Resident Evil: The Final Chapter was written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson. It's also the only film in the series, other than the first, that I'll ever be able to place in proper chronological order (Could you tell if Resident Evil: Afterlife came before or after Resident Evil: Extinction? I thought not).
Anderson is a prolific writer and director of critically panned, but wildly popular schlock films. Much like a modern Roger Corman, but with higher budgets. He wrote Resident Evil, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Resident Evil: Extinction, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Resident Evil: Retribution, Alien Vs. Predator, Death Race, Death Race 2 and Death Race: Inferno.
Anderson previously directed Mortal Kombat (which in my opinion still the best video game movie ever made), Event Horizon, Soldier, Resident Evil, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Resident Evil: Retribution, Alien Vs. Predator, Drift, Death Race, The Three Musketeers and Pompeii.
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is brought to us the fine people at Sony, the gold standard of movie studios. Why, in just the past three years, Sony's produced such wonderful films such as:
The Monuments Men • Robocop (2014) • Stalingrad
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 • 22 Jump Street • Think Like A Man Too
Sex Tape • The Equalizer • Fury • The Interview • Chappie
Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2 • Aloha • Pixels • Ricki and the Flash
Hotel Transylvania 2 • The Walk • Goosebumps • Freaks of Nature
Spectre • The Night Before • Concussion • The 5th Wave
The Brothers Grimsby • Money Monster • Angry Birds • The Shallows
Ghostbusters 2016 • Sausage Party • The Magnificent Seven
Inferno • Passengers
I have an odd relationship with this series, just like I do with the Underworld films. I've dutifully sat and watched ALL SIX Resident Evil movies in the theater, despite the fact that I'm not a big fan of them and don't think they're very good. I don't actively hate them either, mind you, they're just sort of... there.
Despite the fact that I've seen them all, I couldn't tell you what happens in any of them if my life depended on it. They're what I call "In One Ear Movies"— films that start to evaporate from my mind the second I leave the cineplex. I vaguely remember something about a corridor filled with moving lasers in the very first movie, and I'm pretty sure Milla Jovavitch fights zombies in all of them. Beyond that, I don't remember a single thing from any of the films.
Fun Fact: At the beginning of Trailer #2, Alice says, "I can't remember much before all this started." I know how you feel, honey!
So why do I keep paying to see these spectacularly unmemorable movies if I don't really like 'em? I don't know! I wish I had an answer.
Somebody out there must really like these movies though, as historically they've all been quite profitable. Here's a rundown of the series' box office grosses. Keep in mind that these days a movie generally has to make at least twice its production budget just to break even:
Resident Evil / Budget: $33 million / Domestic Gross: $40 million / Foreign Gross: $62 million / Worldwide Gross: $102 million
Resident Evil: Apocalypse / Budget: $45 million / Domestic Gross: $51 million / Foreign Gross: $78 million / Worldwide Gross: $129 million
Resident Evil: Extinction / Budget: $45 million / Domestic Gross: $50 million / Foreign Gross: $97 million / Worldwide Gross: $148 million
Resident Evil: Afterlife / Budget: $60 million / Domestic Gross: $60 million / Foreign Gross: $240 million / Worldwide Gross: $300 million (!)
Resident Evil: Retribution / Budget: $65 million / Domestic Gross: $42 million / Froeign Gross / $197 million / Worldwide Gross: $240 million
Resident Evil:The Final Chapter / Budget: $40 million / Domestic Gross: $22 million (so far) / Foreign Gross: $95 million (so far) / Worldwide Gross: $117 million (so far)
Note that in every case, American audiences seem fairly indifferent to Alice and her adventures, while foreign audiences can't seem to get enough of her. For whatever reason (Zombies? Hot, kick-ass women? Video game movies?), Resident Evil is really big in Japan.
I can think of at least two Americans though who have a vested interest in keeping this film series going— director Paul W.S. Anderson and his wife, Milla Jovavich. Yes, that Milla Jovavich, who's played central character Alice in every Resident Evil film. There's no doubt in my mind that Anderson keeps pumping out these movies to keep his wife employed and bringin' home those paychecks.
Note that this situation is mirrored exactly over on the Underworld films. Four of the five films in the series was produced by Len Wiseman, who just happens to be married to actress Kate Beckinsale, the star of the series. Just like Paul W.S. Anderson, Wiseman keeps pumping out Underworld movies to keep his wife employed and bringin' home those paychecks.
Note that this situation is mirrored exactly over on the Underworld films. Four of the five films in the series was produced by Len Wiseman, who just happens to be married to actress Kate Beckinsale, the star of the series. Just like Paul W.S. Anderson, Wiseman keeps pumping out Underworld movies to keep his wife employed and bringin' home those paychecks.
As its title suggests, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is being marketed as the last in the series. The minute I read that I rolled my eyes and said, "Everyone who believes that, stand on their head."
It's probably time to wrap up this film series, as it's already past its expiration date. Milla Jovavich is currently forty one, so her days of punching and kicking are numbered. But this is one of Sony's most profitable franchises though, so there's no way in hell they're ever going to stop making them as long as they're bringing in money.
Sure enough, although the movie seemingly wraps up Alice's adventures, it leaves the door open just a crack for a seventh film, if Sony's game.
Since this is ostensibly the final film, you'd think the producers would want to bring back every character from the franchise for one last thing. You'd be wrong. Sienna Guillory (who played Jill Valentine in Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Afterlife and Retribution), Li Bingbing (who played Ada Wong in Resident Evil: Retribution), Aryana Engineer (who played Becky in Resident Evil: Retribution), Spencer Locke (who played K-Mart in Resident Evil: Extinction and Afterlife), Michelle Rodriguez (who played Rain Ocampo in Resident Evil and Retribution), Wentworth Miller (who played Chris Redfield in Resident Evil: Afterlife) and Johann Urb (who played Leon Kennedy in Resident Evil: Retribution) were not asked to return for this last movie. Pity.
It's probably time to wrap up this film series, as it's already past its expiration date. Milla Jovavich is currently forty one, so her days of punching and kicking are numbered. But this is one of Sony's most profitable franchises though, so there's no way in hell they're ever going to stop making them as long as they're bringing in money.
Sure enough, although the movie seemingly wraps up Alice's adventures, it leaves the door open just a crack for a seventh film, if Sony's game.
Since this is ostensibly the final film, you'd think the producers would want to bring back every character from the franchise for one last thing. You'd be wrong. Sienna Guillory (who played Jill Valentine in Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Afterlife and Retribution), Li Bingbing (who played Ada Wong in Resident Evil: Retribution), Aryana Engineer (who played Becky in Resident Evil: Retribution), Spencer Locke (who played K-Mart in Resident Evil: Extinction and Afterlife), Michelle Rodriguez (who played Rain Ocampo in Resident Evil and Retribution), Wentworth Miller (who played Chris Redfield in Resident Evil: Afterlife) and Johann Urb (who played Leon Kennedy in Resident Evil: Retribution) were not asked to return for this last movie. Pity.
Unfortunately, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter was apparently an incredibly dangerous movie to work on. During filming, Olivia Jackson, Milla Jovavich's stunt double, was severely injured when the motorcycle she was riding crashed into a camera crane. As a result of the crash, Jackson suffered a laundry list of gruesome injuries, including cerebral trauma, a crushed face, a severed neck artery, a paralyzed left arm, broken ribs, a shattered spine, broken clavicle, torn fingers and the loss of a thumb. She was placed in a medically-induced coma for two weeks, and her left arm ultimately had to be amputated above the elbow. Yikes! It's amazing she was able to survive all that. Let's hope the studio gave her a very large and well deserved cash settlement.
A second horrific accident occurred when a Humvee slid off its rotating platform and crushed crew member Ricardo Cornelius against a wall. Cornelius was rushed to a nearby hospital and placed on life support, but died a few hours later.
A second horrific accident occurred when a Humvee slid off its rotating platform and crushed crew member Ricardo Cornelius against a wall. Cornelius was rushed to a nearby hospital and placed on life support, but died a few hours later.
The film was shot primarily in South Africa. I wonder... are on-set safety regs not as stringent there as they are in the States? This is definitely not a film worth dying for.
SPOILERS!
The Plot:
Sit back and get comfortable, as there's a lot of exposition ahead. The movie opens with a much-appreciated prologue explaining what the hell's going on, for audience members like me who can't remember anything about this franchise. Years ago Umbrella Corporation employee Dr. James Marcus created the T-virus to cure his daughter Alicia of progeria. Unfortunately the virus had a couple of minor little side effects, like turning people into fast-running zombies. When Dr. Alexander Isaacs (played by Iain Glenn) wants Marcus to weaponize the virus, he refuses. Isaacs has Umbrella CEO Albert Wesker kill Marcus and takes control of the virus. Isaacs then becomes Alicia's guardian, and creates the sentient Red Queen holographic program in her image. He then releases the T-virus into the air, infecting the entire planet.
Cut to the "present," or whenever this movie takes place, in which our heroine Alice (played as always by Milla Jovavich) is wondering around the ruins of a city. She's attacked by several mutated monsters, kills them easily and then seeks shelter in a nearby building. The Red Queen (the brain of the Umbrella Corporation that looks like a hologram of Alicia Marcus) appears on a series of monitors.
She says she knows that Wesker betrayed Alice, and wants to help. She says deep inside the Hive (Umbrella's headquarters) is an airborne antigen that can reverse the effects of the T-virus worldwide. For some reason, the Red Queen says Alice has just forty eight hours to get to the Hive and unleash the anti-virus, as Umbrella is launching one last strike against the tiny number of humans left on Earth. Alice asks the Red Queen why she should trust her, which is a pretty good question, considering she's spent the previous five movies trying to kill off humanity. The Red Queen doesn't answer, instead pointing out a mutant behind Alice (that she easily defeats).
Whew! With all that exposition out of the way, Alice eats up some screen time racing through the post-apocalyptic landscape. She's gets snared by Umbrella mercenaries, but easily defeats them. Have you noticed she easily defeats everyone? She tries to take one of their motorcycles, but it uses a scanner coded to Umbrella operatives only, and electrocutes her.
She wakes up inside a large tank-like, along with a few other human captives. She's greeted by Isaacs, and asks how he's alive after she killed him in Resident Evil: Extinction. I'll have to take her word for this, as I have no earthly memory of that happening. She realizes she must have killed one of Isaac's many clones. He ties her to the back of the tank, using her as a "carrot" to get a massive army of undead to follow. As the zombies get uncomfortably close, she hops up onto the tank and easily defeats Isaacs' henchmen. He emerges from the tank to deal with her himself. She sees another Umbrella motorcycle strapped to the side of the tank (?) so she chops off Isaac's hand and uses it on the bike's scanner to start it up. She then roars off on the bike.
Alice arrives at the ruins of Raccoon City. She's captured by a group of survivors and taken to their hideout at the top of a tall building. There she meets Doc, Razor, Christian, Abigail and Cobalt. They decide to kill Alice, until Claire Redfield (played by Ali Larter) steps out, sees Alice and tells them to stop. Claire's appearance is obviously supposed to be a gasp-inducing reveal, but if you've forgotten all the movies as I have, all it generates is a stifled yawn. Alice explains her plan to infiltrate the Hive and get the anti-virus. Oh, and she also informs them of Isaacs and the massive undead horde heading for them.
Alice and Abigail, who's an engineer, set up a bunch of traps around the hideout. Isaacs' convoy stops just outside the gates, as the undead army pours into the city. Abigail launches several barrels of gasoline at the tanks, completely immolating them. They then fire flaming barrels into the zombie horde, igniting them in a gigantic fireball. Amazingly these traps pretty much take out the entire undead army! That was easy!
Well, maybe not. Alice spots a second undead army in the distance, heading toward the city. She and the others hurry and make their way toward the Hive. There's a massive nuclear bomb crater in the center of Raccoon City, which has exposed a secret entrance in the lower levels of the Hive. Alice plans to enter through there, which is actually a pretty good idea. Along the way Cobalt is killed.
Wesker is monitoring the group, and releases a pack of Cerebus dogs to attack them. Christian is mauled by one of the dogs, and Alice and the others escape them by diving into the lake at the bottom of the crater. They exit the lake near the secret entrance to the Hive. They're attacked by a now undead Christian, but Alice easily defeats him. Wesker sees the group's trying to enter the Hive, and orders the Red Queen to close the doors. Alice and the others barely make it in before the massive blast doors slam shut.
As they make their way through the building, the Red Queen secretly appears on a monitor. Alice asks again why she's helping them. The Red Queen shows her a video of an Umbrella board meeting. In it, Dr. Isaacs says the only solution to Earth's many woes is to use the T-virus to wipe out humanity and then start over. He proposes placing the wealthy and powerful in underground stasis until the apocalypse is over. Even a computer program like the Red Queen was appalled by this, and that's why she's helping. She also secretly tells Alice to watch her back, as there's an Umbrella informant in her group.
Next the group comes to a massive, three story air circulation fan. As soon as they all manage to squeeze through, Wesker activates the fan, which sucks Abigail into it, shredding her. They then crawl through a series of air vents, which unexpectedly open below them. Alice and Razor fall into a darkened room. Razor's attacked by a mutant beast and killed. Alice battle the beast and easily defeats it.
Alice, Claire and Doc take an elevator to the top of the Hive. Along the way, they spot the massive rows of cryogenically preserved elite. On the top floor, they encounter the Original Dr. Isaacs. Alice looks for a weapon to kill him with, but he tells her not to bother. He's wearing special contact lenses allow him to anticipate any possible attack (?). He holds up a vial of the anti-virus, telling her it's the only one in existence. He tells her to drop her gun or he'll break the vial, and the anti-virus will never make through hundreds of feet of solid rock to the surface.
Alice reluctantly drops her gun, but notices Doc doesn't drop his. Gasp! Doc's really the Umbrella informant! I never would have guessed this mind-blowing revelation, especially since it obviously couldn't have been Alice or Claire, and he's the only member of the group who's still alive. Isaacs then starts monologuing, telling Alice she's really a clone of Alicia Marcus. This means that she's infected with the T-virus just like Alicia. It also means if the anti-virus is released, it'll not only kill all the zombies in the world, but Alice as well.
Alicia Marcus, who, due to her progeria, doesn't look a day under a hundred, rolls out in her wheelchair. She says she blames herself for the outbreak, which doesn't make any sense since she was a little girl when it happened. Wesker appears and holds Claire at gunpoint. The Red Queen reminds Alicia that her programming won't allow her to harm an Umbrella employee. Alicia, who's apparently seen Robocop, promptly fires Wesker, allowing the Red Queen to slam a door down on Wesker's foot, severing it. In the confusion, Claire shoots Doc in the head, while Isaacs gets away. Alice hands Wesker a detonator, telling him to use it when he's ready to die.
Alice and Claire go after Isaacs. They battle him on a platform, and Claire's knocked out (I think. It doesn't really matter). Alice follows Isaacs into the laser trap from the very first movie. Deadly lasers begin moving down the corridor, and Alice easily jumps and flips over them. She and Isaccs then battle in the middle of the moving lasers. He grabs her hand and holds it against the wall as a laser passes by, which severs two or three of her fingers. She collapses in pain, as Isaacs gloats. She then starts laughing, revealing she secretly pulled the pin from a grenade in Isaacs' pocket (huh?). It explodes, gravely injuring him. She takes the anti-virus from his coat and heads to the surface.
Outside, Alice decides to sacrifice herself for the good of the planet. She drops the anti-virus, but it's caught at the last second by a mortally wounded Isaacs (of course). He's about to kill her, when the Isaacs clone, who somehow survived, arrives with his undead army. Clone Isaacs' mind is blown as he realizes he's not the original. He stabs Original Isaacs and kills him, right before the zombies tear him to pieces.
Alice drops the anit-virus and in instantly spreads, killing every zombie in the city. Wesker uses his detonator, blowing up himself, Alicia and the Hive. Alice watches as the Hive is destroyed, and collapses.
Alice wakes up and sees Claire standing over her. She can't understand why she's still alive, as the anti-virus should have killed her. The Red Queen appears, telling Alice that the mutagen only targeted the T-virus in her body, leaving her healthy cells alone. What a lucky break! She asks the Red Queen why she didn't tell her this in the first place, and she says she needed to know if Alice was willing to sacrifice herself for humanity. In other words, she did it to be dramatic. The Red Queen then uploads all of Alicia's childhood memories into Alice, since she never had a life of her own. No one thinks to asks the Red Queen how she's still projecting a hologram of herself after the Hive was destroyed.
We then see Alice riding away on her motorcycle, as we hear her voice-over say it could take years for the airborne anti-virus to spread all the way across the globe, meaning look for Resident Evil 7 in cineplexes next year. A winged mutant monsters appears and chases her as she speeds off.
Thoughts:
• I don't know if this happened in every cineplex, but at my showing, actress Milla Jovavitch and her husband Paul W.S. Anderson appeared briefly onscreen to welcome the audience to the film, and thank us all for coming out to the movies.
The whole thing felt a little... desperate to me, as if the movie industry's really hurting and is trying frantically scrambling for customers. Hey, Hollywood, I know how you can get more people to come out to the cineplex. MAKE BETTER F*CKING MOVIES!!! No more PG-13 horror garbage like this!
• The film opens with Alice narrating a brief recap of what's happened in the previous movies. Thank the Movie Gods she did, because I couldn't tell you what happened in the previous films if you held a gun to my head.
The most recent Underworld movie started out with a recap as well, which was great because I don't remember anything that happened in those movies either.
I'm starting to think I'm not the only one who can't remember these films. They wouldn't take up valuable screen time with a prologue unless they thought it was necessary. I wonder if test audiences looked at this film and said, "Wut?," forcing the filmmakers to go back and explain what the hell's happening.
• My biggest complaint about Resident Evil: The Final Chapter isn't the non-existent plot, lack of characterization or dodgy acting— it's the camera work and editing. This movie features the worst Shakey-Cam™ battle scenes I've ever had to sit through in a major theatrical release. Every couple of minutes there was a new fight scene, and I have no freaking idea what went on in ANY of them.
The camera was constantly zoomed in as far as it could go as it shook and vibrated like it was strapped to a paint mixer at Home Depot. The average length of every shot in these fight scenes was probably five frames, maximum. It was extremely disorienting, not to mention annoying. Every time I watched one of these scenes, it honestly felt like someone was slapping me about the face. It got so bad I finally had to close my eyes. It was either that or go sit in the car until it was over.
Why the hell would a filmmaker do this? Why obscure your action by making it impossible to decipher or even watch? Was it to hide the fact that Milla Jovavich is getting older and can't kick or punch like she did fifteen years ago? Or did the fight coordinator just go insane?
Whatever the reason for it, all the incredibly annoying Shakey Cam™ did was piss me off and turn me against the film. And I'm not the only one who hated it— online message boards are filled with complaints about it.
A possible clue as to what went wrong here— during the end credits I noticed this line: "Film Editing by Doobie White."
Ah. It's all starting to make sense now.
• In a similar vein, there were some cool looking monsters in the film— I think. We never get to see any of them for more than a split second, and even when we did the camera was trembling like a nervous Chihuahua, so I have no idea what any of them actually looked like.
• The Red Queen first appeared in 2002's Resident Evil, where she was played by Michaela Dicker. She returned in 2012's Resident Evil: Retribution, but was now played by Megan Charpentier, as Dicker had outgrown the role over the past ten years.
Charpentier also outgrew the role in the past five years, so tin Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, the Red Queen is played by Ever Gabo Jovovich Anderson, daughter of Milla Jovovich and Paul W.S. Anderson.
All that outgrowing will happen when your film series spans FIFTEEN years.
• Speaking of the Red Queen, she must be worn out since her first appearance back in 2002. She spends the majority of this movie sitting in a chair in the Umbrella Corporation's boardroom. Yeah, you heard right— a goddamned hologram actually sits down in a chair.
• While watching this movie, I noticed that's it's pretty much one long chase, peppered now and then with expository dialogue. The characters are all paper-thin archetypes with little or no personality, and are constantly on the run from Dr. Isaacs and his undead army as they try to reach a McGuffin inside a fortified tower.
I wonder... Mad Max: Fury Road was pretty much one long two hour chase scene, and fans went crazy over it. Did Paul W.S. Anderson see that Fury Road grossed nearly $400 million and try to ape its structure? Didn't think we'd notice, did you Paul?
• When Alice finally reaches Raccoon City, we see there's a huge nuclear bomb crater in the center of it. Later on she and several survivors climb down into this massive crater to sneak into the Hive.
Should Alice and the others be worried about radiation here? One of the characters mentions how "all this happened ten years ago." That's probably not long enough for any residual radiation to dissipate to safe levels.
I suppose when you live in a post apocalyptic wasteland populated by zombies, a little radiation is the least of your worries.
• Once in Raccoon City, Alice defeats Isaacs' zombie army by roasting them. She then looks through a set of infrared binoculars and sees two more zombie armies approaching. Uh-oh!
Oddly enough, these two masses of undead bodies show up as glowing, reddish-yellow blobs, which in infrared indicates heat. Um... wouldn't zombie bodies be cold, or at least air temperature? So how are they generating a heat signature? Are their bodies rubbing together and creating heat from friction as they shamble along?
• As the zombie horde approaches, Alice and the others gather anything they can use as a weapon. One of the survivors (Doc, I think) arms himself with a nail gun, which turns out to be very effective against the undead.
I've gone over this before, but it's worth a repeat. Nail guns do not work this way. Despite their name, you can't just shoot 'em like a normal gun. There's a safety plate on the front of a nail gun that prevents it from firing unless it's pressed against a board. It's impossible to shoot a person with one. Additionally, they don't fire nails at a hundred miles an hour, as shown here. If they did, the nail would fly right through the board!
It's possible that Doc (or whoever) might have removed the safety plate and tinkered with the pressure so it would fire like an actual gun. So I'm willing to give 'em this one.
• Alice plans to sneak into the Hive through a secret entrance that was inadvertently exposed by the nuclear bomb blast. This entrance is actually a massive set of doors formerly located deep underground.
Um... just why were these doors built? What's the point of a door that opens up to solid rock, hundreds of feet below the surface?
• Once inside the Hive, Alice and her team have to squeeze through the blades of a comically oversized air intake fan. Several things here.
First of all, why is there an air intake fan at the bottom level of the Hive? Before the bomb exposed it, this section of the building was surrounded by hundreds of feet of solid rock. How's this fan supposed to pull in any air from that? Shouldn't an air intake be, oh, I don't know, on top of the freakin' building, where the air's located?
Secondly, as soon as they start trying to get through the fan, Wesker detects them. He activates the fan and the razor sharp blades begin turning. Alice and the others barely get through before it purees them.
Wesker then reverses the direction of the massive fan, and they have to hold on for dear life as it threatens to suck them into it. Wait a minute... if the fan is strong enough to lift people off the ground in "suck" mode, then why didn't sail away from it when it was in "blow" mode?
Thirdly, the gigantic fan blades take a good thirty seconds to slow to a stop before they reverse direction. All during this period, Alice and the others stand rock still six feet away, staring intently at the blades as if hypnotized. They wait until it reverses direction and starts pulling them backward before they finally think about trying to get away from it.
• At one point Alice falls through a trap door in a vent and lands in the infamous laser corridor from the first film. Naturally she performs the Superhero Landing™ as she drops down.
• Speaking of that laser corridor— what the hell is the point of it? It guards the entrance to a sensitive area of the Hive— that much I get. But it seems needlessly elaborate and complicated.
Once you enter the corridor, the doors on both ends lock, trapping you inside. A single laser beam then appears near the top of the walls and travels the length of the corridor. It's pretty easy to avoid if you're smart enough to duck down. If not... you're gonna have trouble.
Then a second laser appears near the floor and sweeps down the hall. It's a bit harder to avoid, as it changes direction at the very last second and moves up.
The laser then appears a third and final time. Halfway down the corridor it unexpectedly turns into an impenetrable grid, slicing up intruders into bite-sized chunks.
BUT WHY??? Why are there tree steps to the laser defense system? Why not just START with the diagonal grid and get it over with already? Why bother with the first two cycles? Was the person who programmed the lasers just a sadistic bastard who liked toying with his victims before killing them?
There's no in-universe reason to have three cycles in the laser corridor. The real-world reason for it of course is that it looks kewl, and makes for a tense and exciting action sequence.
• In the big expository-filled setpiece in the third act, we find out that the Red Queen can't harm any employee of the Umbrella Corporation. This includes returning baddie Wesker, who's holding Alice and Claire at gunpoint. Alicia Marcus, who I guess is the CEO of Umbrella, simply says, "Wesker— you're fired!" The Red Queen is then free to murderize him.
Apparently Paul W.S. Anderson is a big fan of the original Robocop, because this gag is lifted straight from the end of that film. I wouldn't even call this an homage, because it's a word-for-word and shot-for-shot duplication.
• Near the end of the film Alice blows up the Hive and releases the anti-virus into the air. It immediately destroys any sample of the T-virus it finds, instantly "killing" all the zombies in Raccoon City. Oddly enough it doesn't kill her, even though she's infected with the T-virus as well. The Red Queen appears and says the anti-virus only affected her infected cells, leaving the normal ones alone.
Well that was certainly convenient! I'm assuming Alice survived because she was a special case— a living person infected with the T-virus. The zombies all "died" because once the T-virus in their bodies was destroyed, all that was left were rotting corpses.
• Once the Hive is destroyed and the anti-virus released, the Red Queen appears before Alice and delivers a big chunk of expository dialogue. Wait a minute... how is the Red Queen still able to function and project a hologram of herself— outside, mind you— after the Hive is blown up? Wasn't she supposed to be the Hive's sentient security system? Wasn't her program kept there? How's she still "alive?"
Earlier in the movie we see that Umbrella has its own surveillance satellite. Maybe she uploaded her program to that just before the Hive exploded? Or maybe the writer screwed up.
• At the very end of the movie, Alice rides her motorcycle into a devastated Manhattan. Curiously, the remains of the new Freedom Tower are visible in the skyline. Hmm...
When exactly do these movies take place? We're told in this film that the zombie apocalypse started ten years ago. But ten years from when? If this movie takes place in the present of 2017, then "ten years ago" was 2007. Construction on the Freedom Tower began in 2006, and was finished in 2014. It's unlikely they'd keep working on the Tower after the world was destroyed, so the apocalypse had to have started sometime after it was completed. That means this movie has to take place in at least the year 2024.
Either that or Paul W.S. Anderson's an idiot, and the Freedom Tower's appearance here is a big f*ck up.
The Freedom Tower (which replaced the Twin Towers destroyed in the 9/11 attacks of 2001) was completed in 2014. We're told in this film that the zombie apocalypse started ten years ago.
• In the final scene, we see Alice on her bike, being pursued by a flying monster. Hmm... if the airborne mutagen destroys the T-virus, why is this mutant still alive?
Alice mentions in a voiceover that it may take years for the anti-virus to spread across the whole world. Is this an example of that? Has the anti-virus not reached the ruins of Manhattan yet? Or is this another example of Anderson's careful and precise screenwriting?
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is, like all the films in the series, big, loud, dumb and instantly forgettable. It's basically one long chase, much like Mad Max: Fury Road, but without all the style. It's also packed with endless scenes of annoying Shakey Cam™ that made me feel like I was being physically assaulted. Even worse, this "final chapter" leaves the door open for future installments. For die hard fans of the franchise only. All others should steer clear. I give it a C.
• I don't know if this happened in every cineplex, but at my showing, actress Milla Jovavitch and her husband Paul W.S. Anderson appeared briefly onscreen to welcome the audience to the film, and thank us all for coming out to the movies.
The whole thing felt a little... desperate to me, as if the movie industry's really hurting and is trying frantically scrambling for customers. Hey, Hollywood, I know how you can get more people to come out to the cineplex. MAKE BETTER F*CKING MOVIES!!! No more PG-13 horror garbage like this!
• The film opens with Alice narrating a brief recap of what's happened in the previous movies. Thank the Movie Gods she did, because I couldn't tell you what happened in the previous films if you held a gun to my head.
The most recent Underworld movie started out with a recap as well, which was great because I don't remember anything that happened in those movies either.
I'm starting to think I'm not the only one who can't remember these films. They wouldn't take up valuable screen time with a prologue unless they thought it was necessary. I wonder if test audiences looked at this film and said, "Wut?," forcing the filmmakers to go back and explain what the hell's happening.
• My biggest complaint about Resident Evil: The Final Chapter isn't the non-existent plot, lack of characterization or dodgy acting— it's the camera work and editing. This movie features the worst Shakey-Cam™ battle scenes I've ever had to sit through in a major theatrical release. Every couple of minutes there was a new fight scene, and I have no freaking idea what went on in ANY of them.
The camera was constantly zoomed in as far as it could go as it shook and vibrated like it was strapped to a paint mixer at Home Depot. The average length of every shot in these fight scenes was probably five frames, maximum. It was extremely disorienting, not to mention annoying. Every time I watched one of these scenes, it honestly felt like someone was slapping me about the face. It got so bad I finally had to close my eyes. It was either that or go sit in the car until it was over.
Why the hell would a filmmaker do this? Why obscure your action by making it impossible to decipher or even watch? Was it to hide the fact that Milla Jovavich is getting older and can't kick or punch like she did fifteen years ago? Or did the fight coordinator just go insane?
Whatever the reason for it, all the incredibly annoying Shakey Cam™ did was piss me off and turn me against the film. And I'm not the only one who hated it— online message boards are filled with complaints about it.
A possible clue as to what went wrong here— during the end credits I noticed this line: "Film Editing by Doobie White."
Ah. It's all starting to make sense now.
• In a similar vein, there were some cool looking monsters in the film— I think. We never get to see any of them for more than a split second, and even when we did the camera was trembling like a nervous Chihuahua, so I have no idea what any of them actually looked like.
• The Red Queen first appeared in 2002's Resident Evil, where she was played by Michaela Dicker. She returned in 2012's Resident Evil: Retribution, but was now played by Megan Charpentier, as Dicker had outgrown the role over the past ten years.
Charpentier also outgrew the role in the past five years, so tin Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, the Red Queen is played by Ever Gabo Jovovich Anderson, daughter of Milla Jovovich and Paul W.S. Anderson.
All that outgrowing will happen when your film series spans FIFTEEN years.
• Speaking of the Red Queen, she must be worn out since her first appearance back in 2002. She spends the majority of this movie sitting in a chair in the Umbrella Corporation's boardroom. Yeah, you heard right— a goddamned hologram actually sits down in a chair.
• While watching this movie, I noticed that's it's pretty much one long chase, peppered now and then with expository dialogue. The characters are all paper-thin archetypes with little or no personality, and are constantly on the run from Dr. Isaacs and his undead army as they try to reach a McGuffin inside a fortified tower.
I wonder... Mad Max: Fury Road was pretty much one long two hour chase scene, and fans went crazy over it. Did Paul W.S. Anderson see that Fury Road grossed nearly $400 million and try to ape its structure? Didn't think we'd notice, did you Paul?
• When Alice finally reaches Raccoon City, we see there's a huge nuclear bomb crater in the center of it. Later on she and several survivors climb down into this massive crater to sneak into the Hive.
Should Alice and the others be worried about radiation here? One of the characters mentions how "all this happened ten years ago." That's probably not long enough for any residual radiation to dissipate to safe levels.
I suppose when you live in a post apocalyptic wasteland populated by zombies, a little radiation is the least of your worries.
• Once in Raccoon City, Alice defeats Isaacs' zombie army by roasting them. She then looks through a set of infrared binoculars and sees two more zombie armies approaching. Uh-oh!
Oddly enough, these two masses of undead bodies show up as glowing, reddish-yellow blobs, which in infrared indicates heat. Um... wouldn't zombie bodies be cold, or at least air temperature? So how are they generating a heat signature? Are their bodies rubbing together and creating heat from friction as they shamble along?
• As the zombie horde approaches, Alice and the others gather anything they can use as a weapon. One of the survivors (Doc, I think) arms himself with a nail gun, which turns out to be very effective against the undead.
I've gone over this before, but it's worth a repeat. Nail guns do not work this way. Despite their name, you can't just shoot 'em like a normal gun. There's a safety plate on the front of a nail gun that prevents it from firing unless it's pressed against a board. It's impossible to shoot a person with one. Additionally, they don't fire nails at a hundred miles an hour, as shown here. If they did, the nail would fly right through the board!
It's possible that Doc (or whoever) might have removed the safety plate and tinkered with the pressure so it would fire like an actual gun. So I'm willing to give 'em this one.
• Alice plans to sneak into the Hive through a secret entrance that was inadvertently exposed by the nuclear bomb blast. This entrance is actually a massive set of doors formerly located deep underground.
Um... just why were these doors built? What's the point of a door that opens up to solid rock, hundreds of feet below the surface?
• Once inside the Hive, Alice and her team have to squeeze through the blades of a comically oversized air intake fan. Several things here.
First of all, why is there an air intake fan at the bottom level of the Hive? Before the bomb exposed it, this section of the building was surrounded by hundreds of feet of solid rock. How's this fan supposed to pull in any air from that? Shouldn't an air intake be, oh, I don't know, on top of the freakin' building, where the air's located?
Secondly, as soon as they start trying to get through the fan, Wesker detects them. He activates the fan and the razor sharp blades begin turning. Alice and the others barely get through before it purees them.
Wesker then reverses the direction of the massive fan, and they have to hold on for dear life as it threatens to suck them into it. Wait a minute... if the fan is strong enough to lift people off the ground in "suck" mode, then why didn't sail away from it when it was in "blow" mode?
Thirdly, the gigantic fan blades take a good thirty seconds to slow to a stop before they reverse direction. All during this period, Alice and the others stand rock still six feet away, staring intently at the blades as if hypnotized. They wait until it reverses direction and starts pulling them backward before they finally think about trying to get away from it.
• Speaking of that laser corridor— what the hell is the point of it? It guards the entrance to a sensitive area of the Hive— that much I get. But it seems needlessly elaborate and complicated.
BUT WHY??? Why are there tree steps to the laser defense system? Why not just START with the diagonal grid and get it over with already? Why bother with the first two cycles? Was the person who programmed the lasers just a sadistic bastard who liked toying with his victims before killing them?
There's no in-universe reason to have three cycles in the laser corridor. The real-world reason for it of course is that it looks kewl, and makes for a tense and exciting action sequence.
• In the big expository-filled setpiece in the third act, we find out that the Red Queen can't harm any employee of the Umbrella Corporation. This includes returning baddie Wesker, who's holding Alice and Claire at gunpoint. Alicia Marcus, who I guess is the CEO of Umbrella, simply says, "Wesker— you're fired!" The Red Queen is then free to murderize him.
Apparently Paul W.S. Anderson is a big fan of the original Robocop, because this gag is lifted straight from the end of that film. I wouldn't even call this an homage, because it's a word-for-word and shot-for-shot duplication.
• Near the end of the film Alice blows up the Hive and releases the anti-virus into the air. It immediately destroys any sample of the T-virus it finds, instantly "killing" all the zombies in Raccoon City. Oddly enough it doesn't kill her, even though she's infected with the T-virus as well. The Red Queen appears and says the anti-virus only affected her infected cells, leaving the normal ones alone.
Well that was certainly convenient! I'm assuming Alice survived because she was a special case— a living person infected with the T-virus. The zombies all "died" because once the T-virus in their bodies was destroyed, all that was left were rotting corpses.
• Once the Hive is destroyed and the anti-virus released, the Red Queen appears before Alice and delivers a big chunk of expository dialogue. Wait a minute... how is the Red Queen still able to function and project a hologram of herself— outside, mind you— after the Hive is blown up? Wasn't she supposed to be the Hive's sentient security system? Wasn't her program kept there? How's she still "alive?"
Earlier in the movie we see that Umbrella has its own surveillance satellite. Maybe she uploaded her program to that just before the Hive exploded? Or maybe the writer screwed up.
• At the very end of the movie, Alice rides her motorcycle into a devastated Manhattan. Curiously, the remains of the new Freedom Tower are visible in the skyline. Hmm...
When exactly do these movies take place? We're told in this film that the zombie apocalypse started ten years ago. But ten years from when? If this movie takes place in the present of 2017, then "ten years ago" was 2007. Construction on the Freedom Tower began in 2006, and was finished in 2014. It's unlikely they'd keep working on the Tower after the world was destroyed, so the apocalypse had to have started sometime after it was completed. That means this movie has to take place in at least the year 2024.
Either that or Paul W.S. Anderson's an idiot, and the Freedom Tower's appearance here is a big f*ck up.
The Freedom Tower (which replaced the Twin Towers destroyed in the 9/11 attacks of 2001) was completed in 2014. We're told in this film that the zombie apocalypse started ten years ago.
Alice mentions in a voiceover that it may take years for the anti-virus to spread across the whole world. Is this an example of that? Has the anti-virus not reached the ruins of Manhattan yet? Or is this another example of Anderson's careful and precise screenwriting?
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is, like all the films in the series, big, loud, dumb and instantly forgettable. It's basically one long chase, much like Mad Max: Fury Road, but without all the style. It's also packed with endless scenes of annoying Shakey Cam™ that made me feel like I was being physically assaulted. Even worse, this "final chapter" leaves the door open for future installments. For die hard fans of the franchise only. All others should steer clear. I give it a C.
