Movie Review: Resident Evil: Extinction

Starring:
Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, Ali Larter, Mike Epps, Iain Glen, Linden Ashby, Ashanti Douglas, Matthew Marsden

Director:
Russell Mulcahy (The Shadow, Ricochet)

MPAA Rating:
R for strong horror violence throughout and some nudity.

Release Date:
September 2007

Synopsis:
When a series of viral outbreaks nearly wipes out all of mankind, Alice and a small band of survivors are left to roam the ruins of Las Vegas, battling the undead, and their own extinction.

My Two Cents:
The Resident Evil games are some of my favorite since the first one was released in 1996. Each installment has introduced new gameplay mechanics, interesting characters, clever puzzles and the best possible graphics. The problem many people had with the first Resident Evil movie was that it didn’t include any of the game’s characters. Not even one. Director Paul Anderson said he did this on purpose so fans of the games wouldn’t know which characters would die or survive. Um, OK, I can appreciate that, but it’s still disappointing.

The sequel, Resident Evil: Apocalypse, had game characters Jill Valentine, Carlos Oliveira (changed to Olivera in the film) and Nicholai Ginovaef. What the hell, man? It seems so many people complained about the lack of game characters in the first one Anderson felt he had to bring some of them to the movies. He also added Nemesis, a much more interesting creature than the “licker” from the first movie, which sucked. It was nice finally seeing some game characters brought to life, especially Jill because she is hot. Paul Anderson said we could expect even more game characters to appear in Resident Evil: Extinction. Yay!

The first movie was based on the first game. Nice. Apocalypse was loosely based on the second and third games, with bits and pieces of Code: Veronica. Not bad. Extinction is based on… nothing. Paul Anderson has gone mad! He decided people were tired of zombie movies taking place in the city (28 Days Later, Dawn of the Dead, 28 Weeks Later, etc) and decided a vast empty desert in broad daylight would be scarier. What?! Besides zombies and a few characters this third chapter has nothing to do with any of the games. It’s a huge letdown.



Resident Evil: Extinction takes place two years after Apocalypse. When we last saw Alice, she had been captured by Umbrella and Dr. Sam Isaacs had done some unknown experiments on her, triggering new powers within her. She freed herself from the lab by using her inhuman strength and some sort of new telekinetic powers. She even killed a guy that was in another room by staring at a security camera. Freaky. She then exits the lab, where Jill, Carlos, L.J. and Angela Ashford (the little girl) are waiting to take her somewhere safe. Project Alice has been activated and we’re not sure if Alice will become a villain or remain being the heroine. I actually liked this ending and was looking forward to the third and possible final chapter of this movie series.

Warning: Incoming Spoilers

Extinction begins with a shocking revelation: the world has ended. Yes, the T-virus outbreak got so out of control it spread across the entire planet, killing pretty much everyone, even plants. Only a few survivors are left, roaming the desert in hopes of avoiding the crazed zombies. Alice is by herself, and receives a distress signal from a gas station. She’s looking all bad-ass with guns, kukhri knives and a motorcycle. There doesn’t seem to be anyone there, but then some insane non-zombie hillbillies jump her and capture her. One of them tries to rape her but she kills him with a single kick to the jaw. She did warn him not to touch her. The others toss her in a room and release a few zombie Dobermans to kill her. She easily disposes of them with her super human strength and agility. All is good, so far.

Then you’re introduced to the rest of the characters, including Carlos, L.J. and Claire Redfield (Ali Larter). But wait, where the hell is Jill and Angela? No one mentions them throughout the whole movie. The suckage has begun. This bothered me way too much. Jill was a major character in Apocalypse. Damn it!

Alice’s powers have gone a bit out of control and she left Carlos and L.J. so she wouldn’t kill them in their sleep or something. After she left, they joined Claire, who is the leader of a convoy that has stuck together for over a year. They have suffered many hardships together and have formed a bond similar to a family. The convoy is in constant search for food and gasoline. They have big armored trucks and plenty of weapons, but they have grown tired and depression has sunk in on most of them.

Meanwhile, back at a Hive-like facility, Dr. Isaacs has been making clones of Alice, but none of them are as effective as the original. He has developed a new kind of T-virus that makes zombies remember basic human functions, like answer phones and use cameras to take photos. That doesn’t seem too useful, but it’s a start. They’re called super zombies because they are also stronger and can run, fast. We learn that Isaacs reports to a board of directors at an unknown Umbrella headquarters that is run by Albert Wesker. Yeah, Wesker finally makes his big screen debut, but he sucks. He looks like a dork with his hair dyed yellow and ridiculous sunglasses. It’s clear this guy never trained as a S.T.A.R.S. agent or has any military training. He looks like a pushover.

Most of the movie revolves around the same event: someone enters a dark room, and then is jumped by a zombie. Early on, L.J. is bit and infected, but the fucker stays quiet for some reason. He slowly turns into a zombie and eventually attacks his friends. Predictable. Of all the people he could attack he attacks Carlos. Damn, now two major characters are infected. Fuck this shit. By this moment Alice has joined the convoy, but she doesn’t detect L.J. has been infected. Remember in Apocalypse where she immediately knew Angela was infected when she met her? Then why the hell didn’t she do it with L.J.? Someone didn’t watch Apocalypse before writing Extinction…



A bunch of other shit happens, like the convoy being attacked by zombie crows, Dr. Isaacs getting infected and turning into Tyrant, and L.J. and Carlos dying. Yeah, that sucked. At least Claire and a few of the survivors managed to catch a helicopter and flee to Alaska, the last uninfected area in America. Alice must now face her maker in the shittiest showdown of any Resident Evil movie, even worst than the hand-to-hand fight with Nemesis in Apocalypse. Tyrant looks like ass, and can extend his fingers, like tentacles. That’s just nasty. He also has some of Alice’s telekinetic powers, but he’s still no match for her awesomeness. It’s a laughable and predictable battle.

In the end, nothing is resolved. There’s a shitload of Alice clones all over the Hive-like facility and Wesker and the other Umbrella executives are hiding in Tokyo. Everyone she has cared about is dead and she only has vengeance in her mind. Oh boy!

As shitty as Extinction is, I have to give credit to Anderson for trying something new. Although a desert is not the creepiest place to shoot a zombie movie, at least it’s something I haven’t seen before. The make-up and general zombie effects look great, as do the stunts and flesh wounds. I wanted to see some heads being cut off, since Alice has two awesome knives, but there were none. Ali Larter plays a cool Claire Redfield, and she said she would love to reprise her role if they ever make part 4. Something that did bother me is that Alice’s face looks super airbrushed almost all the time. Everyone else is all sweaty and bruised, but Alice looks like she’s ready for a magazine photo shoot. What the fuck?

Parts of the film are alright, and the Blu-ray version looks pretty sweet, except for Milla Jovovich’s airbrushing. The movie was a success at the box office, which was a real surprise for me. People seem to love this series of films, and they don’t cost that much to produce. A fourth movie is not in plans yet, but it’s possible. Extinction’s ending definitely leaves plenty of opportunities for a sequel, because Wesker and Umbrella must go down, permanently. Time will tell, but I’m not sure it will be a good idea, unless they go back to the video games and recreate their excitement.

Score: