Plot – Alice returns to where the nightmare began: 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.
I probably should have learned to trust my gut after watching Underworld: Blood Wars, at least this wasn’t quite as bad…
I have seen most, if not all of the previous films in the series and now at its sixth, and final according to the title. They range in entertainment value and probably just as equally in stupidity. This time around Alice (Milla Jovovich) is back on the hunt tracking down an Antivirus to save the last humans.
Jump scares a plenty, which is a pet hate of mine.. good job I can watch it in daylight and out of a dark, loud cinema. Alice, one of the last 4,000 odd humans, finds the Red Queen computer system trying to help her this time around put an end to Umbrella, the T-Virus and Dr Issacs (Iain Glen, better known as Ser Jorah Mormont)
She starts her journey alone in the wastelands of Washington DC avoiding simple zombies and a full blown flying dragon zombie, which she dispatches by driving a Hummer into it before setting off a proximity mine.. utterly daft, but the kind of thing I was expecting. On the way to Raccoon City she gets her vehicle tyres spiked and after walking a bit she sees a motorbike that she can use which is amazingly convenient seeing as she only has 48 hours to get to the Hive facility and release the antivirus or it will be too late.
Low and behold it is a trap, but Alice-fu kicks in and makes quick work of the goons. She jumps on the bike, only to find she is an unauthorised user and she gets electrified. When she wakes she is in a prison with some other humans. After trying to make contact and being told to be quiet it turns out that Ser Jorah is above and that the prison is actually a giant tank. Alice is thrown out the back, into a horde of zombies that she has to outrun (the tank is just ahead keeping pace). Alice-fu kicks in again and she manages to get on top of the tank, dispatch some more goons, cut of Ser Jorahs hand and use this to take control of a bike and off she goes… as the bike heads off the tank seemingly has the built in arsenal of a small dictatorship country and launches umpteen rockets and mini gun bullets. Alice-fu must also have borderline psychic uses as she avoids ALL of it…
After making it to Raccoon City she finds some cagey survivors who dont trust her, until it is revealed that Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) survived from Resident Evil: Afterlife. Ser Jorah’s tank of doom arrives to attack the survivors at their makeshift stronghold. A pretty decent battle ensues between survivors, tanks and zombies, with a rather decent flame waterfall crashing down on top of a large swathe of zombies.
The remaining gang set off for The Hive where Wesker is now in charge and unleashes the cerebrus (undead zombie dogs that stole the predators mouth) which they manage to escape from only by jumping off a cliff. After getting inside the Red Queen speaks to Alice to inform her why she is helping and to also let her know there is a high chance of an informer in the survivor group.
Continuing through the Hive to find the Antidote Wesker throws trap after trap at them, wether it is bioweapon zombies, tubes falling to your doom or being locked in glass cages. Plenty of ways to thin out the group. Nearly at the end Alice goes through a vast cryochamber where thousands of societys elite have been frozen ready to come back into the world once the cull is over, and the T-virus has worked its way through the world.
Alice makes it to the centre of the Hive where she is greeted by Ser Jorah (this time the real Dr Issacs) It is revealed that the one outside was a clone, as is Alice herself, cloned from Alicia Markus, the daughter of Dr Issacs business partner. Alice was created in the mansion 10 years ago, hence no memory prior to waking up in the first film.
Alicia fires Wesker, which means the Red Queen can hurt him now and proceeds to drop a door on him, severing his leg. Dr Issacs gets away and Claire and Alice pursue him. Issacs, however is enhanced so Alice-fu is not all that helpful for a while.. until the old ‘sneak a grenade in your pocket trick’ is unveiled.
Alice takes the Antivirus above ground and tries to release it, before Issacs stops her. Ser Jorah the clone appears and now an now borderline psychotic proceeds to kill the real Dr Issacs just in time for an approaching Zombie horde to take him out.. Alice releases the Antivirus which kills off the enemies and herself at the same time, due to her having the same strain.
Fade to black, then daylight again – Shock Horror Alice is still ALIVE!!.. and we then get a quick voiceover saying until the antivirus fully takes over the earth she will continue her quest to take out all the zombies…
Stand out Moment – The Fire Waterfalls clearing out thousands of zombies.
Box Office – $312 Million worldwide gross.. I repeat.. $312 Million off of a $35 Million budget… that is a very, very decent return.
Score – 5.5 out of 10. Ok in places but bland and predictable. @dstobbie thought it was a criminal use of Ruby Rose.