Resident Evil: The last Chapter? I beg to differ. 4,000 survivors left in the world of Resident Evil, six films, 14 years of release and $1 billion in profit and yet there are plenty more zombies to kill. The film opens with a chunky exposition of how the world of Resident Evil came to life, something which most audience would not have guessed, Young Alicia / Red Queen was infected with a virus prior to the apocalypse in which her father James Marcus was searching for a cure and eventually invented the T-virus, which cured Alicia's progeria. However, the T-virus was discovered to have the effect of turning those who were infected with it into the Undead, causing Marcus to want to discontinue using the T-virus. In response, Marcus' partner, Doctor Alexander Isaacs (Iain Glen), had Marcus murdered by Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts). Alicia barely avoided seeing the murder and was then raised by Isaacs, having become owner of 50% of Umbrella with her father's death.
Paul W. S. Anderson may have tried his best to go out with a bang but left many unanswered questions to the opening of the film. What has happened to Ada Wong, Jill Valentine, Chris Redfield and Leon? These are all opening questions in whether they survived the attack on DC from the ending of Resident Evil Retribution. This was something in which many fans were personally hoping for to return with Alice (Mila Jovovich) in her journey to end the T-Virus once and for all.
The Final Chapter abandons the shiny surfaces and 3D filmmaking style of the last two Resident Evil movies (Afterlife and Retribution, both of which were also directed by Anderson), by instead embracing a grimy colour palette and darkly-lit 2D visual aesthetic. This ensured a gritty and horror feel as opposed to a sci fi action blockbuster.
The Final Chapter also combines explosive action with extra-nasty zombie creatures and restricted set pieces that bring this movie closer to the Resident Evil original roots in intimate survival horror than recent chapters have managed to do. However, the film's excessively ramped-up editing robs its set pieces of their tension and renders many of its close-quarter fight scenes, as well as the stunt work by Jovovich (and her stunt double) which made it hard to focus even in watching it in 2D. I could not have imagined how difficult it would have been to experience these close combat action sequences in 3D.
The film does not let go of the gas as the pace is almost consistent through the film as Alice (Mila Jovovich) only has 40 hours to infiltrate Hive within Racoon City and retrieve the airborne anti-virus vile to end the apocalypse with the help of the Red Queen gone rogue against Umbrella Cooperation's .
The Anti-virus has the power to kill every human infected with the T-virus and wipe out all the zombies, however many fans would have realised that Alice (Mila Jovovich) is also affected with the virus and may mean her death to end the franchise?
The Final Chapter does attempt to tie the larger Resident Evil franchise's complex story closer together (starting with its exposition-heavy prologue), but most of those story payoffs fall short at achieving this goal due to them being underdeveloped or rushed. This gave the feel whether or not The Final Chapter is a film in itself to finish off the franchise.
The Final Chapter supporting ensemble includes new franchise additions Eoin Macken (The Night Shift), Ruby Rose (xXx: Return of Xander Cage, John Wick 2: Chapter 2) and Fraser James (Law & Order: UK). As imagined, The Final Chapter does not come short in losing characters on screen in regards to Alices (Mila Jovovic) final survivors' pact and feels very rushed and underdeveloped in terms of characters arcs. This was a bit of a let-down but admittedly does not lose the Resident Evil factor in the way the death sequences were portrayed.
Dr Isaacs (Ian Glen) is in pursuit to Racoon City after discovering the knowledge Alice (Mila Jovovich) obtains from an unlikely source in order to stop and kill her, something he should have done 4 films ago. This and along with him a hoard of zombies chasing the armour vehicle he resides in with a human bait attached to the back of the vehicle, is a creative and demented thought which worked well.
Resident Evil ends with Alice (Mila Jovovich) defeating Dr Isaacs (Ian Glen) and using the anti-virus to kill the remaining humans with the virus. It seems like she is dead but after a while she wakes up with the T-Virus inside her getting destroyed, where her human self is perfectly intact.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter has many of the same flaws as its predecessors in the areas of plot and craftsmanship – meaning, its problems won't be anything that long-time fans of the video game movie franchise can't handle.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter has the same flaws as the previous films in the area of plots and character development so it's something which the fans won't have a problem with as being in the same place as before. While it is disappointing that The Final Chapter is not ambiguous enough with the lack of characters which disappeared from Retribution, but strong enough to give that sense of a road coming to an end for Alice (Jovovich) on the big screen. Overall this is a film which I would not mind watching again however let's see how long it will take for a Resident Evil reboot to come about.
6/10
The Resident Evil Film franchise has always been a joke - It takes the games and literally defecates them with poor acting, plot holes, Matrix-ripoffs and a poor writing. Whilst the first film wasn't too bad, the fact that the franchise been going on for the past 15 years really strikes me as insane.
However, this is my opinion. It's a great review covering all the important points, and I like your overall scoring too :)