Resident Evil: Extinction

Our ass-kicking heroin, Alice, makes one last stand in the latest "Resident Evil" appropriately followed by "Extinction". She provides for some spectacular eye candy all the while slicing and dicing her way through the walking dead in an attempt to destroy the T-Virus from further spreading. Aside from Milla Jovovich, the film gives light to both new and familiar faces. Audience favorite, Oded Fehr returns as well as Mike Epps who were both moderately significant characters in the previous installment. Ali Larter, who recently did a turn on the hit television show "Heroes" also makes a lasting impression on the audience with her gorgeous appearance and stiff personality. Unfortunately, with such great talent provided by a fairly well known set of actors, "Resident Evil: Extinction" ventures from the once exceptionally well-constructed back story and presents us with a concept that is both misleading and often irritating.

Paul W. Anderson, the infamous brains behind the entire franchise, wrote the script and Russell Mulcahy directed. If Mulcahy doesn't strike you as familiar, take a moment to think back on the cult-classic "Highlander" which established an incredibly large fan base and spawned a long-series of utterly worthless sequels. Fortunately, the over all style present in the first "Highlander" film is a significant quality in "Extinction", yet it's about the only element that proves to be beneficial as far as the film stands as a whole. The script was still at the hands of Anderson thus the premise is saturated and the dialogue is just plain stale.

Though the idea was introduced back in the first picture, "Extinction" elaborates more on the infected-animal scenario which shifts from the familiar canines to a large flock of crows. What could have been a potentially and visually enticing element ends up being a mere waste. The CGI effects are ridiculously cheesy and utterly disappointing. Nevertheless, the film contains various other effects that are extremely appealing to the eyes. The entire set consisting of Las Vegas being entirely flooded with sand is spectacular and the screen time Alice does get to shred through the walking dead proves to be one of the more entertaining aspects of the film.

The first segment is promising, however, in the end the film devours itself in useless sub-plots and a horribly delivered climax that was obviously rushed. The various scenes involving the Umbrella Cooperation are entirely unnecessary and more or less a poor attempt to fill in on some of the noticeably empty holes in the story-line. Overall, it's an entertaining zombie flick, yet the concept is definitely recycled and inevitably tiresome. Don't waste a penny seeing this thing theatrically, but it maybe worth checking out on DVD.