Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)

When we are taught the importance of recycling, we are not supposed to recycle something from before. Sitting through this movie is like watching recycled material: we have watched the previous installment, and cannot find something new to captivate us. There is no reason to make a sequel without implementing some reasoning into the situation that relates to the last incidence. If the actors were going to reprise their roles in a movie that lacks something new, they would have probably demanded more for their paycheck. If they didn't, they would have probably called it quits, and the movie would not have proceeded ahead.

So just like its predecessor Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), we have to sit through a series of opening credits. Suddenly, we cut to Alice's eye, as if we have seen this too frequently already. Then I see the next sequence of events, as if I was not watching a sequel, but the first movie. These people definitely did not seem to come up with anything new at all. Alice awakens in the shower cubicle, and then <blah, blah, blah>. It seems as if they copied this section of footage and pasted it into this movie. But it later turns out that she was just a clone (as if I have forgotten that since the end of the movie), but not the only clone. Several clones had undergone a seemingly pointless training exercise. One clone dies, another is created from her blood. And believe me, this scene is gruesome.

These clones have been treated as worthless models. Human life has now become toys to be experimented on by Umbrella.

 

So the undead are now in their worst state since the previous movie. They look like the real deal unlike before. 

So after the badly edited panning out, the title shows up and so does Alice's narration.

So let me get this right: the T-virus has been able to spread from Raccoon City despite the decimation by nuclear destruction. The outbreak spread so quickly that it eventually kills life on the Americas, before eventually the other continents on the earth and reducing the earth to a desert planet. This is one lame excuse to continue this series with no real justification, plot or strong writing. This rubbish writing might cause one to not even continue this review, since nothing new suffices and cannot captivate us.

 

 So the real Alice is on the move, and then she stops at this radio station. A side story ensues, and then it ends as, just like the previous movie, contributes nothing to the entire movie. Do I really need to discuss this side story? Maybe I do. Alice finds a woman in distress, only to find out that it was just a snare. She is about to be violated, and then pulls off the deadliest kick in cinema history. 

 

This is completely unconvincing. To kick someone like this cannot possibly kill this guy or result in this much blood loss. Was she even wearing something sharp in her shoe? Possibly. And what have these guys been eating in this wilderness? 

So now she is on the road again. What does she have in mind? Traveling nonstop staying alive. What we need now is more narration. Thankfully there is none.

 

What is this zombie doing? Sucking on this corpse's nipple? Disgusting.

These kids do not seem to keep their windows closed to protect themselves from possible infection. Damn stupid.

  

 

Clair Redfield's convoy are on the move, too. Their current issue now is the decline in the availability of cigarettes. Carlos and L.J. are part of the group, and one would ask how they and Alice separated. We saw in the previous film that they picked up Alice from Umbrella's laboratory. Along them were Angela and Valentine. So what happened?

 

And look who decided to join the crowd. Ashanti, who plays Betty. 

So now we are taken to Umbrella's underground fortress, and they show us computerized schematics just like the first film. A community meeting is underway, and it appears that these directors show disdain in taking shelter underground. Why they want to return to the surface is beyond me. The earth is a wasteland, and there is nothing so promising up there. And Dr. Isaacs explains that he has been cloning models of Alice because the original Alice disappeared. In the last movie, he allowed her to leave, now here he is complaining. Does this git have no way of prioritizing? 

 

So Alice makes another stop over to find fuel. She finds nothing, but goes into the store for no reason but to push this story forward and avoid any more side stories. Conveniently, she receives radio broadcast from Claire's convoy, thus bringing the story into motion.

Back to the convoy. They find a motel in hope of finding something useful. I thought at this point he turns out more serious than previously, but he attempts a comic relief in a situation of this sort. But comic relief is no requisite as he and Carlos has to scour the room for any danger. Monsters appear and L.J. is bitten by a second bio-hazard after killing the first. So L.J. is going to turn into a bio-hazard.

Meanwhile Dr. Isaacs is conducting his research on bio-hazards. This scene would probably be one of the most laughable in this movie, for reasons I will show rather than explain to you.

This monster can handle a phone and a camera, but he cannot comprehend a child's toy. You guys spoke too soon. Dr. Isaacs is cruel enough to lock his scientists with the monster, so as to create more test subjects.

This guy thinks he knows what's in a can without opening it. A dying art? You're joking.

I am getting to the point where reviewing a movie that recycles plot devices from its predecessors, grows dull and tedious.

Who's this A.I.? The White Queen? This movie series seems to have derived ideas from Alice In Wonderland: Alice, the red queen, and the white queen. And just like the Red Queen, the White Queen is played by a British young girl. Nothing seems new at all.

Her powers have grown. Alice loses her motorcycle and now has to walk endlessly. I hope she has water to support her travail in this intense heat.

 

Now this is indeed scary. These crows are infected from having ingested flesh of the undead. But I cannot be sure how so many have done so having already learned that the undead 'could be active for decades,' and that there are too few people to kill them. But at least somethings different. Nobody must move a muscle or make any sudden noise. I would be quick to ridicule these birds for not attacking sooner even though they can clearly see the people inside the vehicles, but it must be acknowledged that species of birds that fly high are longsighted. So they only reacted upon the sound of an empty Pepsi can hitting the floor.

I think it was better if these two did not leave the ambulance for the bus and shoot at the birds in the air. It wastes ammo and exposes them to significant harm.

Thank you, coincidence. Alice happens to be strolling about in the desert when she discovers a cloud of crows in the air. She goes to find out what it implies, and she soon shows something special about herself.

It looks spectacular, Alice has grown more powerful by the day. She saves these people in the nick of time. She could spread the flames and extinguish the feral birds in no time.

As if this movie has to degrade further into incoherence. Isaacs is cloning Alice; one clone after another improves her knowledge and survival skills of the test grid, but for what purpose exactly?

It is now revealed why Alice deserted Carlos and the rest: she is tracked by Umbrella and could not be a magnet for trouble. So she evaded the satellite system, but how is that possible? There is no way she could have taken cover in a medium which disrupts electromagnetic waves. I'm beginning to wonder if this movie holds any real logic.
So now the convoy is diminishing and they need a new plan. It is time to head to Alaska, where it is alleged that it is free from infection. This sounds very familiar; does 28 Days Later sound familiar? This movie resorts to ripping off this British movie as a last resort to make this movie have something different to latch on to.

As if the stupidity of this movie couldn't evolve, we now have a glimpse of the world's monuments in Nevada desert. Was this director on LSD when he was discussing on production values? This is something that not even a child could conceive.

Has the T-virus slowed down since the last movie? It appears the virus does not strike as quickly as it used to. And just like before, nobody wants to kill one of their own even if they are obviously turning into a bio-hazard. That's human nature for you.

The group scour for fuel, but find a container. It happens to be housing a pack of bio-hazards. One would ask what those things were doing in there, who put them there, and how they could have survived so long in there. It must be another attempt to create excitement after long hours of growing boredom. Surprisingly, the hatch opens even though no one pried it open and then the monsters are unleashed. Beware of shaky camera angles and flying blood splattering on the lenses. These monsters were so busy chasing the grown-ups that they do not take happen to find the children hidden in a truck with inadequate protection. Those kids must be lucky.

 

Look at that. Dr. Isaacs orders Alice be shut down in the midst of the slaughter. How cold can he get. On top of that, he wants to kill her and collect her blood, even after five years of evading the satellite grid.

Claire is so passive that she does not shoot at the monsters before they grab Mikey and feed on him. In fact no one can coordinate their own actions and alert their own of imminent danger in good time.

Carlos is bitten by L.J. So that's when you decide to kill him after more than two days.

 

These monsters are intelligent enough to answer to a call, but not enough to evade decapitation. Amusing, isn't it?

As you can recall, Umbrella have installed some kind of software to see what Alice can see. However they are so thick that they wait for Alice to march to their tent and lay waste to them instead of just shooting her down. They never think and act quickly at all.

The bio-hazard heads for Isaacs from his left, yet Isaacs did not even see it coming.

This henchman decides to blow this monster away just after Isaacs is bitten by the monster. Thanks loads for nothing.

Let's have some slow motion for no purpose at all. It is also a good thing you didn't shoot at it because you now need it to get to Alaska.

Isaacs is infected and injects heavy doses of the antivirus. He mentions that Alice's blood (come again?) has increases the strength of the infection. It was mentioned that the new strain of the antivirus was synthesized from Alice's DNA or blood or something, and that he has been injecting it into the test subjects. I think he was the one who dumped them on the surface and sealed them in the container, conveniently in a place where the convoy was heading to. He does not acknowledge that he is just exacerbating the virility by doing this, until something worse is triggered.

Look at this. Isaacs is on the offense and the security men just stand there and watch until they too are wasted. Where do they get these guys, anyway? 

So let me cut the long story short. Carlos plows through the army of undead so that Alice can break into the facility. He dies in the process. Alice confronts the now mutated Isaacs. they throw each other with their new-found powers until they end up in the same laser chamber. Isaacs is cut up into pieces while Alice is saved by her clone whom she thought died. Alice announces her impending assault at Umbrella's Tokyo Headquarters, bringing along her "friends". the movie closes with a gallery of her clones in spherical chambers.

As if I myself sound repetitive, this movie is not at all anymore of an improvement over the last movie. It makes no sense, it has no plot, the actors here are just for the paycheck, this is nothing more than to capitalize on the popularity of the game. Nothing here is worth looking at. Nothing here is worth the money. It is just an example of where recycling is not of utmost importance but the film makers just continue with their lack of aspirations. If you like this movie, fine. I would not discourage you if you think this movie has some redeeming qualities. Go for it if you like it.

This movie was directed by Russell Mulcahy.