Review of Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) by Dave A — 02 Jan 2011

Sand, sand and more sand. Like many a deserts, Resident Evil: Extinction is as barren and dry as the aforementioned landscape. When you have a movie and its BEST ACTOR is Oded Fehr, you're going to have major issues. And even though I put my usual criticism aside, and tried to enjoy this wasteland of a zombie flick, its just another obnoxious Doomsday clone with little appeal beyond good lookin' Jovovich and Larter. Countless "extra" stars like Ashanti and Mike Epps don't have much to do, aside from sparking a little romance that doesn't really do much but point out the obvious that Epps' characters seem to always think with his penis first in film.

The good news is that this 3rd instalment feels the most like the game: its got more leering atmosphere, dreadful creatures and ominous presence than the last two. The costumes are well done, especially on the Tyrant who looks LEAGUES better than the rubber suit Nemesis from Apocalypse. The zombies and crows looked really good too.

The problem is everything else is just dreadful. The characters, are your typical horror fodder: most are designed to be forgettable and are imminently killed off. And the story involves the bad guys trying to cover up the zom-pocalypse by domesticating the undead. YEP. Great story guys. Even the games, which in the 90s, still predominantly told lame stories, are better than Anderson's efforts here. Yeah, I know Mulcahy directed, but the Resident Evil film series is Anderson's shame project and forever will he bear the burden to that claim.

Overall, its a movie best reserved for low expectations. Enjoy it for the gore, shooting and mindless train rail story. But even then it still sucks. There's just no imagination here. This is the type of movie you don't even need to see, you can see the trailer and make up the rest yourself and be 80% right.

But hey, if you like this movie, go see it. Its hard to be disappointed when you get exactly what you expected: a dumb, brainless zombie shoot 'em up with nothing new to offer. A rather safe movie, by-the-book, action-horror movie. Perhaps Afterlife will bring something new to the table.