As if the release of the highly-anticipated “”Halo 3″” this past Tuesday wasn’t enough to satisfy the wildest fantasies of video game fans, last Friday saw the release of “”Resident Evil: Extinction,”” the third installment of the movies based on the video game of the same name.
And, as is common in a variety of video games, the main character is extremely hot with extremely prevalent breasts. Two thumbsticks up!
Milla Jovovich plays Alice, an always-braless superwoman who is humanity’s last shred of hope in an otherwise zombified planet Earth. Created by the same group of scientists that engineered the virus infecting the zombies, Alice teams up with a group of survivors with the hope of leading them to refuge in Alaska. She must eventually face her destiny, return to the underground facility from which she came and put an end to the deadly experiment.
Resident Evil 3: Apocalypse
R, 95 mins.
3 stars
Staring Mila Jovovich, Ali Larter, and Ashante
A real strength of the film is its overall post-apocalyptic feeling. The combination of desert scenery, abandoned buildings and the image of Las Vegas buried in sand is truly eerie. The zombies themselves also appear quite real, and hostile enough to ignite a decent amount of fear.
“”Extinction”” also succeeds in using lighting to create uncertainty and suspense. After Alice returns to the usually well-lit facility, everything is dark, with the exception of some flickering lights. Instantly, it is obvious that something is very wrong. Add the fact that the lack of light allows for those token creature-moving-in-the-shadows moments, and the overall effect is pretty freakin’ creepy.
The creepiest part of the movie is that the whole plot is, to a certain extent, scientifically plausible. With biological technology as advanced as it is today, it is entirely possible that some horrible disease can emerge that could wipe out the entire human race. Though it is scary to imagine such a future, that it is possible is regretably undeniable.
Other than that, though, “”Extinction”” is nothing more than an action movie. There are all kinds of fight scenes, involving everything from zombie birds and dogs to shotguns and satellites. The film also has several epic sequences, plenty of slow-motion shots and the now common circle-around-a-single-character shot first made famous in “”The Matrix.””
Jovovich is believable as Alice; her strong features and extreme height make her an easy choice for action heroines. The supporting characters are fine, but that’s it – nothing about any of them really leaves a lasting impression.
What does leave a lasting impression is the intensity of the action. The film is definitely rated R for a reason, with heads being blown apart and all. The special effects are virtually flawless, with no evidence of animation continuity issues.
“”Resident Evil: Extinction”” is a highly entertaining, fairly suspenseful movie. The screenplay is nothing special and the acting is average at best, but then again it is a movie based on a video game. Not exactly the stuff cinematic legends are made of – “”Super Mario Bros.,”” anyone?