It's fair to say that movies based on video games don't have the best track record. Most of them fail to appease fans of the series or the average cinemagoer, and they're often quickly forgotten without much fanfare. The Resident Evil titles are different, though. They've made a significant amount of money, and people are likely to remember them for many years to come.
The reason they stand out more than others is that they've managed to create their own legacy outside of the source material. One way the creator, Paul W.S. Anderson, accomplished this was by setting the live-action adventures in an alternate universe. Several of the main characters from the games are still present, but they're joined by an exclusive protagonist in Alice. Her story is told throughout the live-action series. And here is the chronological order of each of her adventures.
7 Resident Evil
The simply titled Resident Evil serves as the beginning of Alice's story. She and a group of fellow survivors find themselves in a T-Virus outbreak within a secret Umbrella facility called the Hive. The AI named Red Queen that controls the facility attempts the lock the place down to contain the virus. Therefore, the survivors have to find a way to escape while circumventing the many zombies and other creatures the virus has created.
While the plot is a little simple, it works as a way to introduce certain characters and the virus itself. Plus, the understated nature of the movie compared to its successors is appreciated by fans. In fact, it's among the reasons why it's the most highly-regarded entry in the series.
6 Resident Evil: Apocalypse
The Nemesis is often considered among the scariest monsters the RE games have ever produced. Well, the intimidating beast makes his movie debut in Resident Evil: Apocalypse as he tries to hunt down all of the S.T.A.R.S. members.
Although, that's hardly the only danger the people of Raccoon City have got to face in this one. This is because the T-Virus from the first movie has made it onto the streets. And all of the survivors have to escape the locked-down city before the place is destroyed by a nuclear blast. This time Alice joins up with a few new faces, including video game favorite Jill Valentine. Together they have to find some way to get out alive. The movie injects a lot more action into the horror series.
5 Resident Evil: Extinction
It turns out blowing up Raccoon City didn't stop the virus. In Extinction, it has spread further, and the world is in ruin. Alice is still surviving, though, due to her newfound inhuman abilities that she acquired at the end of the last movie. However, her skills don't make Umbrella leave her alone as they want to harness her talents. So, they attempt to track the protagonist down.
Elsewhere, another Resident Evil heroine joins in on the action as the movie introduces Claire Redfield. She intends to lead a convoy from the Nevada desert to Alaska, which is supposed to be safe. It's a difficult challenge with all of the dangers around, but Alice ends up lending a hand.
4 Resident Evil: Afterlife
In the final scene of Extinction, Alice threatened to attack Umbrella alongside her newly discovered clones. She keeps that promise as at the beginning of the movie, the group of them assault the Umbrella headquarters. However, it doesn't end well for most of them.
Time then jumps ahead, and Alice finds Claire Redfield hold up at a prison. Redfield is not alone, though. She's joined by several other survivors. One of them is her brother Chris, who's an iconic character from the games. In fact, he's been a part of the series so long he's undergone several re-designs. He joins Alice and Claire in their plan to get to the Alaskan safe haven known as Arcadia. Naturally, though, Umbrella is up to something.
3 Resident Evil: Retribution
Retribution is the installment where things really get weirder. It sees Alice try to escape an Umbrella facility with help from various characters from the games, including Ada Wong, Barry Burton, and Leon Kennedy. She even receives aid from Wesker, who was not only an antagonist in the previous movie but is traditionally a villain. With all of them allies, one would think escape would be easy.
Yet, standing in her way is a mind-controlled Jill Valentine and clones of former characters. While horror was already a dwindling aspect of the series by this point, it's almost absent from Retribution. Instead, the two groups face each other in action-packed battles throughout the movie.
2 Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
Everything comes full circle in the final movie of the series. Three weeks after the events of Retribution, Alice travels back to where everything started: the Hive in Raccoon City. Along the way, she meets up with Claire Redfield and several other survivors. The group then enters the Hive to search for a known anti-virus that'll finally kill everyone infected by the T-virus.
While there, many secrets are uncovered about Umbrella's goals, Alice's origins, and the reason for the outbreak. Some of the revelations are pretty out there. However, for a collection of films as bizarre as these, it's actually a fitting conclusion.
1 Animated Films
Alice's adventures aren't the only Resident Evil movies in existence. A few CGI flicks have also been released, but they don't take place within the same canon as the live-action ones. Instead, they are set in the universe of the games, and Leon Kennedy takes center stage.
The events of all three movies occur during the period between Resident Evil 4 and Resident Evil 7, as they fill in some of the gaps left by the games. Their own chronological order is as follows:
- Resident Evil: Degeneration
- Resident Evil: Damnation
- Resident Evil: Vendetta