So we got a bit of a break from the Resident Evil reviews when I posted my review of Train To Busan (2016) but now it’s time to see what I thought of the fourth Resident Evil film. If you want to check the others I reviewed them Here for the first one, Here for the second one and Here for the third one.
Director: Paul W.S. Anderson
Writer: Paul W.S. Anderson
Stars: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Wentworth Miller
Budget: $60 million estimated
Run Time: 97 minutes
The opening scene of this one is crazy as all the Alice clones attack an Umbrella facility leading to lots of dead Umbrella workers but also a lot of dead Alices. They’re on the hunt for the dastardly Wesker but none of the clones make it out after Wesker blows up the facility, however you can’t kill the real Alice as quickly as that. She pops up in the aircraft that Wesker is getting away on but her ambush goes wrong as he injects her making her human again. The aircraft crashes and Alice emerges from the wreckage before we leap forward in time.
It’s six months on and Alice is flying round in a small plane trying to find Arcadia that was mentioned as a virus free haven in the last film. We get to see some beautiful shots of the Alaskan landscape as she flies round but ultimately doesn’t find anything. She lands on a beach and is greeted by Clare Redfield but she’s under the influence of some Umbrella tech after a bit of a scuffle Alice removes the tech. Clare has no memory of Alice but as you’d expect that will soon return as the film progresses.
The two board the small plane and head to America instead of continuing their quest to find somewhere safe they see some people in trouble on top of a huge building surrounded by the infected. Alice being Alice must help them and lands the plane on the building which is a huge risk that only just succeeds.
There’s a group of survivors in this building which turns out to be a prison, because hiding from the undead inside a prison always works out……. The fantastic Kim Coates appears here as a complete arsehole of a character. The group are led by Luther West (Boris Kodjoe) it’s here we learn that Arcadia is not a place but a massive boat moving down the coast picking up survivors as it goes along.
Problem is landing the plane was hard work so they need another way out enter Chris Redfield (Wentworth Miller) a high security prisoner that the others don’t trust at all hence keeping him locked in the massive cage they found him in. He happens to know of a way out but wants releasing to show them the way which is pretty fair really.
It’s not long until the undead manage to get inside including an Executioner who takes part in a pretty cool but clearly shot for 3D fight with Clare and Alice. The group decide to take Chris up on his offer but his plan involving a massive army vehicle fails and Bennett steals Alice’s plane to try and get to Arcadia. The group enter the sewers and manage to escape to the boat.
On the boat that turns out to be a trap there’s a show down with Alice and Wesker as well as Wesker kicking Chris and Clare’s ass. Alice says she won’t fall for the same trick that killed her clones and she’s planned ahead but is it enough to kill Wesker? As you’d expect from a Resident Evil film the ending is not really the ending and the group are left in what looks like a no win situation but you won’t find out what happens until the next movie!
The Good
- I’m getting bored of writing this but once again Milla Jovovich is excellent as Alice and to boot there’s like hundreds of Alices in the opening scene!
- There’s a couple of decent characters added into this film, Luther is pretty cool and likable and Bennett played by Sons of Anarchy favourite Kim Coates is a total dick that you can’t wait to see die.
- The Executioner is a big scary looking bastard.
- The setting of the prison is a good idea.
- I like Wesker as a villain, especially in this film.
The Bad
- There’s a fight with The Executioner taking on Alice and Clare, whilst the fight is reasonably cool to watch it’s so painfully obvious it was filmed for 3D, this is constantly noticeable throughout the film. It’s as if Anderson returned just for the chance to film the most 3D friendly film he possibly could.
- The film starts well and ends well but the middle is the most boring of all the Resident Evil films so far.
There’s not too many things that stand out as bad in this film but as a whole it just falls flat, maybe by this point it’s all been done before? There’s not many new ideas in here although it does extend the Resident Evil film universe some more which is a good thing. It’s strange how a second viewing can change your mind on a film, granted it’s been years and years since I last watched these movies. If someone had asked me before this run through which of the Resident Evil sequels was my favourite I’d have said this one but I’ve actually got more enjoyment from the other sequels this time round.
Overall Score – 6/10
Acid Horrors 