Resident Evil: Afterlife is a 2010 action horror film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. The film marks Anderson's return to direct in the Resident Evil film series, after the first film. A direct sequel to Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), it is the fourth installment in the Resident Evil film series, which is loosely based on the video game series of the same name, and the first to be shot in 3D. It stars Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, and Wentworth Miller.
The film follows Alice searching for and rescuing the remaining survivors in Los Angeles after the T-Virus outbreak, and teaming up against Albert Wesker, the head of the Umbrella Corporation. Chris Redfield, a primary character from the video games, was featured for the first time in the film franchise. Other characters from the games and films who returned are: Claire Redfield, Chris's sister who has lost her memory prior to the film's events; Albert Wesker, the film's main antagonist; and Jill Valentine, who made a cameo appearance.
In May 2005, producers mentioned the possibility of following Extinction with a sequel titled Afterlife. Extinction was released in 2007 and was a box office success, prompting Afterlife to begin development in June 2008, with the script being written by Anderson that December. Elements from the video game Resident Evil 5 (2009) were incorporated into the film including the mind control devices and Chris' confrontation with Wesker. Filming took place in Toronto from September to December 2009 using the 3D Fusion Camera System.
The film was released in 2D, 3D and IMAX 3D theaters on September 10, 2010, to generally negative reviews. The film grossed $60 million in the United States and Canada on an estimated $60 million budget, and made $240 million in other markets surpassing the previous film's overseas total in the second week of release. Grossing a worldwide total of $300 million, Resident Evil: Afterlife became the second highest-grossing entry of the series. Resident Evil: Afterlife was released to DVD, Blu-ray, and Blu-ray 3D on December 28, 2010, in the United States. A fifth film, Resident Evil: Retribution, was released in 2012.
Plot[]
One year after the events of Extinction, Alice and her clones lead the assault to attack Umbrella HQ, located in Tokyo, slaying the entire branch except for Albert Wesker, who escapes in a tiltrotor plane and detonates a bomb that leaves a massive sinkhole. The real Alice boarded beforehand and attempts to execute Wesker, only for him to inject her with an anti-virus to remove her superhuman abilities. Wesker is revealed to have used the T-Virus to gain his own superhuman abilities and prepares to kill Alice before the autopilot crashes the plane into the mountains, and only Alice survives.
Six months later, Alice travels to Alaska in an airplane, tracking broadcasts from a safe haven called Arcadia; however, she only finds abandoned planes and is attacked by a feral Claire Redfield. Alice destroys a spider-like device on Claire's chest, giving her amnesia and pacifying her. They travel to the ruins of Los Angeles, where they find survivors living in a prison that is surrounded by thousands of undead. They meet Luther West, who leads the surviving band from the prison, Wendell, Crystal Waters, Bennett, Kim Yong, and Angel Ortiz. With their help, Alice finally lands on the prison's roof and learns Arcadia isn't a fixed place, but a cargo tanker traveling along the coast. However, though the ship hasn't moved, no one from it has responded to the group's rescue flares. Luther takes Alice to the last inmate, Chris Redfield, who insists he's falsely imprisoned and will reveal an escape route in exchange for freedom. Alice goes to the showers to wash up but catches Wendell attempting to peep. Holding him at gunpoint, they are attacked by a group of infected people that dug into the prison. They take Wendell, but she manages to kill them.
Desperate, they free Chris, who reveals that Claire is his sister, and the prison has an armored car they can use to escape. However, a giant axe-wielding monster begins breaking down the gate. Alice, Chris, and Crystal go to the basement armory to get more guns; however, zombies kill Crystal en route. Luther and Claire reinforce the gate. Angel informs Bennett and Yong the car is missing its engine, and it would take a week to fix. Bennett shoots Angel and heads for Arcadia in Alice's airplane. The Axeman breaks down the gate, allowing the zombies into the prison. The group decides to use the zombie-dug tunnels to escape into the sewers. Yong is slashed in half by the Axeman, while Alice is knocked out. Claire successfully defends Alice, manages to defeat the Axeman by disorienting it, after which Alice kills it by firing at its head. Unfortunately, Luther is dragged back into the tunnels by a zombie.
Alice and the Redfields board the Arcadia, discovering it functional but abandoned. Claire then remembers Arcadia is an Umbrella trap to get test subjects; they release the survivors, with K-Mart (Spencer Locke) from Claire's group being one of them. Alice follows a trail of blood deeper into the ship, where she finds Wesker. The T-virus revived him, but it battles Wesker for control, something he believes fresh human DNA can pacify; the Umbrella staff fled when he began eating test subjects. Alice's DNA is superior to his since she retained control despite her bonding with the virus at a cellular level. Wesker believes eating her will help him regain control of his body.
The Redfields fight Wesker while Alice battles Bennett, now working for Wesker. Wesker easily overpowers Chris and Claire, but Alice is able to defeat both Bennett and Wesker with help from K-Mart. They lock Bennett in the room with Wesker's corpse. Bennett is devoured by Wesker when he revives. Wesker then escapes in an aircraft, activating a bomb on the Arcadia; the plane explodes instead as Alice placed the bomb there beforehand. Unbeknownst to them, Wesker parachutes away from the explosion, while Luther emerges from the sewers, battered but alive. Alice resolves to turn Arcadia into a real haven and broadcasts a new message for any other survivors. As Alice, Claire, and Chris watch over from Arcadia, it is approached by a squadron of Umbrella aircraft.
During a mid-credits scene in one of the aircraft, Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), who went missing after the destruction of Raccoon City, is dictating the attack wearing the same mind control device used on Claire.