Flip through the latest issue of Gulf Weekly.
Yes, the name of the movie suggests it’s the end of the road but I’m not sure this is yet another example of a worn-out franchise unable to learn when it’s time to just close the book.
Resident Evil follows a very similar storyline to the Underworld series except perhaps with slightly better graphics. The movie focuses on Alice (Milla Jovovich), the most resilient of the commandos sent to the Hive, an underground laboratory of the peculiar Umbrella Corporation, after an experimental virus turned several of its researchers into flesh-eating zombies.
Since then a lot has happened to Alice and things continue to get worse. In The Final Chapter, Alice finds herself alone in Washington, D.C. and forced to join forces with her arch-nemesis, the Red Queen, against the villainous, mutagen making company and all its heinous activities.
Some fans of the series might enjoy what is now a tired attempt at recreating the success of the first movie. With mutated dogs, deadly laser birds, excessive and absolutely unnecessary motorcycle stunts and corporate secrets - you name it, it’s there.
However, the quantity of some old school movie tricks does not make a difference as the pace of the movie makes it seem a breathless experience. Perhaps the audience is being steered through the movie as quickly as possible to prevent anyone noticing how much Alice has aged?
In spite of this, Jovovich gives a good performance with little support from her supporting cast. Even the athletic Ruby Rose, who has such strong on-screen presence and energy, has such a futile role that makes you thankful she didn’t waste her talent on a character as thinly written as the CGI monsters that Alice fights throughout the film.
As fans of the franchise are probably already aware too, a vast majority of the potential for Resident Evil to be an action/horror franchise comes from Jovovich, who’s proven repeatedly that she can always bring a certain level of charisma and life to her roles.
In my opinion Jovovich’s hubby/ director Paul W. Anderson failed to display the technical prowess or finesse that is necessary to give this offering the kind of edgy, gore-filled, blood-pumping action that it should be capable of.
Instead we’re left with a collage of ideas of characters and action scenes rather than actual perceptible versions of them. If fans simply want full-on action/ horror then this movie may be an answer to their prayers as the action is practically non-stop from the very beginning all the way to the bitter end.
It’s nightmare-inducing in more ways than one, although I’ll be resting on the hope that this truly was the Final Chapter. The very last scene of the postapocalyptic conglomeration, however, hints at a possible sequel. It seems almost as though the team behind the movie are laughing and saying: ‘Did you really think you have seen the last of us?’
Now showing: Cineco, Seef I & II, Wadi Al Sail, Saar, Al Jazeera, Dana, Novo, Mukta A2
