Resident Evil: Extinction

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Horrorphile - October 2007

Resident Evil: Extinction

October 4th 2007 23:32

The T-Virus nightmare continues. Three years have passed and the survivors have taken to the roads, out of the ravaged infected cities, and into the wide open spaces. The only place that’s safe. The Umbrella Corporation still exists, still with covert activities, but communicating via holographic meetings. Their mission: to locate Project Alice. Meanwhile a ragtag group of freedom fighters, consisting of ex-military and other renegades, travel like nomads across the Nevada desert, searching for the uninfected, for sanctuary.

But Alice (Milla Jovovich) is a loner, fully armed, dust goggled, and riding a motorcycle, elsewhere along a dark desert highway, cool wind in her hair, sickly sweet smell of the Undead rising up through the air, up ahead in the distance she sees a shimmering light, her head grows heavy and her sight grows dim, she has to stop for the night. There it stands in the doorway, she recognized the Undead shell, and she is thinking to herself, this ain’t heaven, oh, yes this is hell …

Resident Evil: Extinction Milla Jovovich

Alice (Milla Jovovich) and those wicked kukri knives

Resident Evil: Extinction which opens next Thursday in Australia is third part in the video game originated series about a future where a ghastly virus has reduced the world to the flesh-eating Undead … and that’s about it. The few good uninfected are on the run, and the few bad uninfected are chasing them. That’s in a nutshell.

Ali Larter as convoy leader Claire

Paul W.S. Anderson still maintains writing duties, but this time round the directing duties are in the hands of some-time Aussie ex-pom Russell Mulcahy who cut his teeth on the ground-breaking videos of Duran Duran, then made the cult combat flick Highlander. He’s had a patchy career though, with some real clunkers. But he still commands a very strong visual style. Although it must be said, in this age of such over-achieving super-talent hotshots Mulcahy’s distinctive stylistics aren't nearly as distinctive as it was twenty years ago. It still looks great, but you’d probably be hard pressed knowing it was actually him at the helm.

Carlos (Oded Fehr) returns to smoke some zombies

Still, Resident Evil: Extinction is a highly enjoyable and violent romp in the sand. Diggin’ those kukri knives Alice gets to hurl around. And the special effects are very well done. The whole opening sequence, lifted straight from the first film, which then subverts into something else, is nicely done. But the movie pays homage, well, steals, from numerous cult movies, so much so that one wonders if there is actually anything remotely original about the movie.

Ashanti as Nurse Betty, needin' some attention

The whole apocalyptic desert look and feel of the movie is lifted straight from Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior (1981), right down to the leather and suede threads, the basic driving need for fuel, and the convoy of off-road vehicles. Then there’s the Day of the Dead (1985) sub-plot of the Umbrella Corp aiming to “tame” the zombies, so they can used them as trained Undead killers. In a scene heavily reminiscent from Romero’s masterpiece a restrained zombie is given a mobile phone, then a camera, which it remembers how to operate (in Day of the Dead the zombie is given an unloaded gun).

H.P. Lovecraft gets a look in as well with the mutating meglamania from From Beyond (1986) and Hellraiser II: Hellbound (1988) rearing its ugly head. And even Hitchcock’s The Birds (1966) in one of the movie’s stand-out sequences. But hey, these familiar themes and plot devices aside Extinction is still a dynamic and punchy flick, well worth catching on the big screen. It’s as good as the first movie, not as claustrophobic, obviously, nor perhaps as grimly-toned, but it’s got some well executed slaughter and Alice, once again, kicks some serious butt.

The hungry Undead want some flesh

The only shame was that Jill Valentine wasn’t in it. Apparently actor Sienna Guillory had prior commitments. Talk on the street is that her character will return for the fourth instalment. Hmmm, I wonder what it will be called? Knowing how the movie climaxes, I’m guessing a title like Resident Evil: Afterlife (which was the movie’s working title) might be quite appropriate. Nah, don’t worry I haven’t given anything away.

The Arabian Knightess

Resident Evil: Extinction isn’t really a scary movie (none of them were that frightening, although the first movie did pack a few effective “Boo!”s), but it’s got enough super-trash popcorn elements to warrant a rollicking good time at the movies.

Here's the theatrical trailer:

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Posted By: Bryn - Category: movie reviews

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Comments

6 Comments. [ Add A Comment ]

Comment by Harry

October 4th 2007 23:54

World Art
Sydney Diary
Personals
Video Games
Brisbane Diarystar
Zoo Parent

You have to love a good post apocalyptic movie. There just something about them.. life made meaningful again through the day to day quest for survival. And the extreme violence

Comment by Damo

October 5th 2007 03:24

For the Sake of Argument
My Apologetics

Mad Max 2 vs Tank Girl.
The Zombies always win.
That is what makes it so special.
I will probably see this on DVD when it come out.
Have to follow the story.

I am a little curious who the Unbrella Corp has as customers when everyone is a zombie.

Comment by Bryn

October 5th 2007 03:35

Horrorphile

Harry, yup ...

Damo, ahhh, yes Tank Girl, I forgot about that little reference too ... I loved the comic ... my fave was actually Jet Girl ...

Comment by charles

October 9th 2007 10:31

FanFootball
ZCars
Ponderous

I'll be seeing this one!

Milla Jovovich and Ali Larter together on screen? Hubba Hubba!

Comment by Bryn

October 11th 2007 01:31

Horrorphile

Enjoy Charles!

Comment by Anonymous

February 21st 2008 15:06

I love Oded Fehr in this moive and in every moive he is in . He is so HOT........

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