Resident Evil Series Review: Does Milla Jovovich & Zombies Make Up For Paper Thin Plot?

"Resident Evil" is the highest grossing movie franchise based on a video game with $1 billion in revenue worldwide (see here for details). There are six movies in the series.

The main character is Alice (played by Milla Jovovich). All the "Resident Evil" movies focus on her battles with the mysterious Umbrella Corporation and the zombies it unwittingly created (from something called the "T-Virus"). Umbrella is located underneath Raccoon City in a secret bio weapons facility known as the Hive. The Red Queen is an AI program that attempts to protect the facility by killing everyone inside when the virus is released.

Other characters include: Note:I'm not including all the minor ones.

Dr Alexander Issacs- Portrayed by Iain Glenn (of "Game Of Thrones" fame). Chief Baddie at Umbrella. He likes to experiment on Alice/Alice clones and wants to create a worker class of zombies. See additional info below.
Matthew Addison / Nemesis- Portrayed by Eric Mabius- Matt is part of the initial team that reenters the Hive (because his sister was down there). He later becomes Nemesis (think Toxic Avenger). Alice and Nemesis have an epic battle in "Apocalypse".

Rain Ocampo- Portrayed by Michelle Rodriguez- Rain is in the initial team that reenters the Hive. She shows up again as a clone in "Retribution". Cool character. Too bad she is underutilized.
Spence Parks- Portrayed by James Purefoy- Spence is part of the initial team that reenters the Hive. This loser is the one that released the T-Virus and wiped out most of mankind. Good thing he gets what's coming to him thanks to a Licker. Spence is gone after movie #1.
Jill Valentine- The renegade cop from the video game shows up in "Apocalypse" and later returns under the control of Umbrella.
Carlos Olivera- Portrayed by Oded Fehr- This soldier from the video game also shows up in "Apocalyse" and sticks around for "Extinction" and "Retribution".
LJ Wade- Shows up in "Apocalypse" and sticks around for "Extinction". I just wish they gave this guy something else to do except hang around and let the one liners fly.

Claire Redfield- Portrayed by Ali Larter- Shows up in "Extinction", "Afterlife" and "The Final Chapter". This hard ass from the video game initially leads a group of survivors heading to Arcadia. She is also the only person we know besides Alice to survive the zombie apocalypse.

Albert Wesker- The Chairman of Umbrella. I wish the show could decide what to do with him. First, he's a total baddy, then he liberates Alice in "Retribution", then he's back to be a baddy. Come on writers!!!
Chris Redfield- Claire's brother- He is portrayed by Wentworth Miller and arrives in "Afterlife". Then he's never seen again.
Ada Wong- A top agent of Wesker, we meet her in "Retribution". Too bad she doesnt get more to do.

Besides your run-of-the-mill-zombies, other creatures include:

Lickers- An early experiment of Umbrella, they get their names from their really long tongues. They can climb any surface and like to eat people. Spence Parks meets his maker in the first movie thanks to one of these.
Zombie Crows- Yep, undead birds.
Zombie Dogs- Also known as Cerberus, they are Doberman looking dogs infected with the T virus. They appear in a number of the movies.
Nemesis- Matt Addison- see below.
Tyrant- Dr Alexander Issacs after taking large doses of the T virus vaccine.
Axeman- Showing up in "Afterlife" this is a big guy with an even bigger axe. Visually he's very stunning and one of my favorites.
Zombies with tentacles coming out of their mouths- This is a super cool and freaky effect. Not sure how they mutated in that direction. There are also the Super Undead whom Issacs planned to domestic and use as servants. That didn't go so well.

Dragons (also called Kipepeo)- They arrive at the very end of "Retribution" and try to put a serious chomping on Alice at the beginning of "TFC". They seem to be cross between a dragon and a lobster. Plus they sport a grappling hook claw and really big sharp teeth. Scary creatures indeed.
Red Queen- The AE that protects the Hive. She takes her job very seriously. Her favorite saying is "You're all going to die down here".

"Resident Evil" Movies:

"Resident Evil" (2002)- George Romero was scheduled to write/direct but was later fired. Paul W. S. Anderson took his place. After the T-Virus is released inside the Hive, a group of soldiers (with Alice in tow) attempt to reenter the facility. Too bad they dont know to kill a zombie when they begin encountering them.
"Resident Evil: Apocalypse" (2004)- Again written by Paul W.S. Anderson and directed by Alexander Witt. This movie picks up exactly where the first one left off. The T-Virus has escaped the Hive and is now turning everyone in Raccoon City into zombies. Our team tries to locate Umbrella scientist Dr Ashford's missing daughter and get the hell out of town before the city is nuked. It turns out Ashford created the virus to heal his daughter Angela. Nemesis makes an appearance. My most burning question is "How does he find shoes in that size?" Team Alice escapes the city by helicopter but it crashes in the mountains. A nearly dead Alice is retrieved by Umbrella (and again experimented on). She is whisked away from the facility by Carlos, Jill and LJ. Unbeknownst to them "Project Alice" has been activated.
"Resident Evil: Extinction" (2007)- Again written by Paul W.S. Anderson and directed by Russell Mulcahy. The special effects here are better than the previous two installments IMHO. The epidemic has now spread to the entire world. Umbrella makes many clones of Alice in order to find one with her powers (and resistance to the virus). The "real" Alice encounters a group in Nevada. They are trying to get to Arcadia, Alaska (which is supposed to be a safe community).

"Resident Evil: Afterlife" (2010)- Again written and directed by Paul W.S Anderson. This is the first movie released in 3D. It's four years after the events of the last movie. Alice and her clones stage a cool assault on the Tokyo Umbrella facility. It looks like Wesker is killed. More on that later. Alice heads to Alaska and finds Claire (whose memory has been erased). Next its off to LA where they meet a group of survivors including Claire's brother Chris. Axeman arrives and wrecks havoc on the group. Alice and the siblings make it to a freighter named Acadia that is off shore. It is of course a trick by Umbrella. Wesker is there and wants to eat Alice (in order to bond the T virus in his body). Alice prevails. All the people in stasis are released. Just when it looks like they might be safe, a group of helicopters (commanded by a brainwashed Jill Valentine) prepared to attack the boat. Uh oh. This might be my favorite movie in the series. I like the cool slow mo action ( but I know not everyone agrees).
"Resident Evil: Retribution" (2012)- Again written and directed by Paul W.S Anderson. This one is 3D also. Picking up at the end of the last movie, Alice is captured after the fight on Arcadia. When she awakes, Alice is in an underwater simulation station off the coast of Russia. It contains three areas: New York, Tokyo, and Moscow. Ada Wong and Wesker tell Alice the Red Queen has taken over Umbrella and Alice must save the world. Uh, isn't that what she's been trying to do since the first movie? And since when did Wesker become a good guy? He's been a villain for the last four movies. We meet clones of people who died previously-- Carlos, and Rain. Jill is back and she's still under the control of Umbrella. There's a fun fight in the snow and then they're off to DC to make their stand for humanity as zombie hordes attack the White House? What does this scene even have to do with anything?

"Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" (2016)- Again written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson (who, in case you didnt know, is Milla's husband). This one is 3D as well. In the series finale, take everything you learned about the 'Resident Evil" mythology and throw it out the window. You'll be much happier that way. In this version of events, Dr Marcus created the T virus as a cure for his daughter (who was suffering from premature aging). He was then killed by Wesker at Issacs' command. The girls image was used to create the Red Queen and Umbrella started trying to weaponize the T virus. It was released by Dr Issacs ON PURPOSE to rid the planet of it's excess population. And no, Issacs isn't dead. Alice killed an Issacs CLONE the last time around. After the cleansing, Umbrella's chose few will emerge from underneath Raccoon City and take over the planet. OK but remember Raccoon City was bombed in order to keep the zombies from spreading. Those underground bunkers must have been buried really deeply. It should come as no surprise that Wesker's actions in the last movie were total BS. He betrayed Alice and returned to the Hive. Again, this makes NO SENSE. Why would he waste his time? The Red Queen tells Alice she has 48 hours to get back to the Hive to get the antivirus to kill all the zombies and save the remaining 4400 humans on the planet. Claire is back and manages to be the only other person besides Alice to survive this ordeal. In the end, our Alice is told she is a CLONE of still alive (but really old) Alicia Marcus. Wesker is fired by Alicia and promptly killed by the Red Queen. Since he's no longer an Umbrella employer, she is not programmed to protect him. We think Alice has successfully killed Issacs via pocket hand grenade but nope. Issacs' clone kills him for being an abomination. Justice indeed! Alice rushes to the surface and breaks the vile containing the antidote. Thousands of zombies die on the spot. Since the virus is carried by the wind, it will take a while to get to everyone. And surprisingly, Alice is not dead. Only the T virus is destroyed in her body. The now dead Alicia also leaves her a gift. It's a contact lens containing all her past memories (so Alice can finally have a childhood). How sweet! I had heard from a number of people that the finale was horrible. Others complained the rapid fire editing job is the worst they have ever seen in a motion picture. I watched the movie via Amazon (and not in a theater) but I gotta say, I actually enjoyed it. The editing didnt bother me in the least. There were a number of cool scenes. So I'm glad I didnt listen the haters. Other than the sketchy mythology, I feel this is an appropriate ending to the series.

Grade: 4 Monsters (out of 5). Now back to my original question. "Does Milla Jovovich and zombies make up for the paper thin plot?" If you (like me) enjoy zombies and cool action sequences, then the answer may be "yes". If you're looking for a plot driven series, this is not the series for you. You will be extremely frustrated. A chief criticism of the series is that established characters/stories are abandoned and heard from again. This happens more times than I can even count.

The six movies were received with generally mixed reviews. No, it's not the greatest thing ever (by a large margin) but there are still some fun scenes. The Hive's hallway of terror (where everyone is sliced to bits by laser), Alice running headfirst down a skyscraper, Alice clones, Alice's coin gun, the Executioner, and the dragons are all cool (just to name a few).

Alice makes a great kick ass heroine. Unfortunately there's not enough story built around her to make us care for her and her very short lived friends. The finale helps with this a little as Alice finally gets the past she craves. Interesting note--as of 2017 a "Resident Evil" reboot is in the works. I would STRONGLY suggest developing a few of the characters. That will make the zombie fighting even more fun.