Resident Evil: Afterlife (R)
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This is the fourth movie in the "Resident Evil" franchise. It came out in 2010, but I didn't see it until 2019. I must say, I liked the opening shot. It's Tokyo, and it's raining, and lots of people are walking around with umbrellas (it wasn't until a bit later that I realized that was a sly reference to Umbrella Corporation, because of course people are carrying umbrellas when it's raining). One young woman without an umbrella is standing still, while people pass by, until finally we see she's a zombie when she attacks someone. (I don't really get why she didn't attack just anyone. Zombies typically aren't known for their patience or for being picky about their meals.) But anyway, none of this is important, it's just a cool scene.

The coolness continues as Alice and a bunch of Alice clones attack Umbrella HQ, being totally badass, as usual. (I mean, it's usual for Alice; seeing multiple Alices work together is kind of new, and fun.) The chairman of the corporation, Albert Wesker, escapes from the building in a plane, but the real Alice was waiting for him. (At least, he says she's the real Alice. I have no idea how he would know that, but I'll just assume he was right.) During a fight, he injects her with an antivirus, which removes her superhuman abilities. (Which is good, I guess. The movie might get boring if she was able to use telekinesis to blast all the zombies away with her mind. But of course she's still going to be a badass fighter.) Anyway, the plane ends up crashing, and Alice walks away. For the time being, Wesker's fate remains unclear.

Later, Alice flies to Alaska in another plane, looking for a safe haven called Arcadia, which had been sending out a repeating message to any survivors of the T-virus plague. But she fails to find the place. However, she does find Claire Redfield, who has a device attached to her that stole her memories. Alice removes it, and eventually her memories start coming back. The two of them fly to L.A., where apparently the only survivors are a few people who are holed up in an abandoned prison, which is surrounded by hordes of zombies. The survivors have someone named Chris (Wentworth Miller) locked up, and he asks Alice for help, saying he knows a way out of the prison that would allow them to get past the zombies outside. Of course, the zombies soon find a way in, so the survivors release Chris to help fight them off and escape. And we learn something about Chris's identity that I don't want to spoil here, even though I'm not sure how important it actually is. Anyway, they eventually learn that "Arcadia" isn't a place, as Alice had thought, but rather a ship, which is currently anchored not far from the prison. They finally manage to get there, and it turns out Wesker has survived, and is waiting for Alice.

Beyond that, I don't want to reveal any more of the plot. I'd have to say this is my least favorite movie in the franchise thus far. It does have some cool scenes, but on the whole, I'm not sure how much point there is to the movie. Still, I do want to watch the next movie, eventually. For now, I've finished the 4-movie DVD set that I own, and I have no idea when I might get a chance to watch the fifth movie. It's definitely not a high priority, anyway....