Very basic genre film that puts the absolute minimum of effort put into character, story, atmosphere and impact

Rating: Null/10 (1 February 2009)

The survivors of Racoon City have fled but the T-virus has moved quicker than anyone could have predicted and soon the entire world has fallen. Humans are not the only ones infected as all the creatures fall as well, destroying ecosystems and leaving little in their place. A small group of survivors travel across the Nevada desert, surviving one day at a time. This group is rescued by Alice, herself working on a plan to get to Alaska where isolation has supposedly protected an area form the T-virus  if only they can evade the infected to get there. This is not their only problem though, as the Umbrella Corporation is working on a treatment for the virus involving Alice's blood and, having located her, are setting out to capture her dead or alive.
Approaching the Resident Evil series of films is a bit like living with an unreformed junkie, which is to say that, when you come home one day and all your stuff has gone then you are probably being naive if you're surprised. So with this third film I already had set my expectations pretty low because it is unfair to expect it to have changed since the other two films. Film three opens up the action into a world destroyed by the T-virus, with small groups of survivors fleeing Racoon City into the desert to live out a Mad Max style existence. It is also unfair to complain about this being "unrealistic" but I'm going to do it anyway but I'm going to do it within the context of the film. You see most films are not "real" situations but the important thing is to create a world that is convincing within the context of the story that you are telling  when you can't do that you leave the viewer on the outside from the very start.
That is what happens here because the development of this world has gone no further than the pitch of "the world is infected and small groups are surviving" and it never really rings true. OK, so this is the first problem but if the rest of it works then maybe this won't matter. The next thing is the actual plot which, as before, has the potential in the shadowy masters of the world (a corporation with their own interests at heart) and the dangers of the infected. Sadly the plot again does little with these other than create a simple little event-driven story that allows for lots of gore and running. Again though, playing devil's advocate, that will be what the majority of people have come to the film for  gore and running. But guess what? Yup, I got another problem here.
You see for me this film should achieve a lot with very little because I am a really easy target. I get easily scared and gripped by the zombie genre due to my fear of their base desire and unrelenting drive to satisfy that desire  even the Nazi Zombie sub-game in COD5 makes my skin crawl. However with Resident Evil 3 I found myself sitting there totally apathetic throughout. The effects were nice and some of the scenes were well conceived even if they were a bit derivative (the crows has a clear inspiration but is still a good sequence). What is missing though is a sense of real danger, a reason to care about the characters and a genuine sense of horror and fear  not gore, but fear. Without these what we have are bloody action sequences that concentrate on just delivering gore to satisfy those who have come for that and that alone. As such the film does do OK and might work as a Friday night DVD for young men staying in with friends and beer.
The cast fit into this because the majority of them know that their roles are just part of genre cliché. Please form an orderly cue: the ethnic tick-boxes, the sexy young women, the one who gets secretly infected, the power-crazed scientist, the sacrificial hero, the non-threatening teen and so on. Jovovich does her usual stuff and prevents herself looking bored even though she has little to work with. Fehr is a rugged and good looking "hero". Ashanti is stunning. Larter is feisty. Glen is thoughtfully nuts. Epps is "comedy" relief and so on. It is not really an actor's film and it shows in their performances, which tick the genre boxes but nothing more.
Resident Evil 3 is not much cop but it does rather depend on your point of view. If you are target audience and happy with the gore being the be all and end all of the film then it will probably do enough to satisfy. For the rest of us though the film is little more than a very basic genre film that ticks the boxes with the absolute minimum of effort put into character, story, atmosphere and impact.