Reel Entropy

Stills courtesy Screen Gems.

If there’s one unifying factor in the Resident Evil series, it’s that you don’t get to see the coolest things it has to offer. In the worst example, the series’ third movie, Extinction, ends on a cliffhanger with dozens of Alice clones preparing to go to war, but the first 10 minutes of the next movie, Afterlife, are dedicated to extinguishing that plot point. This leaves room for the series to bring us all the ham-fisted exposition it can think of and extend its least remarkable stunts with slow motion.

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter continues that tradition and takes it to the extreme.

Ten years after the evil Umbrella corporation released the zombie-creating T-virus, which ravaged humanity, Alice (Milla Jovovich, who can’t get much work outside this series) learns of an anti-virus under the corporation’s control — but also that in two days, the last outposts of humanity will be wiped out. She returns to Raccoon City, where the series began, reuniting with Claire Redfield (Ali Larter, who can’t get much work outside this series). With a handful of allies, they assault Umbrella’s underground base to claim the anti-virus from arch-villains Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts, who can’t get much work outside this series) and Alexander Isaacs (Iain Glen, who was on Game of Thrones).

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