Resident evil: Extinction (2007)

RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION (2007)

Resident evil: extinction seems to have fans of the series divided. Some, like me, welcome it as a nice comeback to quality for the series, while others (most of which are those pesky gamers!) disliked how far it ventured from its video game inspiration. No thanks to Resident evil: Apocalypse, ‘extinction’ is left with a few elements that it needs to stick with for the sake of continuity, with these pretty much being the only things that stop it from being as good as the first Resident evil was.

For the first, and probably last, time in the series, there is a plot that deviates slightly from the formula of the first two. Despite the umbrella corporation’s best efforts, the T virus escapes and within a few years infects the whole world. Only a small percentage of humanity has survived, and the movie focuses on those that have scraped out a living in what was Las Vegas, and is now a desert wasteland. Off course Alice is still kicking after she escaped Umbrella’s grasp, and she soon finds clues that allude to infection-free safety and security all the way up in Alaska at a place called Arcadia. She teams up with another group of survivors-which include a few characters from the last film and more game characters tossed in- as they try to head north. However, Umbrella is still trying to track down ‘project Alice’, and this begins to complicate matters.

From left to right: K-mart (Spencer Locke), Claire Redfield (Ali Larter), Alice (Milla Jovovich) and Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr)

 From the great opening scene, Resident evil: extinction returns and cements itself into the roots of the first film. We get to see that classic red dress briefly in this sequence, and Alice’s new practical yet sexy outfit is a huge improvement over the last. The score by Charlie Clouser integrates a few sections of Marylyn Manson’s from Resident evil as well as adding his own. It’s a large improvement over Resident evil: Apocalypse’s, but still doesn’t top Manson’s. The weapons she uses are also my favorite of the series so far, and are put to great use during Alice’s zombie killing sessions. Speaking of which, a nice combination of gunplay, melee weapons and hand-to-hand combat is used this time; with bad wirework kept to only a brief few shots. The series finally finds a great balance of gore here, with lots of blood splattering and zombie heads exploding, yet still not going over the top. A nice contrast of settings is also used between the gritty, harsh dessert plains and the refined interior of the Umbrella facility- the later of which was largely missing in Resident evil: Apocalypse. Our zombie dogs return yet again (pictured below), and out-do their scene in Resident evil: Apocalypse. My only complaint with this scene was it seemed to be edited quite frenetically, and would have benefitted from being ‘chopped up’ less.

"there's only room for one bitch in this zombie apocalypse...BITCH!'" 

Another creature that is featured from the games is a huge flock of infected crows (that would have made for one hell of a typo- ‘infected cows’), which is reminiscent of a gored-up version of Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘the birds’. Saying that, I can easily see why some who didn’t know they where from the games could perceive this as being more a rip-off than a reference. The new characters that are added are mostly everyday, likable characters, with annoying ones having their screen time limited. For example, K-mart-who just seems to scream and run away- and LJ who is still around, with his love interest being irritating for the short time she is alive. Milla Jovovich plays Alice so much better than she did in Resident evil: Apocalypse, and is given the chance to give some emotional depth to her character. While the storyline is still somewhat similar, it’s just different enough to differentiate Resident evil: extinction from its predecessors.

LJ (Mike Epps) and Betty (Ashanti) running away from  infected cows- i mean CROWS.

Some tension that was lacking from the previous entre is also injected back in- the previously mentioned infected crows attack for example. While it is fairly pointless by this point, ‘extinction’ inserts another Alice in wonderland motif or two which I appreciated- with the artificial intelligence of this new facility being the ‘white queen’. I’m going to drop that aspect all together for the next films, as they seemed to have abandoned it completely unfortunately. The finale feels a tad short, but is well executed- despite Alice using her dreaded powers- and sees the laser tunnel from the first film being used to slice and dice yet again. Our villain this time is also much better, with the crazed DR. Isaacs turning into a weird tentacle creature thingy-mah-jig (seen below) that actually provides a challenge for Alice ( yes I’m talking to YOU Nemesis, A.K.A Mr. rubber suit man!). The cliffhanger is also a nice little gold nugget, even if the epic battle it promises isn’t nearly as awesome in Resident evil: afterlife.

Dr. Isaacs attempting to kill Alice, *shakes head*, when with these mutants learn?

The biggest gripe I have with Resident evil: extinction is Alice’s powers. These ‘super-powers’ feel gigantically out of place and just plain silly, and the only reason they are here is because they where given to Alice in Resident evil: Apocalypse. It’s a good thing she only uses them a few times, and they aren’t really a central focus thankfully. Its also un-clear as to how the virus spread outside of Raccoon city, as well as what exactly happened to Jill Valentine (the actor for which was unable to return due to working on another film) and Angie Ashford from Resident evil: Apocalypse. If I recall correctly, they aren’t even mentioned here, or at least not explained fully. This seems to be a trend for the series; they simply get rid of characters without explanation or mention when It suits them.

"its like...you WANT me to CUT YOU."

 Other than these two, the other negatives are fairly trivial and minor. Some of the dialogue is corny, but doesn’t reach the painful heights of the previous films dialogue. A few zombie/horror movie clichés are also used here, which can be a little eye-rolling if you have seen them as often as I have, but its not a big deal. Classic examples would be any vehicle shitting itself and never starting when you most want it to, and someone getting bitten, infected, and turning into a zombie at the WORST possible bloody time. Oh well, at least with the latter we got rid of an unwanted character.

Some of the half rotted zombies that feature in Resident evil: extinction. YUMMY!

All up, Resident evil: extinction represents a short-lived comeback for the series before the laughable Resident evil: Afterlife and the luke-warm ‘Retribution’. While it isn’t quite as good as the original, there are enough references and throw backs to the first film to create a nice link between them, as well as some great action scenes, a nice amount of gore and some actual story advancement. Savior that last one; the next two movies have nothing of a sort.

3.5/5

recommended classification: 15+ for strong bloody horror/action violence, brief nudity and drug use

Resident Evil: Extinction's trailer: