Film Review: Resident Evil: Extinction

This newest addition to the growing RESIDENT EVIL franchise is a vast improvement over the previous installment in more ways then one. Although still written by series progenitor Paul W.S. Anderson, RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION as directed by seasoned director Russell Mulcahy is a vastly different animal then the previous two films.

It is several years after the events of APOCALYSE and EXTINCTION finds Alice (Milla Jovovich) on her own in a barren wasteland of a world in which the T-Virus has turned much of the world into zombies and only the few patches of survivors scavenge the Earth for supplies. Alice has put herself into self exile when she realized her telekinetic powers are too strong for even her to command and that the Umbrella Corporation is constantly tracking her down and putting her life in danger. When Alice finds herself stranded after loosing her motorbike she hooks up with old pals Carlos (Oded Fehr) and L.J. (Mike Epps), who have linked up with Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) to protect her band of survivors at any cost. When Alice saves the survivors from being devoured by T-Virus infected crows her presence becomes known by Dr. Isaacs (Iain Glen) and the Umbrella Corp who secretly have been trying to develop a cure to the epidemic by creating clones of Alice; this has not worked for them and thus need the original Alice to find a cure.

Alice then suggests that they head north where there might still be a place on Earth not ravaged by the epidemic. In order to make the trip the caravan must first head to the city of sin Las Vegas for supplies but Dr. Isaacs has other plans as he sends his super-zombies to capture Alice and kill everyone else.

Very few horror films take place in broad daylight finding it easier to illicit scares in the dark but this film takes place almost entirely in the daylight and does an excellent job of creating suspense and horror. This film is a road movie in the tradition of THE ROAD WARRIOR and achieves both the scares and the unending action from start to finish. When the film enters the underground lair of the Umbrella Corp is where it falls apart as is apparent from all of the previous RESIDENT EVIL films. A mutated Dr. Isaacs makes for a poor villain like Nemesis in the previous film but the film needs an escalation of final villains. David Johnson’s cinematography is top notch as is Charlie Clouser’s score, which elevates the film making it one of the more interesting horror films of the year.