An interesting film with an interesting idea but...

Rating: 7/10 (2 November 2007)

OK, I'll start straight away by commenting on the positives, the most obvious of which being that this film is miles better than it's predecessor- Resident Evil: Apocalypse- and does well to keep in line with the games- to a certain extent (obviouisly I'm not including plot in this but the general atmosphere and mood works relatively well.) However, here comes the moan and boy is it a moan? The major problem with this film is that it does absolutely nothing to advance on the plot established in the first two films and acts more as a "filler" of more to come. The plot itself is weak and some of the ideas come across as highly optimistic- i.e. The producers expected a lot more when they wrote them down than when they were actually filmed and put into practise- but, at the same time, it doesn't go off on too many confusing tangents and keeps itself simple which leads to a fun film that is a nice break from some of the mentally taxing jargon that the film industry spouts out these days. As ever, Milla Jovovich plays the character of Alice (or should that be the characters of Alice?) pretty well and keeps the viewers entertained just enough to allow the film some sustainability. The action scenes are graphically very attractive and there are numerous chills and thrills to keep the film alive just enough. Of course, the open ending- which would have been far better had they added another 20 minutes and then let it end properly- is there to allow room for "Resident Evil: Not so extinction after all" and it's sequel "Resident Evil: Oh look, the dead are walking once again" but it is fun and worth seeing, particularly for fans of the game (even though the film has very little to do with any of the games).