DVD Review: Resident Evil: Extinction

December 31, 2007

Writer: Paul W.S. Anderson
Director: Russell Mulcahy
Cast: Milla Jovovitch, Oded Fehr, Ali Larter, Iain Glen, Ashanti, Mike Epps, Christopher Egan, Spencer Locke, Matthew Marsden, Linden Ashby, Jason O’Mara, Madeline Carroll
Rating: R
Studio: Sony Pictures
Release Date: January 1, 2008

I think they might be on to something when they say third time’s the charm. The third installation in the Resident Evil series of movies actually was my favorite. Perhaps it was the unique outlook that was taken by the director and writer of the film during the production or perhaps the story just happened to be better. Either way, if you plan to see a Resident Evil movie you definitely need to see Resident Evil: Extinction. If anyone had doubts about Milla Jovovitch’s ability to act and kick ass, this is the movie that will prove the critics wrong.

Based on the popular, ‘Resident Evil’ video game series, Resident Evil: Extinction and its predecessors, Resident Evil and Resident Evil: Apocalypse set a new standard for zombie movies by mixing the horror genre with that of the action thriller. While the other two are important for telling the story of Jovovitch’s character, Alice, up until the events in Resident Evil: Extinction, this movie stands alone on its own.

While some who may not have seen the first two flicks may want to know more and may be slightly lost by how Alice came to be the way she is (or even what she is for that matter), seeing the first two movies isn’t necessary to understand the overall plot of Resident Evil: Extinction. Either way, this film has brought new life back into a series that had not quite as many critics as it does fans.

Release Information:
There is a certain style that must be captured when transforming a video game into a movie. The vision of the ‘Resident Evil’ video game series is present in the movies. Still, the creators of the Resident Evil movies wanted their own unique story to carry on throughout this world in which a terrible experiment gone wrong leads to release of the T-Virus. It is this virus and its effects that turn people into zombies. That is what they manage to do quite successfully in these three movies.

Initially, Resident Evil: Extinction was listed as the final chapter in a trilogy of Resident Evil movies. However, the implications at the end of this movie speak a different tune. While I enjoy sequels if they are done the right way, many Resident Evil fans are beginning to wonder when enough will be enough for the series. Still, I agree one more could be made merely because Alice does have some unfinished business and loose ends to tie up before the series can end.

Sony Pictures released Resident Evil: Extinction in U.S. theaters on September 21, 2007. Despite all three films being panned by critics (though this one was not screened prior to its release), the series has grossed hundreds of millions of dollars and many fans seem to like it. Resident Evil: Extinction had the highest grossing income of all the films, which may have been why the powers that be at Sony decided to release the movie in widescreen and Blu-Ray formats as soon as possible. Debuting as one of the first newly released DVDs of 2008, Resident Evil: Extinction will hit shelves on January 1, 2008. Initial pricing for the movie at online retailer Amazon is $16.99 for the widescreen special edition and $26.95 for Blu-Ray.

The Plot
While I do recommend that you know something about the Resident Evil movies up to this point, it is not necessary to see the first two films in the trilogy. I find that it does help to explain what is going on a little better though the film can stand up on its own as an independent zombie flick for those who may not be interested in the back story or the ‘Resident Evil’ aspect to the film. While the first film tried to somewhat follow the plot of the video games, Resident Evil: Extinction as well as Resident Evil: Apocalypse deviate from the original premise of the game franchise. This is partly why fans believe Resident Evil: Extinction works better as an independent zombie flick as opposed to a part of the series.

Resident Evil: Extinction takes up where Resident Evil: Apocalypse left off. At the beginning, Alice (Milla Jovovitch) wakes up in the Spencer Mansion, naked in the shower (déjà vu anyone?). She goes through a series of tests to escape and is eventually killed. We then see that this isn’t Alice. It is actually an Alice clone; one of many who are disposed off once they die. The clone is being used by Dr. Sam Isaacs (Iain Glen) of the Umbrella Corporation though his motives for creating Alice clones are unclear at this point.

The real Alice is racing on a motorcycle across the desert. As she explains, the events at the end of Resident Evil: Apocalypse and the explosion that was meant to contain the T-Virus (which turns humans into zombies who hunger for the taste of human flesh) were unsuccessful. Now, the vast majority of the worldwide population are undead and the few human survivors try to stick together to keep themselves alive.

During her travels, Alice finds a journal from a former survivor who had been corresponding with people around the world. Though the entry is six months old, the isolated, cold Alaskan landscape seemed to be one of the few places unaffected by the virus with virtually no undead if any at all. Alice takes the journal with her and heads out on the open road, which is the only thing she can do.

Meanwhile, the Umbrella Corporation has various underground hives where they are staying until the undead population has been controlled. Their only protection is a massive fence surrounding the perimeter that leads to the house where the underground entryway is hidden. The various corporation heads seem to communicate via holograms and other computer related technology. The overall goal is to find a cure for the T-Virus and get the world repopulated with humans rather than zombies.

To further complicate the storyline, there is a small convoy of survivors who are travelling around in an attempt to survive. The leader of the convoy is Claire Redfield (Ali Larter). The convoy just happens to include Resident Evil: Apocalypse’s Raccoon City survivors, Carlos (Oded Fehr) and LJ (Mike Epps). Other newcomers to the convoy and the Resident Evil franchise are K-Mart (Spencer Locke), a young girl found at K-Mart who wants to start her life over because everyone she knows is dead, and Nurse Betty (Ashanti), who tends to the wounded of the convoy.

When the convoy is attacked by a flock of zombie crows, Alice makes an appearance and shows off how neat her superpowers actually are. From there, she travels with the convoy on the quest to find gas and keep going. The group will be heading to Las Vegas and Alice convinces them that they need to travel to Alaska on the chance the infection has not spread to the isolated north. In the meantime, the White Queen (Madeline Carroll) has informed Dr. Isaacs that they have detected ‘Project Alice’ in the desert. He sets out to find Alice despite Umbrella Corporation not authorizing him to do so until he has a positive identification on Alice. From there, things go amiss in nearly every way they can.

The acting for Resident Evil: Extinction is pretty good. I like Milla. I believe she is underrated. I also really like Ali Larter. She’s a great actress and is good in nearly everything she is in. The film gets even better by adding in Oded Fehr, Iain Glen, and Mike Epps. The movie is quite stunning, visually. It has amazing effects and the direction by Mulcahy seems to lead the film down a very interesting path. While the discussion of the fact that this movie occurs mostly during the day time, it is apparent that Mulcahy and Anderson tried to take Resident Evil: Extinction in a new direction. This movie tosses up everything known about zombie films and throws it into disarray. To be quite honest, this is what I like the most about Resident Evil: Extinction.

Storyline/Plot:
Replayability:
Acting:
Directing:

Audio/Visual:
I reviewed the widescreen edition of Resident Evil: Extinction though it is also available in a Blu-Ray format. Resident Evil: Extinction was transferred at an aspect ratio of 2.40:1 in an anamorphic widescreen format. As you can imagine the quality was outstanding. It was one of the best standard DVDs I’ve seen in terms of visual quality. I didn’t find any compression artifacts though there were some slight issues with edge enhancements during the compression. The colors were vibrant and realistic throughout the movie. Overall, the quality was excellent.

As for the audio, you need to have Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround sound for a movie such as Resident Evil: Extinction. Luckily, that is what is available and it isn’t just offered in English. It is also available in French and Spanish as well. While subtitles are available in all three languages closed captioning is only available in English. Nevertheless, this film has exceptional sound, which just adds to the experience of watching and enjoying this movie!

Visual:
Audio:

Bonus Features:
Resident Evil: Extinction isn’t loaded with bonus features, but it does have some special additions that make this set worth owning. The first feature is audio commentary. I recommend watching this after you’ve seen the film once already. The commentary is with Russell Mulcahy (the director), Paul W.S. Anderson (the writer), and Jeremy Bolt (the producer). There are a few moments where you can actually hear what is going on in the film, but for the most part the three talk consistently. Through the commentary you will get to learn some interesting trivia about the film and the making of it.

From there, Resident Evil: Extinction features a series of deleted scenes. There are eleven scenes that have been deleted for close to ten minutes of viewing. These scenes are not in anamorphic widescreen though they are beautifully shot nonetheless. There is also one featurette included on the Resident Evil: Extinction disc. The featurette is a four-part Making of featurette. The parts of the Making Of are ‘Alice Vision: Preproduction’, ‘The Big Bang: Shooting Resident Evil: Extinction’, ‘Bigger, Faster Stronger: The Undead Evolve’, and ‘Vegas Visual Affects Miniatures’.

The rest of the bonuses on Resident Evil: Extinction include a preview for the CGI-animated Sony Pictures release, Resident Evil: Degeneration and trailers for other movies being released by Sony in the near future. Overall, the bonus offerings weren’t bad, but there easily could have been more to appease fans of the series.

Bonus Features:

Bottom Line:
Resident Evil: Extinction isn’t as bad as most critics are making it out to be. If you liked the first two movies in the trilogy, you will love Resident Evil: Extinction. If you aren’t sure if you will like the series I recommend that you rent a copy of all three movies and watch them, in order, before purchasing any of them. I, personally, liked this movie better than Resident Evil: Apocalypse. If you enjoy my take on movies then this one should be no different. With that in mind, I highly recommend this DVD.

Overall Rating:

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