Not as good as Apocalypse, but better than the first film

Rating: 6/10 (28 September 2008)

As a general rule, I'm not a fan of zombie movies per se, so although I thought the first Resident Evil movie was entertaining, I wouldn't say that I'm a fan of the film. However, the sequel Resident Evil: Apocalypse is a personal favourite, because it sneakily switches genres and is essentially a big-budget action movie... that just happens to include zombies. In my humble opinion, Apocalypse was the best action film of 2004, the year it was released. It boasts some highly memorable sequences, in particular the initial confrontation between Alice and Nemesis, which is an incredibly exciting set-piece.
And now we have Extinction, which switches genres again, giving us a post-apocalyptic movie... that just happens to include zombies. The plot is non-existent, the storyline merely consisting of three groups - Alice travelling solo, a convoy of survivors (including L.J. and Carlos from Apocalypse), and employees of the still-villainous Umbrella Corporation - all travelling across the dustbowl that used to be America, occasionally intersecting with each other and trying to avoid having their faces eaten off by the walking dead. Don't expect any characterisation either. The cast do their best, but have nothing to work with, other than reacting to events by looking anxious, frightened, angry, determined or sorrowful. The only major new face is Ali Larter, who at least gets to channel Sarah Connor.
Extinction is helmed by Russell Mulcahy, who I consider to be hugely talented and much overlooked. His previous films include Razorback, Highlander, The Shadow, Blue Ice, Resurrection, Silent Trigger, and Highlander II: The Quickening (which was sunk by a truly awful script - but there was nothing wrong with Mulcahy's direction). Unfortunately, Extinction lacks Mulcahy's distinctive stamp, although the set-pieces are carried out with plenty of visual flair. The only real disappointment is that the battle between Alice and end-of-level baddie Tyrant starts very promisingly but is over far too quickly. The reappearance of certain key elements from the first film (the laser grid being the most obvious example) may bring the trilogy full circle, but it's clearly a blatant attempt at pleasing the series' fans. Such a tactic smacks of desperation and dangerously flirts with becoming annoying. That said, I loved the scene in which Alice meets the White Queen, sister A.I. to the Red Queen from the original movie.