Alice (Resident Evil)

Alice is a fictional character and the primary heroine of the Resident Evil film series, based on the Resident Evil video game series. Though she does not appear in the games, she does eventually interact with a number of characters from the games including Jill Valentine, Carlos Oliveira, Claire Redfield and Nemesis. Her primary antagonist is the Umbrella Corporation, which was the company she used to work for. In Resident Evil, she is displayed as suffering from amnesia. In Resident Evil: Apocalypse, her character is portrayed as tough and rugged, as she is more familiar with the situation surrounding her. She also plays a similar role in Resident Evil: Extinction.

Alice is portrayed by Milla Jovovich in all three films and is also known as Alice Abernathy and Janus Prospero. The Umbrella corporation, however, has been known to refer to her as Project Alice or Program Alice.

Appearences

Alice is a principal character in the Resident Evil films, and plays a prominent role in each, the storylines all somewhat revolving around her and the struggle with the Umbrella corporation. Apart from the films, she appears in the film's novelizations where her background is explained, however, the novels are not considered cannon.

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Alice in Resident Evil

In film

In Resident Evil, Alice is a security operative working for the Umbrella Corporation. She and Spence Parks, posing as a married couple for cover, were placed at a mansion outside Raccoon City that is an entrance to The Hive, a functional large top secret underground laboratory owned and operated by the Umbrella, buried a half mile underground. Waking up with amnesia, she recalls nothing of this and joins Matt Addison, an enviornmentalist posing a police officer, and a team of commandos who take them and venture into the Hive to investigate why the artificial intelligence computer, the Red Queen, killed all the employees. Spence is found, appearing to suffer from amnesia like Alice, and it is revealed that the memory loss was caused when a nerve gas was released into the mansion by the Red Queen to prevent a viral outbreak from spreading. Despite working for Umbrella, it's revealed Alice was willing to expose Umbrella's dangerous and illegal experiments in order to bring the company down. She is shown to be the contact of Matt sister, Lisa Addison, who was trying to smuggle out a sample of the T-Virus; Alice tells this to Matt. However, at the end of the film, Spence is shown to be the one who would foil her plans. He had stolen T-Virus samples with the intent sell it on the black market, releasing the virus in the Hive to cover his tracks. Alice refuses to go along with Spence's plan, despite flashback sequences shown of the two having a relationship, and eventually kills him when he re-animates into a zombie. Alice and Matt are the only survivors to escape the Hive. Upon returning to the mansion, both are seized by Umbrella scientists and taken into quarantine at the Raccoon City Hospital. Alice awakens on an operating table in a white room with no knowledge of what has happened, heading outside, she sees the infection has ravaged Raccoon City.

In Resident Evil: Apocalypse, Alice discovers that she has been genetically altered by exposure to the T-Virus. Alice is explained to have adapted to the changes from the T-Virus, merging human characteristics and heightened strength, speed, and agility. During the evacuation of Raccoon City, Alice is released by the Umbrella employed Major Timothy Cain to combat their latest bio-weapon Nemesis. After saving a group from Lickers inside a church, she join survivors, who include S.T.A.R.S. officer Jill Valentine. The group make a deal with Dr. Charles Ashford to rescue his daughter, Angela Ashford, in exchange for a safe route out of the city, knowing that at sunrise a nuclear bomb will level the city. After an altercation with the Nemesis, she finds Angela, and meets U.B.C.S soldier Carlos Olivera, and civilian L.J.. They meet at City Hall, but Major Cain overrules Dr. Ashford's plan forcing Alice to fight Nemesis. They engage in battle, in which Alice emerges victorious, however, she discovers Nemesis was once Matt Addison and Alice refuses to kill him. Major Cain orders Nemesis to kill Alice, but Nemesis instead aids Alice's group in their escape; Nemesis perishes protecting Alice. In the helicopter, Alice is impaled by a loose pole when protecting Angela; the helicopter then crashed in the Arklay Mountains. Later an Umbrella team led by Dr. Isaacs retrieve Alice from the helicopter wreckage for further experimentation.

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Alice in Resident Evil: Apocalypse

, Alice is revived by Umbrella, and she escapes the facility using her new powers and telepathy. Leaving the facility, Alice is confronted by a group of armed guards and is saved by Jill, L.J, and Carlos (accompanied by Angela), posing as Umbrella agents. During their departure, Isaacs orders the security guards to let them go. As they depart Isaacs orders the activation of "Program Alice" and the Umbrella logo flashes in Alice's eyes.

In Resident Evil: Extinction Alice has separated from the group. She stays on the move to avoid capture by the Umbrella corporation and the infected undead, after she learned Umbrella could track her through satilites. She left the group to protect them, using the satilite trajectories to stay off the grid. On her travels alone, Alice finds a journal detailing the possibility of Alaska as sanctuary. However, the Umbrella corportation is utilizing the White Queen, a more advanced artificial intelligence computer that is able to find Alice. Early in the film, she uses her telekinesis save Claire Redfield's Convoy; Carlos is now a lead member of the convoy. Alice, however is noticed by an Umbrella satellite, and Isaacs is then made aware of her location. The leaders of the convoy, decide to make the trip to Alaska, but first refuel in Las Vegas. Defying orders from Umbrella Chairman Albert Wesker, Isaacs goes after Alice. During a battle between the zombies and survivors, Isaacs attempts to shut down Alice, the Umbrella logo flashes in her eyes and Alice, she freezes in place. She is able to overcome it and go after Isaacs, but he manages to escape. Those left head to the Umbrella base, and the now infected Carlos, briefly kisses Alice before driving an oil truck with dynamite into a horde of zombies to clear the way. The convoy leave on helicopter while Alice stays behind. She meets with the White Queen who informs her that the cure to the infection would lie in Alice's blood, and she must pass kill Issacs to pass through the lower levels and create a cure. Once there, she sees a clone of herself, but is soon attacked by Isaacs, who has since mutated into a monster (the Tyrant). The clone awakens, seemily dying soon after. Alice then goes after Isaacs in a replica of the mansion from the first film. The two fight, both using telekenisis, and eventually make their way into the laser room, also from the first film. The lasers cut Isaacs into pieces and just as Alice is going to meet the same fate, the lasers disipate, turned off by Alice's clone. Afterwards Alice, via holographic technology, interupts a meeting between Wesker and the other Umbrella executives. She tells them that she is coming after them and will bring an army of her clones. Standing beside a clone, they look out into a room filled with hundreds more, and as other clones begin to wake, the film ends.

In literature

Alice appears in the three novelizations of the films. The novels, for the most part, re-tell the events of the film, in greater detail and provide some additional information. In the novel, such concepts such as Alice's surname (revealed to be Abernathy) and her home town are exposed. It is never revealed in film, if Alice remembers any of her past beyond the flashbacks in Resident Evil, but in the novel, she has regained that memory. However, the ideas explored in the novel are not explored in the film, and are added from the author's point of view. The facts of Alice's background are typically not considered cannon with the film.

Also, in the three novelizations there is more revalation of her relationships like the one she had Spence and hinted at a possible relationship with ex-U.B.C.S soldier, Carlos Olivera. The two relationships are explored in the films. The first one Alice being with Spence and the second and third hinted at one between Alice and Carlos. Both men do die, but Carlos sacrifices himself for the convoy while Spence was torn apart by a licker and later permanently killed by Alice.

Besides her relationship with Carlos and Spence the book also put in what Alice does to protect her friends and goes into depth her thoughts about them. Parts of the book with Alice and her friends are not always featured in the films.

Concept and Creation

Alice was an original character created for the film, although writer Paul W.S. Anderson noted that Alice was based from the ideals of the strong women archetypes in the Resident Evil games. Anderson initially toyed with the idea of the film being an allegory to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but the idea was not followed through. Despite that, the movie contains various references to the work. That included the concept of Alice's name. Although the name Alice was given as the character's name previous to Resident Evil's release, her name is not said during any parts of the film; it is however, listed in the credits. Resident Evil: Apocalypse is the first instance of the use of Alice as the character's name. In Apocalypse, for a brief moment in the film, a document is shown having Alice's name as Janus Prospero. According to the Apocalypse and Resident Evil: Extinction websites, and a promotional document released by Screen Gems called The Raccoon City Times, Alice is a nickname and Janus Prospero is the character's real name; this is never further explored or mentioned in any of the films. In the novel, her name is revealed to be Alice Abernathy, and like Prospero, it was never explored in any of the films.

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Alice wears a Jovovich-Hawk designed costume and holds the kukhri knives.

Costumes

The costume in Resident Evil had was a collaboration between Anderson and Jovovich. It had consisted of a thin strapped red dress, that was deeply bias-cut exposing one leg and a darker red mini skirt underneath, which was based on a similar Jean Paul Gaultier outfit. This was accompanied by a pair of black knee high boots. Jovovich, who had thought of herself in the film as "a young Sigourney Weaver", designed the costume with the intention of recreating the feel of the underwear outfit from the closing scenes of Ridley Scott’s Alien. The costume that Jovovich wore had been referred to as akin to "a runway model caught in a remake of Night Of The Living Dead."

The costume in Resident Evil: Apocalypse was described by Jovovich as "just jeans and a T-shirt. But it's my angle of jeans and T-shirt." It had consisted of an orange Spaghetti strap shirt, covered by a grey mesh sleeveless shirt, and a dark washed pair of jeans. Alice had also worn boots and various types of weapon holsters, and during the duration of the film, the costume had gone through considerable changes through fight sequences. One pant leg had been cut loose, the bottom portion still held on her leg with a gun holster, and the mesh eventually cut across her stomach.

Alice's costume in Resident Evil: Extinction was designed by Jovovich-Hawk, Jovovich's clothing line. The costume consists of a soiled American Eagle tank top, a long tan coat, a brown snap up short sleeve shirt with matching attached leggings, brown shorts, a dark tan-ish green striped head scarf, and brown boots. The shorts Alice wears are a variation on the 'Alice Star' Shorts from the Spring 2007 collection. Alice's costume also includes various weapon holsters, protective gear and a bracelet given to her by K-Mart. In Extinction, her clones also wear a dress, designed to look identical to that of the red dress of the first film, when enduring the tests within the replicas of the mansion. The dress however, is slightly different in design, using a slightly thicker material, and subsituting the skirt underneath for a small pair of dark red shorts instead; there is also a zipper present on the costume, which the original did not have.

Weapons

The twin kukhri knives Alice uses in Resident Evil: Extinction are a visual reference to Resident Evil: Apocalypse in which she uses two batons to fight Umbrella guards, which was used on many promotional images and the film posters.

Characteristics

In Resident Evil Alice is shown as an "ass-kicking amnesiac" and since then she has been an "iconic figure and is closely associated with the series", becoming far more skilled and rugged since her first appearence. She is primarily portrayed in Apocalypse and Extinction as a "a supremely efficient killing machine" and bio-weapon, but while in the first film, she is shown first recognizing her abilities as a naturally trained security operative. Alice's ability, as well as the use of various styles of martial arts and gun play have made her a almost super hero in quality and has one "cheering for her instead of wondering how the hell she managed to suddenly become Spider-Man."

Some have gone onto criticize the character of Alice, believing her to be a Mary Sue because she is an original character, supposedly portrayed as Anderson's "diseased concept of what 'bad ass'", "all powerful", and "totally awesome" are. The argument is that Alice is"completely devoid of depth" and the concept of a Mary Sue, "pretty much describes Alice to a 'T'".

Alice's costume, particularly that of the red cocktail dress in the first film, has also been attributed as the "glamour and fashion serve to fetishize her screen character" and the "sexualized representations of women". One analyzer had gone on to say that the first two film had "objectified through their Lara Croft-style wardrobe of short skirts or shorts and tight vest tops", also taking into account Sienna Guillory's portrayal of Jill Valentine who wore a mini skirt and tube top.

See also

• Characters in the Resident Evil films
• Resident Evil