Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
After fifteen years and six movies (of varying quality), the Resident Evil film series goes out on a high, with a no-holds-barred, self-proclaimed, final chapter that lives up to its promise.
Premise: Amnesiac Alice (Milla Jovovich) awakens in the ruins of Washington DC, as the last remnants of the human race face extinction. But an unlikely ally offers Alice the chance to end the T-virus plague once and for all … provided she can return to Racoon City and defeat the monstrous mutations, zombie hordes and army of Umbrella Corporation soldiers that stand in her way.
Verdict:
Much like Underworld: Blood Wars which came out earlier this year, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is not really aimed at newcomers to the franchise. Although the film starts with its now-customary recap voiced by Alice (Milla Jovovich), there’s still a lot of history relating to the T-virus, the Hive, the Mansion, Alice’s memory loss, Doctor Isaacs, the Alice clones, the Arcadia, Claire Redfield, the Red Queen and countless other plot threads, that will be totally lost on you if you’ve not followed the series this far.
Personally, I’ve always been a fan of the Resident Evil film series, which is only very loosely based on the video game franchise of the same name, and which for all intents and purposes is its own beast. In particular, the film series has always been about the journey of Alice, the amnesiac former Umbrella security operative that was a character invented for the film series. I think it would be doing the film series a disservice to say that ‘it’s so bad, it’s good’, but it definitely falls into the ‘guilty pleasure’ category where you turn a blind eye to plot inconsistencies and paper-thin characters in return for the pure popcorn entertainment value of seeing heroes dispatching endless armies of the undead in increasing ridiculous ways.
“…‘The Final Chapter’ effectively retcons all of ‘Retribution’ within the first 10 minutes…”
The film series has – for better or worse – constantly reinvented itself, with an ever-changing cast of guest characters appearing alongside Alice in the various instalments. The different films have even, to some extent, changed sub-genres – the first Resident Evil film was a modern spin on the ‘haunted house’ premise, while the second, Apocalypse, expanded the concept to a city-wide zombie outbreak. Extinction saw the series venture into ‘superhero’ territory as Alice developed telekinetic powers, while Afterlife was in effect a ‘siege movie’. It was only Retribution, the fifth (and in my view, weakest) film that seemed to repeat itself, which was one of the reasons why I think that was the most disappointing entry in the series.
And it seems that the film-makers might agree with me, as The Final Chapter effectively retcons all of Retribution within the first 10 minutes, and the series now all but pretends that the fifth film never happened. All of the new characters introduced in Retribution are gone, but perhaps more importantly (given that this isn’t the first time characters have simply disappeared between films – just look at Jill Valentine after Apocalypse or Chris Redfield after Afterlife), The Final Chapter tries to undo the totally out-of-character behaviour of Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts) and the Red Queen in Retribution. To recap, prior to Retribution, the Red Queen had always sought to protect humanity from the T-virus (even if that meant killing a relatively small number of people to do so), but that seemed to go out the window in Retribution. Equally, Wesker had always been the pantomime villain of the series, but in Retribution he suddenly become some kind of resistance leader! Thankfully, the opening scene of The Final Chapter reverses all of that nonsense, by explaining that all of Retribution was basically just a trap orchestrated by Wesker to wipe out the last elements of human resistance.
“…as good a conclusion for the film series as could be hoped for…”
This is, to an extent, par for the course with a film series that was clearly being made up as it went along – but with the exception of Retribution (which is retconned in its entirety), the film series as a whole holds together surprisingly well. There are revelations, plot-twists and call-backs in The Final Chapter that link back to events, hints and mysteries from all of the previous films, and the end result is as good a conclusion for the film series as could be hoped for.
The Final Chapter opens with a flashback that fleshes out a new origin backstory for the Umbrella Corporation, that doesn’t quite contradict what we’ve learned about Umbrella previously, but certainly shows the company in a different light. The ever reliable Iain Glen is back as Dr Isaacs, and the flashback explains that he was actually one of the two founding scientists behind Umbrella.
They say a hero is only as good as their villains, and there’s no doubt that Iain Glen’s Dr Isaacs was Alice’s greatest adversary, despite only really appearing in Extinction (leaving aside his small cameo in Apocalypse). Wesker, in comparison, was always a fairly non-descript villain, and although he’s also back for the final instalment, there’s no question that Iain Glen is the main antagonist.
As the film series has always reinvented itself to bring a different tone to each instalment, for The Final Chapter the film-makers have combined the post-apocalyptic mayhem of Mad Max, with the vast zombie swarms of World War Z, and a return to the gritty and grimy horror of Paul W. S. Anderson’s early (underrated) film Event Horizon. The end result feels like a culmination of the previous films, rather than a rehash.
“…an epic battle scene more akin to ‘Game of Thrones’ than anything previously seen in a ‘Resident Evil’ film…”
One of the strengths of The Final Chapter is that it brings all of the outstanding plot threads together for a satisfying conclusion – Alice has to face off against the dragon-like “mutations” seen in Retribution, as well as the largest zombie hordes ever seen in a Resident Evil film, in order to protect what may be one of the last outposts of humanity left. In one of the film’s most impressive set-pieces, Alice and the survivors have to defend their fortified settlement in an epic battle scene more akin to Game of Thrones than anything previously seen in a Resident Evil film.
Given that one element that has always set Resident Evil apart from other zombie films and franchises is its focus on the Umbrella Corporation, The Final Chapter also provides a satisfying conclusion to the remaining questions surrounding Umbrella, its leaders, and its ultimate plans for the T-virus. Whilst some of the answers may feel a little too “neat”, if this is truly The Final Chapter, it’s nice that not too many questions are left unanswered.
That’s not to say that everything makes perfect sense – one plot point in particular involving a 48 hour deadline makes absolutely no sense. The answer is – don’t sweat it, Alice has a deadline, and that’s pretty much all you need to know!
The Resident Evil film series has always been a bit thin on fully rounded characters, and The Final Chapter is no exception. Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) is back, but aside from her, none of the other human survivors really make an impression (although they don’t necessarily get killed off in a predictable order either).
“…the series gets the send-off it deserves…”
Fittingly, there is a sense of finality that pervades The Final Chapter, and that adds an additional level of tension to the film, as I genuinely believed that before the end credits rolled, anything could happen and anyone could die. But there is also something else that is infused into the film – and that’s the love and affection that the film-makers clearly have for the series. Star Milla Jovovich and director Paul W. S. Anderson first met on the set of the first Resident Evil film, and since then, they’ve married and had kids, and now their eldest daughter plays the Red Queen in The Final Chapter. This is literally a family affair now, and I think this concluding instalment has been a labour of love for all involved.
The Resident Evil film series has always known what it is and what it wants to be, and now it’s got the chance to go out on its own terms, rather than fade away on someone else’s. With The Final Chapter, the series gets the send-off it deserves.
“My name is Alice, and this is my story. The end of my story.”
