RANTS & RAVINGS ABOUT HORROR – “HOW RESIDENT EVIL: THE
FINAL CHAPTER BECAME ONE OF THE HIGHEST GROSSING HORROR FILMS OF THE YEAR!”
It may come as a shock to many people (even horror fans) but
Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
(2017) became one of the highest grossing traditional horror films of 2017
(with the exception of the monster hit remake of Stephen King’s It).
With $312.2 million at the Worldwide Box Office the final chapter in the
long running zombie-action-horror franchise comes to a satisfying conclusion. This film is the highest grossing of all the
others in the franchise proving the extreme popularity of the films with fans of
the actual game and general horror fans (and franchise star Milla Jovovich).
With this closing chapter writer/director Paul W.S. Anderson
went back to basics in terms of style with the grittier action sequences and
look of the zombies and monsters; he strayed from the more colorful visual
palette of the past two films to return the franchise to the roots of the look
of the original film. Despite some
questionable story elements, the film does a fantastic job putting all the
pieces of the franchise together into a complete puzzle which fans, who have
stuck through the duration of the films, will appreciate. This is one of those few horror franchises
where the same person has hung in there with each of the films till the end. Anderson may not have directed all the films
(just the original and the last three) but he has written them all and was
producer for all of them over the course of fifteen years! Some of the only other franchises to have a
similar track record is writer/producer/director Don Coscarelli with the Phantasm franchise (37 years), writer/director
Victor Salva and Jeepers Creepers films
(17 years), writer/director Don Mancini with the Child’s Play franchise (29 years), writer/producer/director Sam
Raimi and producer Rob Tapert with the Evil
Dead films & television series (34 years) and writer/actor/director Leigh
Whannell with the Insidious films (7
years), to name a very few.
In terms of Box Office, all the films have grossed over $100
million at the Worldwide Box Office with the distinct oddity of The Final Chapter being the lowest
growing Domestically (whereas Afterlife
(2010) has the highest Domestic gross of the franchise with $60 million). Obviously, the franchise is more of an
International Box Office phenom then a domestic one. By the time The Final Chapter was released earlier this year, interest in the
franchise here was gone; only the die-hard fans came out to see how the franchise
would finally end. Internationally, the
film did extremely well with over $285 million (a franchise best)! With these numbers, even though the current
run of Anderson films has come to an end, there is already talk of rebooting
the franchise and starting over. It
should also be noted that the third film in the animated franchise Vendetta (2017) was also released this
year (but Anderson has nothing to do with the animated films that stay more
faithful to the games).
I don’t particularly like all the films in the franchise
myself. I still love the original film
which is straight forward and retains the simplicity of an action-horror film
that showcased both Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez’ talents for kicking ass
and looking good while doing it. I hated
the Apocalypse (2004) as the cast was
not nearly as strong as the original but it did add Oded Fehr and Jared Harris
to the otherwise forgettable cast and I never liked the look of Nemesis. They were back in form with Extinction (2007) but I think it’s
because director Russell Mulcahy gives the film a great visual look and style
with the desert looking apocalypse landscape (he did, after all, direct Highlander, Tale of the Mummy, and Resurrection, to name a few) and they
added Ali Larter to the franchise (one of the great additions). Anderson returns behind the camera with Afterlife (2010) which is the first to
film in 3-D (with the same cameras used for James Cameron’s Avatar); all
subsequent films would also get the 3-D treatment (I should know as I saw them
all in 3-D on opening weekend). Afterlife would bring new life into the
franchise with its bolder color palette and more balletic fight choreography as
the fights would become even more dynamic then in previous films. Anderson’s cinematography would be the best
here than in any of the previous films as the film took the strengths of the
previous films and amplify them more. Retribution (2012) would be a step down
(in my opinion) as it focused more on the action sequences and less on the
story as the whole film didn’t really seem to go anywhere as if it was a filler
film for the next impending film (needless to say, Box Office for this film
would dwindle tremendously from the previous film which became the franchise
high domestically). The tepid Box Office
and audience response to this film meant that it was time to call it quits and
thus The Final Chapter was released
with a whimper domestically but to enthusiastic response Internationally. This is one of the stronger films in terms of
the actual story and plot as you see a lot of the stories of characters you’ve
come to know finally come to a satisfying end.
In terms of longevity and profitability, the RE franchise is
one of the most successful despite the quality of some of the films which is
typical of any franchise that’s run through six films (and three animated
films) over the course of 15 years.
Anderson was able to have actors come and go throughout the run of the
series keeping continuity and consistency which is also rare with horror
franchises (or any franchise).
I’ve always been a huge fan of the films and will continue
to be one even when the franchise is finally rebooted for the next
generation. This was a franchise by and
from fans to and for the fans and that is a rare thing indeed.
