Milla Jovovich fights more zombie dogs in Resident Evil: Extinction
By Gary Sundt
As Printed in The Lumberjack on September 27, 2007
“Lock and Load.”
This is an actual line of dialogue in Resident Evil: Extinction, which is apparently final installment in the popular video-game-turned-film trilogy. And, as a friend of mine pointed out, when anyone utters these words in a movie, it’s time to give up on the film all together.
Resident Evil: Extinction treats itself very much like a videogame rather than a real movie. Written by co-producer Paul W.S. Anderson, who directed the first Resident Evil and wrote its sequel, Apocalypse, this third installment utilizes the few decent parts out of the first two, a laser room sequence from the first and a diabolical monstrosity from the second, and fills in all the rest with stuff from other, better movies.
The result is several movie rip-offs in one. This can be charming in a videogame, but as a guy who has seen way to many movies, I expect a little more for my hard earned dollars.
We are first treated to Resident Evil: Road Warrior. The desert and lawlessness has taken over most of the planet, and the survivors of the zombie apocalypse travel in small convoys. These guys are equipped with weaponized cars, guns and tough attitudes to combat all the zombies. Claire Redfield (Heroes’ Ali Larter) leads this convoy of survivors, with the help of some familiar faces from the second film.
Alice (Milla Jovovich), our hero from the previous Resident Evils, is our Mel Gibson — a hardened loner, a shell of a human being. Clad in her skimpy-but-tough leather, Alice has one advantage over Mad Max: she has super-de-duper psychic powers.
Basically, it’s Resident Evil: Carrie.
Meanwhile, the source of the zombie infestation, the Umbrella Corporation, has traveled underground. Now subterranean, the scientists are not only looking for a cure, but a way to turn these zombies into a cheap source of labor.
This is a note to Anderson and Co.: George A. Romero did it first. Not everybody has seen it, but I did. And I declare Resident Evil: Day of the Dead on your asses!
However, it isn’t all bad. We get lots of cool zombie killing action, featuring the famous Resident Evil: The Birds sequence and return of zombie dogs. The series really loves these undead pups, having used them in both the first and second film. For the first time in three movies, I can safely say I was impressed this time around. It was cool.
Extinction rips off other good movies very well, but never elevates itself to the level of any of its inspirations. That said, the film is an improvement over the previous installments in the franchise. But when the competition is Resident Evil and Resident Evil: Apocalypse, what does that even mean?
