This could be the worst Resident Evil so far. Maybe it’s the best. Who knows? Certainly not me. I went into the seventh instalment of this series having not seen nor barely heard of the other six, and apparently, it doesn’t matter. A short recap at the start and we’re straight into the action, 103 minutes of it. A lot of shooting, explosions and crazy camera movements but not a lot of substance, or quality for that matter.
We’ve got Milla Jovovich back in the role of leading lady Alice who is a zombie-killing machine. I guess by the seventh instalment she would make mince of the creatures swiftly but by now she almost does it with one hand and little to no stakes are at risk, even when they are the size of a pterodactyl. That was only in the first scene, now I’ll try my best to explain the rest.
Alice is called upon by an AI little girl called the ‘Red Queen’ who represents and controls Umbrella Corporation; the evil faction that released the T-Virus which spread globally and caused mass extinction, with only around 4,000 humans left on Earth. Red Queen beckons Alice to travel to ‘The Hive’ where the first film was set (or so I read) also Umbrella’s Headquarters, to stop the evil Dr. Isaacs AKA Jorah Mormont from Game of Thrones; real actors name Iain Glen from eliminating the rest of the humans.
Seems simple enough, and that is about as deep as it gets. The filler of this film is mostly scenes where Alice encounters an area a little too quiet, the music slowly peters out for a few silent beats then WHOAR! A jump scare zombie wolf or creature of some menacing variety attacks, she kills them and then moves on.
She will encounter a few humans along the way and try lead them on her quest, usually a bunch of no-names who are fodder to be executed later in the flick. All culminating to a finale that from what I ascertain online, completely erodes and undoes everything leading up to this film, which is a shame – all in the name of a few wannabe twists and shocks.
The effects are passable but the execution is a big fail. Some of the CGI is so tacky it looks store bought, the acting can’t compliment a clichéd script, and despite Jovovich’s best efforts in a convincing role, she’s very comfortable playing by now that it falls flat. The director is her husband, Paul W.S Anderson (not to be confused with Paul Thomas Anderson), and he seems to have phoned this one in for a payday. Disappointing, as films like John Wick are showing us what great stories can be done for smaller budgets, but this film tries and fails to be something bigger than it is.
Fans of this series – wherever you are – you may enjoy this, you may not. The main thing to realise after viewing is that Resident Evil: the final chapter, may not just be the final chapter after all. And also NOTHING like the new game, of which I’ve played in VR and wasn’t going to sleep for weeks, thankfully this yawnfest of a movie was the cure.
Rating: 3/10.
