Resident Evil Franchise #Zombie #Horror #Action

After seeing the Netflix series, I decided it was time to binge the films. Films based on video games can be hit or miss, but this franchise made it work, kinda. Having never played the game and never will, I wonder a little what it’s like. A friend told me it’s phenomenal. 

The Netflix series felt like fan fiction, but that’s OK. I really enjoyed it, unlike the redundant films.

Resident Evil (2002) is the beginning of it all. I’ve seen it several times, and I’m unsure why I’ve never talked about it before. Honestly, I still don’t know what’s going on. It’s all bizarre but awesome at the same time. The effects are good for 2002, and the action is higher than the horror.

Alice has flashbacks that fill in the blanks to how the film started. 

Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) kind of picks up where the last left off, but it shows the T-virus has spread outside. It’s a lot of chaos with the infected everywhere. And the introduction to tons of new cast members. It’s a little confusing with “characters” who look similar, aka Jill and Alice.

There’s a little more meat to this one, but what happens to Alice after she escapes? Oh, she wanders around looking for supplies. Her flashbacks continue, unlocking more information about the past. And now we come to Nemesis, who, to me, is a mix of Spawn and Chatterer. The cemetery scene makes no sense because the T-Virus is spread through bites from the infected, so how did the corpses rise? 

Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) how many times can Alice wake in the mansion shower? All this happened before, and it will all happen again. Flashbacks here we come, along with re-enactments. I don’t care. It’s fun, though I still don’t know the point.

The CGI is worse for me in this one, and the dogs are awful, but on the bright side, the casting is good. I know so many actors from TV Shows. Not all of the CGI is bad. The reenactment of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds is off the hook.

Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) starts in Japan with a girl standing rain, then attacks a man, spreading the virus. At least it didn’t begin with Alice waking in the mansion shower. This takes place four years after the previous film, and of course, there’s a Hive under Tokyo. The CGI is overdone, and the franchise has become less horror and more pointless action.  This one lost its flavor and never regained it.

When Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) started, I wished Alice would wake up in the shower. At least there’d be some sort of continuity. They literally rewind the ending of the previous to give an alternate ending, I guess. Who knows? With nothing really new happening, I lost interest, and when my focus returned, I wasn’t sure what was happening with the weird Hive with holograms and fake cities. And Alice’s former allies are now her enemies.

Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2017) is the last before the reboot, but then again, will it ever be over? (These are my notes for this one.)

OK, the last ended with her getting an injection from Umbrella, but now she’s in a post-apocalytic city fighting monsters. How did she get there? The monster is cool, at least. Is this another clone?

The Red Queen keeps telling her she will die, but she doesn’t. Now she has to get to the Hive in 48 hours. Can it get any weirder? I’m sure it can, and that makes it fun, but what now? Not as predictable as the previous, so at least that’s better.

Now she’s back in Racoon City, which is weird since it was nuked, but OK. How many times will she be knocked out in the first half hour? That’s three now. Oh, look, it’s Claire with some new people that I’ve seen on TV shows. And here come the flashbacks.

I like this one, so I think that if you watch the first and last (this one), you get the gist of everything, and you don’t need to invest so much time with this franchise. I think it should’ve ended with Alice waking up in the shower, though.

Mostly, I enjoyed the Resident Evil franchise, even with its pointlessness. As a whole, I gave it 3.5 out of 5 Stars.

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