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All Bets are Off for Fans of the Video Game Series
A Review of
RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION
Resident Evil: Extinction marks the third film in the franchise, making it the first film trilogy based on a video game series. Written by Paul WS Anderson (who penned the first two) and directed by Russell Mulcahy (Highlander), the film begins five years after the events of the Apocalypse, minus a few key players.
The world has been overtaken by an outbreak of the T-Virus, and while the undead roam the earth, the land itself is dying off – seas are drying up and the deserts are reclaiming land (hence the post-apocalyptic Las Vegas that is the highlight of the film). Alice (Milla Jovovich) is on the run, hiding from the sinister Umbrella Corporation and Dr. Isaacs who is up to no good in trying to recreate the perfect specimen and find a cure for the virus. Returning from the previous films are RE veterans Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) and LJ (Mike Epps) who, along with a caravan of others including video game favorite, Claire Redfield (Ali Larter), are making their way across the desert land in search of salvation. When Alice joins forces with them, they decide to make their way toward Alaska where the T-Virus has allegedly not reached.
Any fan of the film series will be pleased with action sequences and story behind this alleged final film in the franchise. From the beginning, Anderson found a way to take an entire universe that was created years before and make it his own. After the original movie and its follow up, Extinction takes a sharp left turn in the direction of the story which leaves it open for plenty of surprises, and some minor set-backs.
Fans of the video games, however, have been upset over the fact that Anderson did not follow the games’ story lines. After the second film, Anderson tried to please them with adding characters from the games (Carlos & Jill to name a couple) and rip a story line directly from the third game in the series, Nemesis. In Extinction, Anderson does the same but less effectively. Adding key players from the games in minor parts will more than likely upset fans even more because they’re not used enough. Others who haven’t played the games before won’t notice the difference, but the fan-boys of the Playstation Generation will more than likely disregard the cameos and complain about them.
The film has its holes; mainly the fact that two major players in the previous film have disappeared and no one seems to mention why. Secondly, this caravan of survivors seem to fuel their numerous vehicles without a problem when the world’s resources have been depleted. And while the Umbrella Corp is trying to find a way to “domesticate” zombies and create a breed of “super” zombies, one can only ask, What the hell was the point of this movie?
But seriously. It’s Resident Evil. There is no point other than a hot woman kicking zombie-butt. If you expect anything else, you will be disappointed.
With superior being a bright full moon, this movie rates:
© Savournin, 2007
