Resident Evil: Extinction

Resident Evil: Extinction

(I like the Resident Evil VG series, while not as well written as the Silent Hill series, I’ve enjoyed the games. The series an interconnecting story that is strong. The first movie could have easily fit into the videogame series, while the second film is a retelling of RE2 and RE3. But this new movie…)

While not exactly terrible, this movie isn’t as good as the other Resident Evil (RE) films. Set a few years after the first film, the setting of the movie takes place in a post-apocalyptic world. The zombie virus has taken over all the world’s civilizations. And for some reason, the water has dried up, leaving a desert land across the planet. (It is never explained why that is, nor does the film care to explain it.) A few survivors have banded together to survive and fight off the zombies. The movie strays far beyond its videogame roots.

Director Russell Mulcahy does an okay job with the action stuff, but has a harder time with the acting stuff more so than Paul W.S. Anderson, who is the writer of the third film. He certainly comes from the same school of directing style as Anderson, but he is lacking in areas that Anderson doesn’t. I’m not giving Anderson that much credit.

The main problem is with the story setting. Isn’t a town full a zombies enough of a bleak setting? Do we need a planet full of zombies? The end of the world storyline has been done to death (pun intended) already. I personally would have written it in a jungle in South America, having Milla Jovovich fighting off zombies from taking over village after village, with the Umbrella Corp not too far behind. When you think about it, this post-apocalyptic story could have been dropped altogether with the core of the story intact.

Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, and Mike Epps have all returned. Jovovich is hot as ever and does a good job kicking ass. I also like the sci-fi concept they have involving her. The rest of the cast is forgettable, but very attractive.

The CGI ranges from poor to okay. You can see better FX shots in the actual videogame series. There are exceptions. Without giving away a major plot point, there is an impressive shot of a mass-grave involving CGI that I thought was pretty good.

One shot that is annoying is a transition shot with computer graphics showing a map of an underground base, switching to a live set. It happens three or four times in the movie, and it is very annoying. The music in each of the transition scenes is horrible. Actually, the musical score is the worst thing about the movie. It is a poor mixture of European techno and bad America rock music.

The movie does have some impressive action scenes with Milla Jovovich and gang ripping apart zombies. You can’t go wrong with an attractive chick cutting zombies in half. You just can’t. Plus, the crow scene was fun too. But, that’s not enough to save this film.

Because it strays far from the RE videogame roots, the movie will leave a bad taste in the mouths of the hardcore RE fans. And, they should be mad. The dreadful setting and music hurt the film, as well as the sloppy story. The movie falls flat on its face like a fat kid falling over his own shoes to get to the buffet.

Grade: C-

Yes, the motorcycle breaking in half was really stupid…

__________________________________________________________Hot chicks with cool weapons? I can't wait for the end of the world! Count me in!
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Kenny Rogers, there comes a point when you need to stop having face-lifts.
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Uh, that chick from Heroes is in the movie...minus the multiple personalties and super powers

Rule 1: Never argue or piss off a woman with knives that big.