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Resident Evil: Extinction
2/5
R E V I E W   B Y   R I C H   C L I N E dir Russell Mulcahy
scr Paul WS Anderson
with Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, Ali Larter, Iain Glen, Mike Epps, Ashanti, Spencer Locke, Christopher Egan, Jason O'Mara, William Abadie, Matthew Marsden, Linden Ashby
release US 21.Sep.07,
UK 23.Nov.07
07/US Screen Gems 1h34
Resident Evil: Extinction
Desert storm: Larter, Fehr and Jovovich

glen epps ashanti

RESIDENT EVIL (2002)
RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE (2004)

Resident Evil: Extinction After the slightly more sophisticated part 2, this episode returns to the more preposterous style of the original: loud noises, little actual suspense and the sketchiest characterisation possible. Although it's still good fun.

The escaped virus has turned the earth into a desert-like zombie planet, leaving a few survivors on the run while the sinister Umbrella Corp tries to find a cure. Dr Isaacs (Glen) heads up the research with a complete disdain for medical ethics; he actually needs to find the genetically modified Alice (Jovovich), whose blood has the key to an antidote. Meanwhile, she roams the wilderness alone until she joins a refugee convoy led by Claire (Larter) and her old friend Carlos (Fehr). When Isaacs finally spots her by satellite, they head for a huge showdown in sand-swamped Las Vegas.

The plot is extremely basic, and the characters are even simpler. This is a straightforward action suspense thriller that really wants to scare our socks off, but hasn't a clue how to go about it. Unless loud noises on the soundtrack do it for you, there isn't a bit of horror here, even though the story is quite tense, and has several nifty twists, including the emergence of an outrageous super-megazombie.

After the lively second film, the cast looks a bit exhausted this time. Sure, the stunt work and action choreography are whizzy and thrilling, although the fight sequences are so badly edited that we're never quite sure what's happening. Even the climactic all-out war in Vegas is filmed with far too many close-ups, filling the screen with movement and grisliness that has little meaningful context. And with characters this thinly written, there's not much to grab on to at all.

Still, it's busy and often bewilderingly chaotic, which keeps us watching. And the continuing story takes some satisfying turns along the way, leaving the door open for further carnage. Director Mulcahey uses the extensive flesh-and-gore make-up brilliantly, although the bigger special effects are more uneven. He also shamelessly indulges in rather a lot of female flesh, which will keep the fanboys coming back for more. Which is kind of the point, isn't it.

cert 15 themes, strong violence, language 23.Aug.07

R E A D E R   R E V I E W S
send your review to Shadows... Resident Evil: Extinction Kris Casino, Houston,TX: 1.5/5 "I went to see this movie because I was in search of something horrible to see. I wasn't disappointed. The acting was sub-par. The plot was thin. The ending was very anti-climactic. I was expecting at least 30 more minutes in the movie, and then the credits started rolling. Seriously." (22.Sep.07)
© 2007 by Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall
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