Resident Evil: Extinction

Released:

2007

Directed by:

Russell Mulcahy

Starring:

Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, Ali Larter, Iain Glen, Ashanti, Mike Epps

Summary:

Several years after the events in Racoon City (which, as it turns out, was Detroit), the planet is dying.  The plague has spread across the globe, destroying everything in its wake.  The few survivors are trying to simply find somewhere safe.  In the meantime, our heroine Alice tries to use her new psychic powers and the Umbrella Corporation (who are responsible for the plague) tries to find a cure for the zombification.

Watched on:

Day 391: January 26, 2008

Review:

Why do I do this?  Why do I keep watching sequels to movies that weren't all that terrific themselves.  Okay, I'll admit it.  I liked the first Resident Evil.  For all its awfulness, it was actually kinda fun.  The second, RE: Apocalypse, was terrible, a brutal waste of celluloid.  So why did I bother coming back for the third helping of sheer terribleness?  I dunno.  Really, I don't know.  I guess it's becuase I've got a love-hate relationship with this series.  I know it's terrible.  I know that the last film was gawd-awful, but I just have to keep coming back for more.  And I'm sure this mentality is the reason why these films keep getting made.  Despite the lack of quality, people still pay to see them, so the studio keeps making them. 

It was with all of that on my mind and trepidation weighting heavy on my heart that I sat down to watch RE: Extinction.  To my surprise, it wasn't as bad as Apocalypse.  Really, it wasn't!  Oh, don't get me wrong; it's a bad movie, truly awful.  But not to the degree that Apocalypse was.  There's some likability to this one.  There are some cool special effects and I kinda liked the idea of survivors racing across the country trying to find a safe haven.  And then there's Ali Larter, who's just plain hot and has a really cute butt.  (What?  I take in ALL asspects of a movie when I review it.)  Everything else in the movie was just...bleh.  The plot's dumb (I know, I know.  Why would I even expect any plot in a movie like this?), the characters generally uninteresting, the sideplot of Alice's powers wasted, and the ending truly laughable.  The ending is one of thise endings that not just hints at a sequel, but out and out promises it.  Still, a fourth RE movie MIGHT be interesting if they go in the direction that they seem to be going, if only because it'll have the "that's fucked up" angle going for it.  So I guess I'm doomed to continue watching the Resident Evil series, for good or, more likely, ill.  Extinction was better than Apocalypse, but it's still pretty awful. 

Rating:

2 stars

See Also:

Resident Evil

Resident Evil: Apocalypse