Having finally come to terms with the Resident Evil movie franchise as a completely separate entity from the (superior) video-game series, I was pleasantly surprised by the success of the “final” movie at replicating the typical late-game setting switcheroo. Alice (Milla Jovovich) returns to Raccoon City and the Hive at the behest of the Red Queen (Ever Anderson) in order to save what smattering of humanity remains after Umbrella’s Dr. Alexander Isaacs (Iain Glen, “Game of Thrones”) allowed the T-virus to run rampant. 

With only Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) and a superfluous Wesker (Shawn Roberts)—whose presence the movies fail to justify as anything more than fan service—returning, The Final Chapter cuts ties with the games while simultaneously succeeding as the best adaptation of one since the second movie, Apocalypse. The action sequences could have benefited from a few more bioweapons like the massive flying creature Alice battles in the opening fight, but Glen’s villain satisfies in ways that Wesker never has. 

Being one of the best Resident Evil movies is not much of an achievement to unlock—and none of them are better than the worst game entry—but The Final Chapter does more than merely not disappoint.