resident evil: extinction (2007)

by zEke

I still remember when I first played resident evil 2 (1998) on my Sony PlayStation. Probably, together with metal gear (1987) for MSX2, whose film adaptation seems to be on for 2009, my favorite video games ever. As of now, there are six main series video games and seven spin-offs for many different platforms. Sequels and prequels to the original turned to be, actually there are two main series video games to be released soon, another turn of the screw that resulted on more complex plots and the obvious technical improvement. This tends to diminish the number of enthusiasts as the story gets too winding. To the point that early episodes of the main series have been remade for new platforms. But resident evil is not just a video game franchise, it is a media one, and comic books, action figures, motion pictures, etc., have been made following the success of the video games.

With this one, there are already three film adaptations of the media franchise. None of them directly inspired in any of the video games, but both, movies and video games, made out of the same ingredients, those are heavy horror elements, puzzled plots, and action. The movie trilogy, trilogy so far, adds Milla Jovovich to the cocktail, who saw a gold mine for her career in action movies after her impact in the fith element (1997). And truth is that ones starts already to see her as Alice, or Project Alice, as you might prefer.

The world is on verge of extinction while Alice saunters around a desert United States of America in search of a better place to live, or survive. Along her journey she meets up with a convoy leaded by Claire Redfield (Ami Larter, or Jessica Sanders from heroes (2006)). Stuck in Las Vegas, whose post-apocalyptic look is both, impressive and clearly influenced, as the whole futuristic western this movie pretends to be, by mad max (1979) and sequels, they decide to go to Alaska, where the infection seems to be non-existent. Nevertheless, Alice, hunted by the Umbrella Corporation might have to take care of a few things before.

resident evil: extinction adds pretty much nothing to the trilogy. The movie is an amalgam of action scenes and dialog around an irrelevant plot that serves as an excuse for the first. Some of the action scenes, mainly around fights between infected and non-infected, are well shot. They are, but they also contribute nothing new to the whole thing and, in the end, they turn out redundant. Lessons you will learn after watching this movie, a couple, women will be in charge in case of a world wide plague, the Umbrella Corporation will have unlimited resources in their underground facilities, but just a shabby fence around the infected surface entrance, and, of course, most important thing, you should go now and get an helicopter license, just in case.

Hopefully, and despite the ending, this one will be the last one. Otherwise, and even though I think only the first one is worthy, my guess is that I will end watching it again. Yes, I know, there are things I do not understand either.

For the deadhours of Max, mad or not.

deadrate: εad

official site | imdb

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