Resident Evil Movie Reboot: 10 Things It MUST Get Right
3. Keep Your Characters Disadvantaged
Horror movies work because the threat is always more overwhelming than the hero. Zombies outnumber you, the Wolfman is stronger than you, Freddy can warp your dreams, Jason is impossible to kill. There’s a pattern here.
Unfortunately the previous series ignored this when, at the end of Resident Evil: Apocalypse, they gifted Alice with superpowers so strong she could go toe to toe with the Nemesis.
The Nemesis is one of the most iconic and fearsome villains of the videogame franchise and seeing him manhandled by Milla Jovovich felt like somewhat of a betrayal.
Not satisfied there however, her powers only continue to grow and by the very end of Apocalypse and throughout Extinction, Alice is super agile, super strong and telekinetic. Yep. Telekinetic. Suddenly all threat from the enemies is neutralised and they effectively become cannon fodder before her.
The best decision Paul W.S. Anderson ever made was to rob Alice of her powers at the opening of the fourth movie, “Afterlife.” This puts her back on an even keel with the other human survivors and allows the monsters to be more threatening. Temporarily, anyway.
It isn’t long before they retcon this and she gets all of her powers back…huff!