"Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" Review
"Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" (2016)
How Resident Evil: The Final Chapter Starts
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter begins with a gigantic frustration that the movie then tries to fix for the entirety of the runtime. If that sounds horrendous, it’s because it really is.
Remember that amazing cliffhanger of Retribution with Alice, Leon, Ada, Jill and Wesker on the roof of The White House about to face the final battle against thousands of Umbrella creatures in what promised to be an epic sequence, Lord Of The Rings-style?
Well, none of that happens. Not even close.
What we see is a mediocre CGI of a desolated and ruined Washington, with Alice (Milla Jovovich), a winged monster and about four stunt doubles. That’s all.
"Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" (2016)
What Happens Next
As usual in the series, characters who were protagonists disappear completely, without anyone or anything to explain their notable absences. A strategic silence for the convenience of being able to use them in the future. It’s a slap on the face for even the hardcore fans of the saga.
Once again, and as always depending on the mood of Paul W.S. Anderson, the intentions of Wesker and The Red Queen, as well as the possibility of Alice having or not having powers thanks to a magic shot, vary enormously from chapter to chapter.
The good news is that if we really believe that this is “The Final Chapter,” at least his latest mood changes will be definitive.
Let’s see. Wesker tricked Alice and her companions only to be able to assassinate them in Washington D.C. and thus finally have the way free for the eradication of humanity.
"Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" (2016)
How It Plays Out
The Red Queen did want to kill Alice (she says so repeatedly in Retribution), but something has changed radically: A new secret file has been included in her database, and the revelation has made the Artificial Intelligence decide to betray Umbrella. Unfortunately, her programming prevents her from attacking employees of the multinational. However, she can assist Alice in doing so.
The plan is to go where everything started, on the Hive below Raccoon City, to extract an antivirus and release it on the surface.
The other revelation is that, somehow, Dr. Alexander Isaacs (Iain Glen) is alive and in full-blown biblical mode, announcing that Umbrella is simply doing a necessary cleansing of the world with a new a-la-Noah’s-Ark-wipe that eventually will end up saving the planet.
In Raccoon City, Alice finds Claire Redfield (Ali Larter). Claire’s presence saves the movie from an absolute narrative fraud. Not only does her presence validate the video game universe in this final chapter, but it ends up making total sense that in this superficial feminism of Paul W.S. Anderson (and that of his wife Milla Jovovich, we must say), these two strong female characters are the ones that survive the Umbrella patriarchy. Intentional or not, it works.
Among the other survivors is Ruby Rose, an actress who, during the 2015–2017 period, was practically everywhere, playing different versions of herself. Ruby must charge dearly for a day of filming because her character (called Abigail, but who cares?) is quickly liquefied by one of The Hive’s booby traps.
How It Ends
The last act really makes a big effort—perhaps as never witnessed before in the whole saga—to offer a satisfactory closure. And yes, considering its record, that is really commendable.
It’s revealed that Alice is really a clone of Alicia Marcus, the daughter of the original founder of Umbrella Corporation, Dr. James Marcus. Alicia is the main reason for the creation of the T-Virus because, as a child, she suffered from premature aging. Her life was saved, but the T-Virus proved to have frightening side effects in other subjects. Dr. Marcus tried to have the program shut down but was killed by Isaacs and Wesker. Isaacs then went on to become Alicia’s adoptive father and also designed the artificial intelligence The Red Queen, using images and audio of her because of reasons.
Alicia Marcus, already old and in a wheelchair, leaves her cryogenic capsule and confirms all the information, admitting her responsibility with a great load of guilt and remorse. Umbrella has kept in cryogenic suspension a handful of privileged millionaires who will inherit the planet once all the rest of humanity has been eliminated. By the way, seeing Milla Jovovich with old lady’s makeup is a wonderful joke about how many years and sequels she spent on this saga. It’s getting old.
This is how “The trinity of bitches” (as Dr. Isaacs baptizes) in the form of Alice, Alicia Marcus, and The Red Queen decide to join forces to completely eradicate Umbrella’s plans. Wesker goes down like a pussy (really, it’s sad), Alice manages to neutralize the enhanced Dr. Isaacs with the help of Claire and her other two versions and she also saves what little remains of humanity by releasing the anti-virus on the surface.
The antivirus, transported by air, will last for years before it takes effect on the entire planet. And although Alice's phrase, “Until then, my work is not done,” sounds more like a threat, the truth is that this seems to be really the end.
And in a saga as messy, absurd and crazy as Resident Evil, that’s really an achievement.
Movie Details
Title: Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
Release Year: 2016
Director(s): Paul W.S. Anderson
Actors: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Ruby Rose, Iain Glen a.o.
© 2018 Sam Shepards
Comments
Eric Dierker from Spring Valley, CA. U.S.A. on September 02, 2018:
I could not rate a movie if God demanded it. But you did real well here, thanks.
