Review of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016) by Thomas D — 09 Feb 2017

"My work isn't done here", well gosh I hope it is. But all kidding aside, the Resident Evil franchise has run its course. Alice and the Umbrella Corporation have run their relationship into the ground, but really, it was never off the ground in the first place. 'The Final Chapter' adds some validity to certain question marks left unknown through previous films, but ultimately caps the franchise off by giving them more of the same old same old.

The saving grace of the franchise thus far has usually been the action and CGI. With the exception of a few of the middle films, they have stayed within their boundaries and provided some silly action sequences that are easily re-watchable. For some reason, director Paul W.S. Anderson decides to reinvigorate the shakiest of shaky cams back into the series. Isn't that era of filmmaking dead and gone? The mid-2000's became an era obsessed with shaky camera work to add a "found footage" quality to it. But really? A 2017 movie reusing that old tactic? I know I was hard on the last few films because of excessive slow motion, but I'll take that any day over unnecessarily rapid editing. Half the time I had no idea what was going on. When it gets to that point, the film has already jumped the shark.

I will give 'The Final Chapter' some credit in the sense that it definitely closes Alice's story well. In fact, this may be the strongest story of the series since the original. Milla Jovovich has always excelled as the post-apocalyptic bada**, and I'm glad that they at least gave her a solid sendoff. Of course, they could always come back in a few years and make another one and no one would be surprised. But I hope when they say "Final Chapter" they really mean "Final Chapter". So the story is far more inventive (in a way) than the previous installments and closes the series in a way that will likely please fans. But where the story exceeds, the sloppy execution glaringly fails.

I won't pretend to be a massive fan of the series, but I've always been interested. It's had its moments and 'The Final Chapter' is perhaps the best in a decade, but I was never able to get what I wanted out of this franchise. It certainly could have been more fun, and everyone knows it should have made a whole lot more sense. But in all, it isn't my review or opinion that will shape this series' legacy, as its billion dollar revenue speaks for itself.

+Wraps up the story the right way.

+Milla always kills it.

-Really sloppy editing.

-Had no idea what was going on with the action scenes.

4.8/10.