Written by: Paul W. S. Anderson
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Oded Fehr, Ali Larter, Iain Glen, Ashanti, Mike Epps
Rating: [3/5]
Dwindling hope and population creates a feeding ground for desperation to take root in everyone remaining. Something proved by the actions taken by the characters in the best of the Resident Evil films with Extinction. A feature fully embracing the main character exists as a superhero and creating a world showing the very best of humanity and the continued evils of a corporation.
With the T-virus no longer just contained to Raccoon City and spreading worldwide, the majority of the planet has gone barren of every form of life with the undead ruling much of it. This leaves the lone Alice (Milla Jovovich) traveling to find survivors and make something of a world devoid of any life.
Following the T-virus’s inevitable worldwide spread, instead of everything happening in a densely populated space a like a city, Extinction goes the route of showing a world where humanity has been nearly exterminated. Instead of busy streets of people who have turned into zombies, the narrative shifts to a more barren landscape with Alice trying to find others. The film opens by showing the depravity of some remaining humans, as many stories about zombies have displayed but then we see a group of survivors who have managed to stick together and try to survive without taking out others in the process. Alice interacts with both and each end in the way you would expect.
From having some awesome abilities in the first two films, with this feature Alice goes straight-up superhero in this third installment with her abilities. The reason why she continues to evolve remains a mystery but it allows for some of the better action sequences this entire franchise has to offer. From the scene where she takes out a sea of crows and when she goes berserk on some mutated zombies with some knives, this shows Alice at her absolute apex in how she has bonded with the T-virus. It can get a bit ridiculous at times, but at this point, you know what you will get from these films.
As laughable as it may seem, this feature also shows the Umbrella Corporation beginning to show a level of decency and a sliver of care for humanity absent in the previous installments. Instead of simply trying to continue to use the T-virus for their ends, we have Dr. Alexander Isaacs (Iain Glen) tasked with finding a cure that could reverse effects. Sure, they’re still evil after all so they must gain something from it and they take the most ghoulish approach, but it almost warms the heart they would try and actually do something that will benefit what remains of humanity and not just what lines their pocket. At the very least the intention exists, but how it all plays out remains to be seen, especially when it comes to Dr. Isaacs and what he has in store.
Seemingly introducing a new batch of characters with each passing film, Extinction introduces us to Claire Redfield (Ali Larter), who proves to be a capable ally for Alice in the way she leads a convoy of survivors along with the returning Carlos Oliviera (Oded Fehr) and L.J. (Mike Epps). They have quite the unit and show the greatness of humanity even in these ultimately trying times. This convoy essentially serves as the last hope of humanity traveling in a group of multiple vehicles from town to town trying to find food and simply survive. It certainly gives Alice something to continue to fight and live for amongst the vast nothingness remaining in the world.
Having this endless desert serve as the backdrop of this film creates an outlander feel to Resident Evil: Extinction that makes it feel unique amongst the other films. It has Alice operating at her most powerful and taking on a villain with some very evil intentions and carrying it out in some horrific ways. It all culminates in some of the best action the film series has to offer and the one with the highest quality as a film overall, which quite honestly does not have the highest bar to clear. Extremely enjoyable and injects a sense of hope in a world completely lacking it at this point.
Films with Josh 
