Resident Evil Finale

I’ve managed to see Resident Evi:l Extinction a few weeks later than intended. I wanted to see it on opening night. But things didn’t work out the way I wanted to.

But I did see it.

I must admit to having a healthy dose of morbid interest in such things such as some zombie flicks to other horror genres. Though Resident Evil seems to be an interesting hybrid mix of horror and science fiction rolled into a fast-paced action film.

I liked it.

It’s not a great movie. But still the film has its moderate charms and heralds some surprisingly low-key gore as opposed to the first two outings. It’s probably the best of the three films, certainly an outlandish final chapter to a trilogy.

Resident Evil might disappoint horror/zombie fans as it doesn’t focus much on the gore effects or the dumb downed violence most find in walking dead flicks. You don’t see a lot of the chop-chop, biting, out-to-lunch scenes in this one.

In some ways, it’s the most “grown up” of the films as it outgrows the sensational cheap zombie delights as it focuses more on characterization. Most importantly, the character of Alice.

Perhaps a light reference to the Disney film Alice in Wonderland. She remains a lost soul, unsure of herself. In the films, she continues to be nomadic, always going from one place to another, never staying. Never thinking about settling down. Not having children. Her life is a forced one brought to life by the sinister corporation that also released the virus that nearly destroyed the world.

Alice has memories of a life. But she is a stray. The roads leading her to the desert land is an eternal one. It is a dead world. Like herself. She’s dead inside. Without emotions. Without love.

In Resident Evil 3, she returns to find her so-called “father.” The Umbrella Corporation.

However, when there’s a call for it, she becomes adept in fighting a horde of monstrous birds, ugly dog creatures and zombies plaguing across the United States. The fighting sequences with her in it are amazing. Milla Jovovich is beautiful as she is deadly. The strings of red hair frame her fierce, bladed eyes, pools like a blue ocean, and her features seemingly craved from smooth marble. She is a superhuman killing Bio-organic machine. One of the kind.

And she continues to grow. As a human machine. And as a human. When she falls for actor Oded Fehr who plays Carlos, appearing before in the previous film Resident Evil: Apocalypse. His acting is nearly flawless here. And he is the closest she has as a loving counterpart. Yes, it’s possible that the character of Alice could fall in love. It’s this element that makes her an interesting character.

It’s the tragedy that his character is killed off in a very memorable scene: where he is toppled over in a truck carrying a gasoline tanker and swarmed by a sure-fire numbers of zombies. Then he flicks a match to light up his last cigarette before igniting the truck in total silence. It’s one of the best scenes in the film.

The explosion makes Alice feels. A teardrop falls innocently on her cheek underneath the radiant glow of burning sunlight that grazes the grounds below.

I’ve been worried about hearing those internet rumors about how the character of Alice is killed off. Milla’s character is one of the few female leads who is strong, unearthly in some qualities, powerful. She is like a one-woman army blazing across the plagued landscape of the dead and barely catching a scratch in her unending battle against the ensuing numbers.

She’s dead center in the films. The stories revolve around her character. To blatantly kill her off would be unfortunate. But she doesn’t get killed off in the film. And I don’t think I’m giving much away by saying this. There are still other surprises in the film’s ending.

The strong female character of Alice is in the same league as Sigourney Weaver from the Alien movies or Jamie Lee Curtis in the Halloween films. They are all capable women, decisive, headstrong, at times stubborn. But by no means weak. They’ll take crap from no one.

It makes for an interesting story as how Alice grows as a human while still being capable of super powers such as pyrokenesis. Her fighting skills remain unparalleled when compared to others. And she can be shut down like a machine when the Umbrella Corporation manipulates her through computer signals and orbiting satellites.

But her human side manages to be strong. Something the corporation never counted on. And that is their greatest downfall.

This may very well be the last of the Resident Evil films. Or it should be. Ending on a high note with some good writing. And a few genuine good twists. The films are all written by Paul W.S. Anderson giving them a greater feeling of unity. It is worthwhile to see simply because of the progress that Alice makes in the film. Milla Jovovich is an enormously attractive woman with a strong personality. Very talented too. I would like to see her become involve in other good science fiction outings and perhaps another movie franchise. There’s a beauty about her that is sort of unearthly.

For those who may feel the withdraws of no more Resident Evil movies, I’m sure they could go back to playing the video games on which the film is based on.

For some of us, no more zombie films, please.

It might be a good idea to put to permanent rest the flagrant, over-the-top zombie films that are tirelessly pushed into the theaters. Hopefully, like the character of Alice, the horror genre will see some good changes and find itself adapting to different themes.