Resident Evil a science fiction action horror film series directed by Paul W. S. Anderson (Resident Evil, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Resident Evil: Retribution, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter), Alexander Witt (Resident Evil: Apocalypse), and Russell Mulcahy (Resident Evil: Extinction), starring Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Mike Epps, Iain Glen, Shawn Roberts, Boris Kodjoe, and Ali Larter.  Loosely based on the Capcom video games of the same name, series follows protagonist Alice (Milla Jovovich), who was once a security operative working for the fictional Umbrella Corporation, who becomes an enemy of the corporation.

Positives:

• Good performances
• Interesting plots
• Good characters
• Terrific cast
• Terrific soundtracks
• Great action sequences
• Great use of practical, makeup, CGI

Negatives:

• Poor casting choices
• Poorly written scripts
• Lackluster characters
• Poor use of practical, makeup, CGI

Plot: The stories are pretty cool but damn are they inconsistent.  Something happens in one film or stated in one film and in the next film it changes. Resident Evil is the first installment, following Alice (Jovovich) and a band of Umbrella Corporation commandos as they attempt to contain the outbreak of the T-virus at a secret underground facility. Resident Evil: Apocalypse is the second installment, following Alice (Jovovich), who has escaped the underground Umbrella facility and must band with other survivors including Jill Valentine (Guillory) and escape Raccoon City alive. Resident Evil: Extinction is the third installment, following the heroine Alice (Jovovich), along with a group of survivors from Raccoon City, as they attempt to travel across the Mojave desert wilderness to Alaska and escape a zombie apocalypse. Resident Evil: Afterlife is the fourth installment, following Alice (Jovovich) who searches for and rescues the remaining survivors in Los Angeles after the T-virus outbreak, and teaming up against Albert Wesker (Roberts), the head of the Umbrella Corporation. Resident Evil: Retribution is the fifth installment, following Alice (Jovovich) who is captured by the Umbrella Corporation, forcing her to make her escape from an underwater facility used for testing the T-virus. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is the sixth and final installment, following Alice and her friends who are betrayed by Albert Wesker, who gathers the entire forces of Umbrella into one final strike against the apocalypse survivors. (3 out of 5)

Characters:  Alice (Jovovich) is a former operative of Umbrella and the main protagonist of the series. Really the only two most standout characters next to Alice is Jill Valentine (Guillory) and Claire Redfield (Larter). Supporting characters are Rain Ocampo (Rodriguez), Carlos Olivera (Fehr), L.J. (Epps), Luther West (Kodjoe), Leon S. Kennedy (Urb), Chris Redfield (Miller), Ada Wong (Bingbing), and Barry Burton (Durand). The main antagonists of the film series are Dr. Isaacs (Glen), Timothy Cain (Kretschmann), and Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts).  Honestly, for how badass Wesker is, he is probably the most under utilized of all the antagonists. (3 out of 5)

Cast:  The performances are a bit of a mixed bag.  The main cast consist of Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, Mike Epps, Iain Glen, Shawn Roberts, Boris Kodjoe, and Ali Larter.  The supporting cast includes James Purefoy, Colin Salmon, Martin Crewes, Sophie Vavasseur, Jared Harris, Thomas Kretschmann, Zack Ward, Sandrine Holt, Spencer Locke, Ashanti, Wentworth Miller, Mika Nakashima, Johann Urb, Li Bingbing, Aryana Engineer, Kevin Durand, Ruby Rose, Eoin Macken, William Levy, and Lee Joon-gi. (4 out of 5)

Visuals:  Great use of makeup effects when it comes to the zombies which do get better and better every film.  Some of the practical when it comes to the tyrant-like B.O.W.s such as Nemesis in Resident Evil: Apocalypse and Isaacs tyrant in Resident Evil: Extinction.  Both of the creature designs look like crap.  The CGI is crappy at first but gets better as the series progresses.  A lot of the costume designs are look really cool, especially when it comes to Alice, Jill, and Claire. (4 out of 5)

Score:  If there is one thing that the films have an abundance of is a terrific soundtrack.  The list of talented composers includes Marco Beltrami & Marilyn Manson (Resident Evil), Jeff Danna (Resident Evil: Apocalypse), Charlie Clouser (Resident Evil: Extinction), Tomandandy (Resident Evil: Afterlife, Resident Evil: Retribution), and Paul Haslinger (Resident Evil: The Final Chapter). (5 out of 5)

Writing:  One thing about the film that is a constant is just how bad the scripts are.  Characters die off in the most ridiculous ways, there are lots of sequences that happen that are just ridiculous, and the stories are often bland, poorly written, or both.  One of the biggest problems are the prominent inconsistencies.  In the first film, the Red Queen AI kills all of the facility’s staff and employees because of the release of the virus but it could’ve served better had the AI been hacked.  The use of clones just throws the entire series in a spiral. A lot of the actual points in the film series that could’ve made for an interesting moments are ruined by the idea of clones.  Take a look at Resident Evil: Retribution.  Why in the hell did One, Carlos, and Rain comeback?  Nothing but conveniences and fan service.  Even with Wesker in Resident Evil: Retribution and Dr. Isaacs and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter.  In Resident Evil: Afterlife Wesker shows knowledge of Claire and Chris but the films don’t support the siblings having met him.  Of course, this is a throwback to the video game series. (2 out of 5)

The Verdict:  In the end, the Resident Evil film series is good and entertaining series but not a perfect one.  All of the films suffer from poorly written scripts, interesting but not consistent and compelling stories, and lackluster characters.  The film series however, does have some awesome characters, good performances, great action, highly entertaining experience, great visuals, and terrific music. The Resident Evil film series deserves 4 out of 5.  It might not be the best video game adapted film series but it is entertaining.