Review of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016) by Billy G — 28 Jan 2017

In the 1989 romcom "When Harry Met Sally..." Billy Crystal's character had the habit of reading the end of a book first. He said that he did it so he would know how the book ended just in case he died before he finished it. But maybe he also found it helpful in recognizing when he had reached the final chapter. After all, it can be hard to tell. In 1984, the fourth installment of the "Friday the 13th" horror franchise was subtitled "The Final Chapter", but the very next year, there was "A New Beginning", followed by "Jason Lives" and "The New Blood". Then we had "Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday"... but then Jason came back for a 10th film, and for an 11th to do battle with Freddy from the "A Nightmare on Elm Street" series. And then it was "Friday the 13th" reboot time. After all that (and other examples in American cinematic history), skeptical Movie Fans can be forgiven if they're not convinced that "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" (R, 1:46) will live up to its billing. But either way, I'm here to tell you that the sixth movie in this particular franchise keeps the action intense and ties up the loose ends in the 15-year-long saga.

After the longest gap between movies in the series (over four years), this film begins with a 5-minute narrated summary of how its dystopian version of earth got to this point - with innumerable zombies roaming the planet and mankind on the verge of extinction. If you weren't aware, a company known as the Umbrella Corporation took a new cure for a mysterious illness and turned it into a biological weapon that they could use to eliminate the threats to the existence of the human race by eliminating the human race itself - except for a bunch of rich people who would be placed in hibernation until the apocalypse had run its course and then awakened to remake the earth in their image. It's basically an updated version of the biblical tale of Noah's Ark - with a twist. This particular Resident Evil is being battled (and has been through five previous movies) by a tough and very special woman named Alice.

After narrating that overview of the world's current situation, Alice (Milla Jovovich) spends the next 15 minutes of screen time in the remains of Washington D.C. battling zombies and other mutant creatures - and learning a secret that could save the last few thousand people who are left. It seems that there is a secret anti-virus that can counteract the deadly T-Virus, but saving humanity won't be easy. (Is it ever?) Someone (Alice, of course) is going to have to go back to Raccoon City (where this whole mess began), infiltrate The Hive, find the anti-virus and release it into the atmosphere - within 48 hours.

Alice spends the rest of the film trying to get past the varied, numerous and seemingly insurmountable literal, human and no-longer-human roadblocks that stand between her and her ultimate goal. She soon falls back into the clutches of the Umbrella Corporation's Dr. Alexander Isaacs (Iain Glen) who, it turns out, isn't dead, as Alice thought. After escaping from Isaacs and his army of zombies, she comes across a group of human survivors in Raccoon City. Among them are some old friends whom Alice recruits to help her fight Isaacs and save humanity. The plot ties together the previous movies, incorporates some shocking reveals and brings the story to a kind of conclusion, but leaves the door open for more sequels.

Fans of the series will likely find "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" to be a satisfying conclusion to the saga, but newcomers may have trouble enjoying it. The extreme violence may be a turn-off to some Movie Fans, while the shaky camera work and the overuse of close-ups and quick edits in the fight sequences make following the action difficult. This movie certainly doesn't skimp on the action, but includes plenty of sensory overload. The plotline feels overly contrived, but it does bring a sense of closure. This movie is interesting, twisted and entertaining, but a little too much of a good thing. "B-".