and Future. This…makes NO SENSE whatever. They actually managed to take a franchise with poor continuity, to begin with, and made it worse. I dare you to watch all 5 of these films and try to explain to me how this story makes any sense at all, I dare you! The film ends by Alice saving the planet and despite this being called ‘The Final Chapter’ the ending leaves the door open for another sequel.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter meshes the franchise together as well as adding mentos to a bottle of Diet Coke. The film exposes all the flaws associated with this series and instead of an emotional ending, we are left saying good riddance to this dumpster fire. Maybe in 5 years, someone outside of Sony will reboot the series and do a proper Resident Evil film but for the Paul W. S. Anderson era of video game adaption, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter makes we hope that the era of Alice is finally over for good.
1/5
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