Alice (Milla Jovovich) emerges from the ruins of Washington DC and is contacted by the Red Queen (Ever Anderson), who tells her of an antidote to the T-Virus that is located under Raccoon City. Alice has only 48 hours to find and release the antidote before the rest of humanity is wiped out by the Umbrella Corporation, whose plan is to repopulate the earth with the rich and the powerful, who are stored in cryogenic suspension in The Hive.
I've always been a staunch supporter of the Resident Evil films, finding them to be fun slices of slick action-packed horror, but that support ends with The Final Chapter. Once again directed by Paul W.S. Anderson, this supposed last instalment is an absolute mess, any potential for enjoyment hindered by an extremely slight plot, even by RE standards, and some of the worst direction and editing I have ever experienced.
As far as content goes, the film is business as usual, with big monsters, hordes of zombies, evil corporate types running the show, and Milla being bad-ass, but with the camera shaking all over the place and the majority of shots lasting for a fraction of a second, the action is virtually impossible to follow, making the film more likely to result in a headache than a thrill rush. And as if the wobbly cam/ADHD approach wasn't bad enough, much of film takes place in poorly lit locations, making it even harder to keep track of what is happening.
Despite being called The Final Chapter, the end of the film inevitably leaves things open for further adventures for Alice. If Anderson does intend to make more Resident Evil films, let us hope that he doesn't continue in the same style.
