Paul WS Anderson finally pulls the plug on the long-running Resident Evil franchise based on the Japanese video game. The worldwide success of the five previous films indicates that there is an army of admirers of protagonist Milla Jovovich’s admirable athleticism and ability to make even black rags look as glamourous as a runway ensemble.
A prologue helps viewers catch up with the main theme of the apocalyptic horror films – the havoc wreaked by the leakage of the deadly T Virus that has turned most of the population into zombies – before plonking us into a familiar survival saga. Hunted by the malevolent doctor Isaacs (Iain Glen) and hordes of ravenous zombies, Alice rebands with Claire (from the Extinction and Retribution films) and proceeds to return to the Hive, the nerve centre of the sinister Umbrella Corporation that produced the T Virus and now holds the key to survival. Also back is the artificial intelligence programme Red Queen, which leaks crucial information to Alice in the interests of spicing up a routine best-of-the-franchise yarn.
It’s all as expected – the gimmicky scares that are so predictable that you can set your watch to them, the slickly choreographed action that befits the movie’s video game origins and the strictly-business acting by one and all. The futility of the enterprise is evident from the ease with which Alice overcomes every obstacle thrown her way. A pre-climax twist only underlines the plot’s inability to let go of foundational themes and characters. When Milla Jovovich’s Alice in Blunderland adventures finally trundle to an end, the feeling isn’t of triumph, but relief.
