Milla Jovovich has been playing the zombie-fighting Alice in the Resident Evil movies since 2002, but her run as the action heroine comes to an end at last next year. 2017's Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, as its subtitle indicates, is going to serve as the final installment in the franchise under the supervision of Jovovich's filmmaker husband, Paul W.S. Anderson. The latter was responsible for writing/producing all six films in the horror survival video game-based action/thriller movie series - which has grossed some $916 million in theaters worldwide over the course of five entries - and directed the majority of them, too.
In The Final Chapter, Alice learns from an unexpected ally - namely, The Red Queen, as trailers past have revealed - that Umbrella Corporation is planning to unleash one final devastating strike against humanity within the next 48 hours and that Alice must return at last to Raccoon City, in order to stop it. Alice reunites with Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) and teams up with other human survivors (Ruby Rose's character among them) in order to make their "final stand" against Umbrella. Meanwhile, playing opposite "Team Alice" is Game of Thrones' Ian Glen, who is back in action here as Dr. Alexander Isaacs, as well as Shawn Roberts as Albert Wesker.
Sony Pictures' newly-released Japanese trailer for Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (see above) is both shorter than its predecessors and includes some previously-unreleased footage. The new trailer still hits most of the same beats as its predecessors, be they plot-related or action-based. That includes the scenes of Alice riding her motorcycle back into the wasteland that is Raccoon City, rallying her troops to take on the countless zombies that lie in their path, and glimpses from the big showdown (in that familiar hallway of lasers) between Alice and Dr. Isaacs that presumably serves as the "final boss" battle in the film.
The plots of the Resident Evil movies have long been very video game-like in their own way and so much appears to hold true for The Final Chapter - which, after nearly fifteen years of these films being made, is to be expected (as the saying goes: if it ain't broke, don't fix it). Anderson's Resident Evil movies have never been critical darlings for related reasons, but they have clearly resonated with a subset of Resident Evil fans, as well as those who enjoy a good flashy, if brainless, bit of action entertainment. The fact that they are still being produced after so many years is a testament to just that.
Anderson and Jovovich's run on the Resident Evil franchise looks to go out on a strong note too (by the series' standards, anyway), when it comes to the box office turnout. The film opens in January next year and will offer some counter-programming to the many dramatic award-season contenders that will be going into wide theatrical release during that frame. The Final Chapter isn't the only action movie sequel banking on there being a demand for some fun mindless thrills that month either; what with Underworld: Blood Wars and xXx: The Return of Xander Cage arriving just a couple weeks before Alice's story reaches its end.
NEXT: Paul W.S. Anderson on the Resident Evil Movies' Appeal
Source: Sony Pictures
