Resident Evil Extinction 2007 Second Sequel Film
The T-Virus has Escaped and the World has become a Scorched Desert
Oct 4, 2009
Despite the destruction of Raccoon City the lethal T-Virus has escaped. In a few short months the world has been transformed into a scorched desert as the oceans dried up. The population has been turned into zombies and the scattered survivors have to keep on the move to stay alive.
Resident Evil Extinction is the second sequel to 2002’s Resident Evil. It shares similarities with the games that it is based upon with one of the main enemies being a huge creature called a Tyrant. Several members of the cast from Resident Evil Apocalypse reprise their roles and there are new cast additions. Several of the new characters featured in the film are lifted from the game series.
The End of the World
Alice (Milla Jovovich returning from the previous two films) has separated herself from the other survivors of Raccoon City. She lives alone and leads a nomadic lifestyle. During a voice over she explains that the world is dying as the virus dried up the oceans and turned the population into mindless zombies.
Meanwhile a convoy that includes Carlos Olivera and L.J. (Oded Fehr and Mike Epps both reprising their roles from Apocalypse) along with Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) is passing through Nevada.
In the wake of the T-Virus’ escape only members of the Umbrella Corporation have survived in several underground Hive-like facilities. Dr. Sam Isaacs (Iain Glen reprising his cameo from Apocalypse) works to capture Alice because he believes that her blood is the key to finding a cure for the T-Virus and taming the infected.
Post-Apocalypse
In the previous two films the focus was a localised infection, first contained within the Hive, and then later a city. Extinction pulls no punches and claims that the entire world is now a scorched desert; however, the film is set in Nevada which is a desert anyway. The concept of an apocalyptic wasteland gives the film makers so many opportunities for spectacular yet horrifying scenes. Seeing the Eiffel Tower or the Golden Gate Bridge consumed by a desert would have had a far greater impact than Las Vegas.
In addition, it seems that some of the typical zombie film clichés are present. Alice runs into a group of hillbillies that lure her to their hiding place in order to rape and kill her. There always seems to be a group like that in any post-apocalyptic world, so the point of including the sequence doesn’t add anything to the genre or film.
There are many times when the film doesn’t make much sense. One of the members of convoy is infected and slowly begins to turn, but no one notices. Surely after surviving a world in which the dead have come back to life the members of the convoy would have learned how to recognise the signs that someone has been bitten. The members of the convoy are also seen to shoot attacking zombies in the chest when only shooting them in the head effectively neutralises them. Again, surely they would have learned how to kill a zombie. And, once again Alice squares off against a big monster towards the end.
There is nothing about Extinction that pushes the boundaries of the zombie genre. Alice has developed additional powers since Apocalypse but for the most part she cannot use them or Umbrella will find her. The Umbrella Corporation itself has also descended into a stereotypical evil entity that is full of villains who would be more at home in a Saturday morning cartoon.
Other survivors from Apocalypse are also absent. Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory) a reccurring character in the game franchise is nowhere to be seen here. Apparently she was due to return but Guillory had signed on to star in Eragon so could not reprise her role. Still there is no mention of Jill by any of the other characters so it is up to the audience to decide her fate. In addition Angela (Sophie Vavasseur), the girl Alice and the others rescued from Raccoon City in exchange for her father helping them to escape, is also absent without explanation.
The sequence in which the convoy is attacked by undead crows is suitably chilling as people are pecked to death by hundreds of crazed birds. Unfortunately there are simply not enough sequences like it that which can lift Extinction above a hundred other zombie films out there.
3/5
An average zombie film that doesn’t add anything to the genre or the Resident Evil franchise. It is possible that another film is on the way but this should be where this particular movie franchise dies.
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