Resident Evil: Extinction

The world is full of zombies, a variety of kinds, mutations of mutations show an intelligence of mind, but you'll still need a full luger, exploding bullets are preferred, as they all resemble nightmares of Freddy Krueger it's absurd.

As slow as gin, the tale re-begins, but lacks a flow and doesn't go, a familiar end, Alice defends, and gets some help from all her new friends.

Directed by Russell Mulcahy of the criminally underseen awesome creature feature Razorback. I've always really loved this chapter. Maybe its because it has that epic Mad Max feel mixed with the telekinesis of Friday the 13th 7 and although it can be a little silly it takes the franchises back to it's scarier roots with homages to the birds and day of the dead. This time around Alice is still on the run from the Umbrella corporation and the world has become a desert wasteland. She stumbles upon some old friends and some newbies like a teen girl named Kmart, the singer Ashanti playing a nurse and a bad ass Ali Larter as Claire Redfield from the games. This one is the goriest of the first three and features some great old fashioned practical effects. The movie is fun, scary and action packed leading up to a bad ass finale and one hell of a cliffhanger.

Budget: $45m Domestic Box Office: $51m Worldwide Box Office: $148m

4/5

With Extinction, the Resident Evil franchise perhaps have made its mark as the most enduring computer game turned movie to date. Most of such movies usually make for cheesy lazy weekend entertainment, little in depth but filled with plenty of set action pieces, which for the most parts are nothing groundbreaking. But what this franchise has to credit for its longevity, is Milla Jovovich.

OK, so she has made mostly mediocre movies of late (I sense some fanboys will get me for this, but let me put it straight, I'm a fan of hers too), especially with the lacklustre Ultraviolet, and the really showy .45. If not best remembered for her role as Leeloo in Luc Besson's The Fifth Element (still credited in my books as the ONLY film I watched with having zero prior knowledge on anything about it), then it'll be for her role as Alice, the zombie butt kicking superbeing whose blood holds the key to a reversal of the effects of the T-virus engineered by the evil Umbrella Corporation.

The premise here is similar to that of 28 Days/Weeks Later, where the virus is now out of control, and mutates humans into flesh chomping zombies, spreading mayhem worldwide. Human survivors are few and far between, and where we left off from Apocalypse, Alice is now travelling the world alone, seeking refuge and peace, while evading Umbrella's gunsights. It presumably takes place a significant amount of time after the predecessor, given that Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory) doesn't return for this, keeping the doors open for either an unlikely spin off, or a revisit into the gap in timeline should Guillory sign on the dotted line.

But I guess as Juvovich fans, we don't really care, do we? So long as we get to see our heroine in action, we're satisfied, whether she's causing misery to her opponents from her twin handguns, double Kukri knives or just her incredibly toned limbs, we're rooting for her all the way, dressed in garb personally designed by Juvovich herself, which provides for both form and functionality. The trend of casting pretty women to pair with her continues, with the first movie having Michelle Rodriguez, the second with Guillory, and now, Heroes' Ali Larter and Spencer Locke join the fray. However, they are relegated to more pedestrian roles as compared to previous partners, so don't be expecting much from them, especially for fans of Larter.

The story can be no more simpler than Alice serving as a messiah for a small convoy of survivors headed by Larter's Claire, delivering them a message to journey to the promised land in Alaska. But of course the road to Peace and No Infection is plagued by challenges which culminates in a big battle in Las Vegas, where the trailers have teased with the entire city being semi-buried in sand. And like a video game, all levels will lead to their respective Big Boss to do battle with, and Extinction doesn't evade that formula too. Watching Alice grow in power, provides a lot of kick in some of the cool things she can do, enhanced with special effects of course.

Don't expect the franchise to slam the door of opportunity shut on itself. By the look of things, we might even see a fourth movie coming up in perhaps two or three years time (the interval between the movies thus far). Expect plenty of blood and gore as our heroes cut through ugly zombies like hot knife through butter, and none other does it more balletic and graceful than Milla Juvovich. You go, girl!

The storyline builds quite nicely in the 3rd installment and the addition of a few more known actresses and actors, helps move this film forward. Unfortunately the special effects are still very rudimentary.

While this RE3 was a cracking zombie movie, it strayed to far from the original concept and excepted storyline. In my opinion this has rendered the movie pointless in the RE franchise.

Let's not forget that Resident Evil owes it popularity to the game series, so I think it's only right that they try and stick to it, even if it's just a little bit. It seems very much like the director wanted to make an updated version of Day of the Dead, if you've seen DOTD you'll see what I mean in the first 5 minutes of RE3.

If this were a stand alone movie I would have given it 10/10, but it isn't, they've tried to be too creative and the director has tried to make a different movie. By doing this he's make a cracking zombie film. but a Resident Evil film, I think not.

I only hope this isn't the last one, it would be a terrible waste.