Resident Evil Extinction - A Film Review

Its been five years since the events of RacoonCity, and the T-Virus has rampaged its way across the world. Laying waste to human and ecosystem alike, nothing remains alive in this post-apocalyptic sandpit but a handful of survivors and, more improbably, scriptwriter creativity. While this comes as more of a shock than many of the scary moments in films previous, no doubt a thousand zombies at a thousand typewriters eventually yields results worthy of filming.

Reprising her role as Alice, Milla Jovovich tramps the desert wilderness of the American Midwest, shunning human contact and doing little else than steering her motorbike toward the horizon. Happily, the same dusty region plays host to Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) and her convoy of happy-go-lucky survivors, also trucking their way through the odd Infected, moving between the small towns in an effort to go undetected by the masses. A flock of birds kindly arrange introductions, with Alice handily providing an alternative to Carlos’s (Oded Fehr) personal predicament with her psionic abilities, and she joins the party. Providing handy intel on a supposedly Infected-free community in Alaska, Alice supplies the group with an substitute to aimless wandering.

Unfortunately no good deed goes unpunished, and Alice’s use of her Umbrella Corp sponsored mental abilities brings her to the attention of Dr Isaacs (Iain Glen). He of the Extinction’s predecessor, Dr Isaacs sports a sinister English accent that can only mean trouble and his obsession with Alice is as strong as ever, though more understandable in a world where every woman is only interested in one thing (and not in the good way.)

Umbrella staff comprise the remaining population of planet earth, hidden as they are underground, although their paltry attempt to disguise the American subterranean facility fools no-one. Why literally thousands of zombies, with their superhuman strength, are defied by the flimsiest of chain-link fences is beyond the reasoning of most mortal men. In a situation much more akin to a pacifist protest, the undead are missing nothing but a few signs saying ‘Where the brains at?’

Inevitably then, Umbrella can’t leave well enough alone. Convinced that Alice’s blood holds the key to the ‘domestication’ of the Infected, Isaacs defies orders and hunts the convoy, unleashing waves of his new pet zombies against them in an effort to secure his quarry. Alice, however, has different ideas, leading them both into a confrontation on Umbrellas doorstep.

While writer Paul Anderson clearly borrows from existing film tradition, the change in content from his older scripts is noticeable. Although he regrettably keeps the surprise scenes that really constitute nothing more than a sliver of peripheral movement and the liberal application of ‘Generic Scary Noise No.3”, he does challenge preconceptions of what will happen. No doubt the general storyline of the film is predictable in many respects, but in others the existing zombie paradigm is adapted.

The attack scenes are the bread and butter of the zombie flick, and Extinction’s offerings are very reasonable. The undead sometimes look like the granddads of the first two films zombies at best, and like guest-stars from the fourteenth century’s Black Death at worst, but the fight sequences are impressive where Alice is concerned. The rest of the cast do little more than run away ineffectually, but Carlos and Claire are anchored firmly as the other protagonists and dispatch the Infected with panache.

Overall, Extinction is Exhibit A of the refinement of the Resident Evil technique. Lessons learnt from previous films have clearly informed Anderson’s writing, and the inclusion of new director Russell Mulcahy is a gormless stagger in the right direction. If you’re a fan of the franchise or ridiculous zombie films in general, then Extinction will impress.

Oh, and Johnny Cage from Mortal Kombat is in it. No idea what his name is though.