One of the bigger spots for NYCC was the upcoming Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Somehow this franchise has survived and brought us kicking and screaming with it through the ups and downs. We’ve seen the first trailer, but since this was a big important panel we of course got another featuring Milla Jovovich and Ali Larter and the rest of the now enormous cast of recurring characters.
We saw an exclusive trailer that shows basically what we’ve seen before. A bit more action, but mostly just the same clips over again. Paul W.S. Anderson said that this is the movie where we will found out about Alice’s past and the truth about Umbrella.
When asked if the title of the movie actually means this is the last part Anderson and Jovovich both said that it really was. “All the questions are going to be answered and we’re coming full circle,” Anderson said. It’s hard to really believe the studio would ditch the franchise, but it does sound like this will be the last time we see Alice, and maybe the last film that Anderson helms.
If you were worried about the film becoming something else than action zombie nonsense, don’t be. While they hinted at some emotional moments mostly they just talked about explosions and guns. “I love the action and its always nice to get back in my Alice shoes and kick some ass,” Jovovich said with Anderson joking that if there was too much dialog he just stuck guns into people’s hands. But he also think it is the scariest movie he’s made, which would be a nice return to the birth of the franchise, which was more horror than action.
As you may or may not know, this is the most succesful videogame franchise ever. Anderson attributes this to the fact that he adored the video game and it is still made by people who love the games. He mocked Hollywood for making game movies without playing games and said the hubris of Hollywood is ridiculous in that aspect. He didn’t mention if he was still playing the games, which his movies have diverged from dramatically.