Resident Evil: Extinction

So on Saturday night I threw in the Resident Evil: Extinction DVD. And you know what? It wasn't that bad for a B-movie. I was raised on a steady diet of B-fair so I'm especially forgiving of any movie that is post apocalyptic, or features zombies, or has lots of pointless explosions and gunplay, or clunky dialogue, or features hot chicks kicking ass. And let me tell ya, RE: Extinction has all of those things in abundance. This movie is like a weird mash-up of Day of the Dead and The Road Warrior, though a lot dumber than either of those and not nearly as compelling. Though it's shot well with lots of moving cameras, long lenses, helicopter and crane shots it's edited like Lil Jon's "Throw It Up" video. The movie starts a few years after the second one and the world has gone to hell. The T-virus has turned most of the global population into zombies and the world into a desert. Who knew there was a link between the undead and global warming? Paging Al Gore (there's a zombie joke somewhere in there but I'm just too tired to find it). Anyway, Alice (the lovely Milla Jovovich) is wandering around the southwest United States in brown leather chaps  with her new Jedi Powers (don't ask) and hooks up with a convoy of survivors (I told you they were aping The Road Warrior) and the stripper chick from Heroes. She must save the survivors, overcome her Umbrella programing (she might be a robot??) and slice and dice some guy in a rubber suit. Will she? Guess.

As a side note, Russell Mulcahy, the director of Highlander directed this. I'm genuinely glad this guy is still working as Highlander was one of my seminal films growing up and I consider it a classic (and no I am not being facetious).

Can I recommend it? Well, if you have any inkling to see it, go ahead and see it. You probably won't be too disappointed. If you disliked the previous two or the trailer looked beyond tedious to you, skip it. This movie is definitely for a specific audience, and that ain't you, baby blue.

You almost have to admire Paul Anderson, the guy who wrote and produced all three Resident Evil films and directed the first one. He had the tenacity to keep churning these things out despite the critical drubbing and the low box office. Maybe he has a passion for the material like Peter Jackson had for the Lord of the Rings, so he continues to poop these films out every couple of years. It's kind of sad but kind of life affirming at the same time. And by the way, if you were expecting the series to be done, because this was the third film in a trilogy and all movies aspire to be trilogies these days, guess again. The ending is left wide open and nothing is resolved. Expect another one of these gems in a couple years. These movies must be a way for the mob to launder money. Oh well, bully for us. Poop on Mr. Anderson, I'll be watching.