"Resident Evil" Flashback: A Complete Recap of the Movies
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Love it or hate it, you have to admit the "Resident Evil" movie series has its own large fanbase.
After all, how else can you explain the surprising longevity of this franchise that manages to survive up to five movies so far?
Now, with "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" finally here, we have a total of six movies in the franchise.
Without further ado, here is the complete recap of the past five "Resident Evil" movies in case you need to jog your memory, cause you know, it has been four long years since 2012's "Resident Evil: Retribution" and 15 years since the first movie!
1. "Resident Evil" (2002)
This is where it all began. Originally slated to be directed by the legendary George A. Romero (yes, the same guy who brought us the groundbreaking "Night Of The Living Dead" back in 1968), it would be great to see the grandfather of the zombie genre himself adapting the hugely popular Capcom's video game of the same name. Unfortunately, his involvement with the first movie turned sour when Capcom producer Yoshiki Okamoto didn't like his script. Instead, the "Mortal Kombat" and "Event Horizon" helmer Paul W.S. Anderson took over the project as the replacement director of the first "Resident Evil" movie.
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So, in the first "Resident Evil" movie, we meet Alice (Milla Jovovich) who wakes up in a bathtub, naked, and finds herself suffering from amnesia. She then meets Matt (Eric Mabius) and Spence (James Purefoy). The movie, of course, proceeds on revealing a top-secret genetic lab owned by the Umbrella Corporation known as The Hive. The Hive, in the meantime, is controlled by an A.I. a.k.a. The Red Queen, who is also responsible for shutting down the lab to prevent the T-virus from spreading to the surface. Apparently, the T-virus is able to reanimate dead bodies into flesh-eating zombies. Soon, Alice and her team must fight their way out against a horde of zombies. Towards the end of the movie, Alice manages to escape and survive the ordeal. Matt survives as well, except that he was being contained by the Umbrella scientists for the Nemesis program. Spence was unfortunate to be bitten by a zombie and is eventually killed by Alice herself.
2. "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" (2004)
In this sequel, Paul W.S. Anderson takes a break from directing the "Resident Evil" sequel and made way for former second-unit director-turned-director Alexander Witt instead.
Picking up where the first movie left off, "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" continues with Alice awakening in an abandoned Raccoon City hospital from heavy sedation. Soon, she discovers that she has been genetically modified into a superhuman following an experiment. Alice subsequently teams up with some of the survivors, which includes a former Special Tactics and Rescue Services (S.T.A.R.S) member Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory). With Raccoon City currently held under siege by the countless zombies roaming all over the streets, their only chance to make it alive is agreeing to an offer given by an Umbrella Corporation scientist named Dr. Ashford (Jared Harris). And in return, he will grant them a helicopter if they manage to save his young daughter Angela (Sophie Vavasseur).
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Together with S.T.A.R.S leader Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr), they manage to track Angela's whereabouts and are about to leave the city. Unfortunately, they have to deal with Nemesis (Matthew G. Taylor), a monstrous robotic creature held under control by Major Cain's (Thomas Kretschmann) henchmen. Alice manages to defeat Nemesis but doesn't end up killing him when she realizes that the creature is actually Matt. Then, during the helicopter finale, both Cain and Nemesis are eventually killed. Alice also dies after the helicopter gets caught in the blast and crashes.
Three weeks after her body is discovered from the crash site, she finds herself awakening in an Umbrella research facility. The movie ends with Jill, Angela and the team all disguised as Umbrella employees to help Alice escape.
3. "Resident Evil: Extinction" (2007)
Back in 2007, "Resident Evil: Extinction" was supposed to be the third and final instalment of the movie series. But towards the end of this movie, there was an obvious hint for the fourth chapter after all. Besides, "Resident Evil: Extinction" made enough money at the worldwide box office against a reported US$45 million budget to warrant another sequel.
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Anyway, this Russell Mulcahy-directed movie (best known for helming the 1986 cult favourite, "Highlander") is now focused on Alice on the run with her motorcycle across the desolate areas of Utah and Nevada. She eventually stumbles upon a group of fellow survivors led by Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) alongside K-Mart (Spencer Locke), Betty (Ashanti), as well as Alice's past comrades, Carlos Olivera and L.J. (Mike Epps). Apparently, the group is planning to head to a safe zone in Alaska. However, trouble arises when the Umbrella Corporation's head researcher Dr. Isaacs (Iain Glen) is determined to acquire Alice's original DNA and blood samples at all cost to create a cure for the T-virus.
4. "Resident Evil: Afterlife" (2010)
The fourth instalment sees original franchise director Paul W.S. Anderson returning for the second time after the first 2002 movie. "Resident Evil: Afterlife" also marked the series' first movie to be shot in 3D. Although the majority of the critics gave the movie a low rating, fans and audiences still managed to help make "Resident Evil: Afterlife" into a huge worldwide box-office success.
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As for the story, the movie continues with Alice as she and her look-a-like clones attack the Umbrella Corporation's headquarters in Tokyo. She also confronts Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts), who ends up killing the clones before fleeing and destroying the facility. The movie also deals with Alice searching for survivors while en route to Alaska, where she soon finds Claire. Soon, the two head to Los Angeles and discover a few survivors in a prison. One of them turns out to be Claire's brother, Chris Redfield (Wentworth Miller). Soon, all three of them plan their ways to a safe haven known as Arcadia.
5. "Resident Evil: Retribution" (2012)
Following his comeback in "Resident Evil: Afterlife", writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson returned with a fifth instalment that opens promisingly with a breathtaking first 15 minutes. The scene is shot in a glorious slow-motion where everything runs backwards as we witness the explosive attack on the Arcadia by a swarm of missile-launching helicopters.
It also doesn't stop there, as Anderson continues to impress with a scene involving Alice's hallucinatory zombie outbreak in daylight suburbia. Then, there was the highly-stylised fight scene following Alice's encounter with a number of Asian zombies upon entering a simulated Tokyo city.
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As for the rest of the movie, a new character named Ada Wong (Li Bingbing) is introduced as she joins Alice on a quest to battle against the evil Umbrella Corporation. At the end of this fifth instalment, Alice encounters Albert Wesker in the heavily-fortified White House as his new headquarters, where she is given a T-virus injection to regain her superhuman powers. The movie finally concludes with a widescreen shot revealing the chaotic sight of zombies and other abominations from the view of the White House's rooftop.
"Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" opens in cinemas nationwide on 2 February 2017.
