Resident Evil: Extinction
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Oded Fehr
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Genre: Action / Horror / Sci-Fi / Thriller
Rated: Rated R for strong horror violence throughout and some nudity
Duration: 1hr 35mins
Plot: Led by the tough, sharp-minded Claire (Larter), survivors of the Raccoon City catastrophe travel across the Nevada desert, hoping to make it to safety in Alaska. Their chances are improved when Alice (Jovovich) joins the caravan and their fight against the Umbrella Corporation.

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My Review: Resident Evil Extinction turned out to be pretty much on par with its previous installment, Apocalypse, as we follow along with a super-human Alice, Milla Jovovich, who smashes zombies in her pursuit against the evil Umbrella Corp. I enjoyed this a little more than the previous one though the story seemed to have deviated more than usual from its origin. While the beginning and end tied in Umbrella and their virus it seemed to feel more like an ordinary zombie movie that could have fit in nicely with the “… of the Dead” genre. As long as you can reserve yourself to go into this one without thinking too much then you should be safe, otherwise Extinction could be a long ride.

The story picks up quickly and wastes no time in answering some of my biggest questions that were set up by the trailer. How does Alice survive the gut shot in the hospital? Why is she back in the mansion fighting the Tyrant? How does Jovovich manage to keep that red dress so clean? While the last one there is likely due to an abundant wardrobe the rest of those questions are answered quickly, yet not in a terribly satisfyingly way. The idea here was tempting and this angle should have been pursued deeper/better for a more Resident Evil feel (I won’t give it away). I’m also sorry that after three films RE hasn’t been able to lock in on a constant face of evil for the Umbrella Corp. Each time around she seems to be fighting a new fight for a semi-constant cause. In case you’re wondering, yeah, this one sets everything up for yet another installment which could get even worse.

While the action was fun and pretty constant there were some new extreme liberties taken with the story that really pulled it down for me. For some reason the writers have decided to make Alice more of a controlled entity in a semi-robot fashion. She’s still biological, but at one point they pull a “shut her down” move that gets used just once lightly and only seemed to serve damage to the sanity of the story. It gets worse though as it seems like the writers were watching too much of The Matrix and/or Star Wars. A huge new development, other than satellite controlled behavior, is Alice’s ability to levitate objects and even bend the fabric of reality a la Neo stopping bullets, only this time it’s a wall of fire that she flexes away to save friends. Yet again this is a huge jump in the movie’s sanity (I refuse to call it’s plausibility considering the plot) and it only gets used once in the showdown at the end. Why they chose to make these ridiculous inclusions to Alice’s character only to have them used at a bare minimum is beyond me. Bad choice on the writers’ part. I’m also rather puzzled by what seemed to be some sort of airbrushing going on with Jovovich’s face. In some scenes she seemed natural but in other scenes, mostly the close ups, her entire face is fuzzy and featureless. It goes back and forth all movie and was likely an attempt to pretty her up, which seems unnecessary on a variety of levels.

If you’ve enjoyed the past two Resident Evil films then you might as well catch this one as well. The story is flimsy and the characters are stiff, but at its core Extinction is a zombie-killing, flesh eating, action movie adventure. You’ve been warned.

Rating: 2.5/5 stars
High Point: Hack ‘n slash zombie-a-thon
Low Point: Um, she can now move things with her mind?

Resident Evil: Extinction Movie Trailer:

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