Mania Grade: B-

Maniac Grade: B

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Info:

• Title: Resident Evil: Extinction
• Rating: R
• Starring: Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, Ali Larter, Ashanti, Mike Epps
• Writer: Paul W.S. Anderson
• Director: Russell Mulcahy
• Distributor: Sony Home Entertainment
• Original Year of Release: 2007
• Extras: Commentary With the Director, Writer, and producer, Preview of Resident Evil: Degeneration the CGI Feature Film, Four Part making of Documentary, Deleted Scenes, trailers

Resident Evil: Extinction

Coverart for the DVD of RESIDENT EVIL:EXTINCTION(2008).
© Sony/Screen Gems

The third installment in the Resident Evil series is out on DVD and I have to say I was mildly surprised at how much I enjoyed it, particularly after being let down by the overblown Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Several cast members from the second film are back including Jovovich (Alice), Oded Fehr (Carlos), Mike Epps (L.J.) and Iain Glen (Dr. Isaacs). They are joined by Ali Larter as Claire Redfield (one of the core characters from the video game series) and Ashanti as Betty. 

The T-Virus has spread worldwide, affecting not only humans, but all forms of life, leaving the Earth a near wasteland of deserts. Redfield leads a convoy of survivors including Carlos, L.J. and Betty, surviving on the road, savaging for supplies. Their group has shrunk from 60 to under 30 in just a few months and they are becoming desperate. The Umbrella Corp. is still up to no good and their leadership is intact, living in their deep underground complexes. One such complex is in the Nevada desert where Dr. Isaacs has created a virtual army of Alice clones in an attempt to create an anti-virus but still searching for the real Alice. His further experiments lead to the creation of super zombies using Alice’s blood. They are stronger and faster, and more akin to the infected from 28 Days Later. 

Alice meets up with the convoy, using her evolving psionic powers to help them battle a horde of infected crows in one of the film’s best scenes. The convoy finds evidence that the infection has not spread to Alaska and they decide to try and make it there but first must find much needed supplies including food and gas. With the small towns run dry, they take on the dangerous prospect of heading to Vegas, not knowing what may await them.

Resident Evil: Extinction’s 94 minutes virtually flies by…In part because it is filled with action from beginning to end, but also because there isn’t a whole lot of time spent on character or plot. We know that Alice, Carlos, and L.J. all know each other but unless you saw the previous film, you’ll have no idea how or why. We also are not told anything about Renfield’s Convoy other than they are just a group of survivors.

There’s a great expanse of scenery in this film. It’s much broader in scope than the first two films and you get a good idea of just how desolate the world is now. The Las Vegas strip has been created in miniature with all the familiar hotels, now ravaged by sand and it’s really well done. The zombies show the obvious signs of being out in the desert heat as their faces look like old shoe leather, brown and withered. 

Jovovich kicks zombie ass, getting up close and personal with a pair of long blades. All of the action scenes just tear up the screen but there’s not enough meat in between them. The film owes a big tip of the cap to George Romero’s Day of the Dead as well as it ‘borrows’ the plot of a scientist experimenting on trying to control and domesticate the zombies. Overall, I enjoyed Resident Evil: Extinction and you can’t deny its success with a box office grab of over $50 million dollars. Like it’s undead stars, it’s mindless but fun.

Extras

The DVD does come with a solid set of extras. There’s a commentary track with Director Russell Mulcahy, Writer Paul W.S. Anderson, and producer Jeremy Bolt There are 8:30 worth of deleted scenes although none add much to the film

There is a four-part documentary on the making of the film that breaks down as follows:

Alice Vision which looks at the films pre-production. 7:08

The Big Bang covers the actual filming of the movie 13:52

Bigger, Faster, Stronger takes a look at the design of the zombies and the creation of the super zombies 6:08

Vegas Visual Effects looks at the creation of the miniature Las Vegas strip and effects. 4:49

There is also a trailer for the Resident Evil: Degeneration CGI film