Review by Sarai Lewis
Rating: 3 out of 5 apples
Based on Capcom’s extremely popular video game series, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is the final installment in the most successful video game movie franchise ever.
Picking up immediately after the events of 2012's Resident Evil: Retribution, Alice (Milla Jovovich) is the only survivor of what was meant to be humanity’s final stand against the undead. Now, she has to return to where the nightmare began at The Hive in Raccoon City, where the Umbrella Corporation is gathering its forces for a final strike against the only remaining survivors of the apocalypse.
This movie franchise is one that I've followed for a while and have seen all of the previous movies, so when the first trailers started to come out....I was curious. The franchise is not one that I'm a giant fan of, so the movie wasn't one that I was preparing to rush out and go watch wide-eyed. Although I was interested in where the story would be taken next and after I saw it, I can confidently say that it exceeded my expectations.
The first thing that I'll mention is that the plot itself was good and was nicely done. This movie was definitely one that would be MUCH more enjoyable if you've seen the previous movies, and you would be left a little bit lost on some bits of the story if you haven't seen the others. Although I don't think it's one that you absolutely can't watch without the previous knowledge, it would definitely be something to consider before watching.
The characters and character development was nicely done, however, to get the full idea of their back stories you'd have to see the other movies. The beginning of the movie did help you catch up with the concept of the story and the people involved pretty well.
The casting seemed nicely done with the side characters that were introduced, as well as the acting. The acting itself was good across the board with all characters, although there was nothing too spectacular or Oscar-worthy. Despite that, it delivered the message of the storyline well and helped the plot along.
One thing I have to mention is that the soundtrack as well as the sound quality of the film itself was really disappointing. The audio seemed a bit 'muddy' and seemed to be very poor quality. It was really noticeable to a level that it was hard to feel immersed in the story with the sounds of explosions etc sounding like they were muffled by a paper bag. If I had to complain about one thing that truly bothered me it would be that HANDS DOWN. It was really disappointing and stood out to me for the entire movie.
On a more positive note, I thought the stunts and action in general with this movie were done nicely and the visuals looked pretty good. In general the action was fun to watch and there was definitely a lot of it throughout the movie. Throughout the 106 minutes of the movie, it was full of fights and action packed scenes that caught you're eye or even could make you jump. The special effects used for the zombies looked good as well and they were pretty believable.
Speaking of visuals, the filmwork along with the color of the film looked reminiscent of the previous movies and generally looked nice. It wasn't anything too extreme and had a dark feel that was fitting to the story the movie was telling. The only complaint I'd have was that I saw this movie in 3D and I wasn't sure if it was because of the 3D glasses or the film itself, but some scenes seemed almost excessively dark visually.
The last thing I'll mention is the wardrobe. It was fitting to the apocalyptic setting and made sense overall. It looked pretty simple and wasn't over the top eye catching. Nothing about it was extremely memorable or something that caught my specific interest but the appearance of all of the characters fit nicely among each other. I could complain and mention the impracticality of Alice's (Jovovich) outfit and the bits that didn't quite make sense...but hey, it's sci-fi.
I wouldn't say that this movie was the best of the series, but it did bring closure to some of the previous movies and I would recommend it to those who've seen the others. The storyline was nicely put together in a way that kept you interested and exceeded my expectations by quite a bit. 'The Final Chapter' left room for expansion, but in no way did it leave me empty!