| Resident Evil: Extinction | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Russell Mulcahy |
| Written by | Paul W. S. Anderson |
| Based on | Resident Evil byCapcom |
| Produced by |
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| Starring | |
| Cinematography | David Johnson |
| Edited by | Niven Howie |
| Music by | Charlie Clouser |
Production companies | |
| Distributed by |
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Release dates |
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Running time | 94 minutes |
| Countries | |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $45 million[4] |
| Box office | $147.7 million[1][5] |
Resident Evil: Extinction is a 2007action horror film directed byRussell Mulcahy and written byPaul W. S. Anderson. A direct sequel toResident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), it is the third installment in theResident Evil film series, which is loosely based on theCapcomsurvival horrorvideo game series of the same name. The film follows the heroineAlice (Milla Jovovich), along with a group of survivors fromRaccoon City, as they attempt to travel across theMojave desert wilderness toAlaska and escape azombie apocalypse.[6]
In November 2005,Screen Gems gained the rights for the third installment in the franchise, which was then subtitledExtinction. Anderson returned as a writer, and filming took place inMexico with Mulcahy as the director.
Resident Evil: Extinction was released in the United States on September 21, 2007, and was released in the United Kingdom on October 12, 2007, bySony Pictures Releasing. TheDVD andBlu-ray versions were released in North America on January 1, 2008. Like its predecessors, the film received generally negative reviews from critics but was a box office success, grossing $147.7 million worldwide against a $45 million budget. A fourth film,Resident Evil: Afterlife, was released in 2010.
A cloned Alice wakes up in a mansion, wanders through its halls, and is forced to escape severalsecurity traps. However, she is eventually killed by abounding mine hidden on the floor. Her body is dumped into a pit filled with dozens of other Alice clones, representing the failed results of theUmbrella Corporation's ongoing Project Alice.
Five years after Umbrella's attempts to cover up the contamination of Raccoon City,[a] the T-virus has spread around the world, causing ecological destruction to all life. The real Alice wanders the wasteland and, after fighting off marauders, discovers information in an abandoned notebook referring to an supposedly uninfected area inAlaska.
Simultaneously, a convoy of survivors led byClaire Redfield and Raccoon City survivorsCarlos Oliveira and L.J. Wade travels across the country in search of supplies and safe harbor. While searching a motel, L.J. is bitten by a zombie. Fearing the harsh fate that awaits him, he chooses not to tell the other survivors about the injury. The next morning, the convoy is attacked by a murderous flock of infected crows. With the team nearly overwhelmed, Alice appears and destroys the remaining crows with her newfoundtelekinesis, though she falls unconscious. Awaking shortly thereafter, Alice is introduced to Claire and tells her about the notebook, convincing her to take the convoy to Alaska.
Isaacs' attempts to domesticate the infected lead to creating a new zombie breed.Albert Wesker's security officer, Captain Alexander Slater, reports on Isaacs' disregard for Umbrella regulations. Wesker tasks Slater with watching Isaacs, telling him to kill the scientist if he disobeys orders again. Tracing an energy pattern sent out by Alice's telekinesis, Umbrella triangulates her location. Desperate to reclaim Alice to achieve his goals, Dr. Isaacs sends his new zombies to ambush the convoy against Wesker's specific orders. During the attack, most of the convoy is killed, and L.J. succumbs to his infection, biting Carlos before he kills him. Umbrella tries to shut Alice down remotely, but she breaks free from Umbrella's programming and continues to fight. She finds Isaacs at the scene, and he is bitten as he flees via helicopter. Alice and a girl from Claire's convoy named K-mart use Isaacs' computer to track the helicopter's flight path, leading them to Umbrella's underground facility.
As the convoy arrives at the Umbrella Facility, Carlos, dying from his bite, sets out to sacrifice himself, giving some goodbyes to the convoy, including Alice. Carlos takes a tanker truck with dynamite to destroy the zombie horde blocking the entrance to the Umbrella Facility. The dynamite explodes, killing him. Alice and Claire get everyone else onto a helicopter to get them to safety, but Alice stays behind.
Entering the underground facility, Alice meets a holograph of theRed Queen's "sister"AI, the White Queen. She informs Alice that her blood can cure the T-virus, defends the Red Queen's prior actions, and reveals what happened to Dr. Isaacs. On her way to the lab's lower levels, Alice encounters one of her clones, which awakens but appears to die from shock soon after. Alice discovers Isaacs/Tyrant, defeating him after leading him to the replica of The Hive's laser corridor featured in the film's opening. Just as Alice is about to meet the same fate, the system is deactivated by the clone, who is still alive.
Later inTokyo, Wesker informs his fellow Umbrella executives that the North American facility has been lost. Alice appears during the meeting, declaring that she and her "friends" (the other clones) are coming for him.
Resident Evil: Extinction was first discussed byResident Evil franchise writer Paul W. S. Anderson afterResident Evil: Apocalypse opened at number one at the USbox office in 2004, earning more than$23.7 million dollars on its opening weekend.[7] Anderson told SciFi Wire that he would like to oversee a third installment,[8][9] under the original title ofResident Evil: Afterlife. Shortly after, the film and another planned sequel were officially announced bySonyScreen Gems on June 13, 2005.[6][10]
On November 7, 2005, Screen Gems acquired multiple distribution rights including North America,[11] with the film's title being changed fromResident Evil: Afterlife toResident Evil: Extinction.[6] Impressed withRussell Mulcahy's work onHighlander,Highlander II: The Quickening,The Shadow andRicochet, Anderson signed Mulcahy on as director, stating: "Russell pioneered a very distinct visual style, a lot of moving camera and crane work, lots of very fast cutting. He's got a very cool eye and sees great ways to shoot. His work certainly had a big influence on me as a filmmaker and that's why I was very excited to work with him on this movie."[6]
On June 12, 2005,Milla Jovovich was announced to reprise her role as the heroineAlice.[10] In an interview with BlackFilm.com on September 9, 2005,Mike Epps confirmed that he would be reprising his role fromResident Evil: Apocalypse as L.J. Wade, noting that: "Black people die in these movies and [Anderson] was like, 'Well Mike, I kinda like you.' So then I asked him, 'Are you setting me up to die because if there's a fourth movie, I'm as good as dead.'"[12]Sienna Guillory was planned to reprise her role asJill Valentine; however, she passed on the role, citing commitments toEragon.[13][14] On May 9, 2006,Oded Fehr was confirmed to reprise his role ofCarlos Oliveira, as well asIain Glen,Spencer Locke andAshanti Douglas who were added to the cast. It was rumored thatDebra Marshall was originally cast asCindy Lennox. However, it was proven to be only a rumor.[15]Chris Redfield was rumored to appear in the film portrayed byAustralian actorCharlie Clausen, andLeon S. Kennedy was also rumored to be played byJensen Ackles.[16]
The film's story takes place inDeath Valley, where the large scale action sequences take place amid post-apocalyptic landscapes of Las Vegas in broad daylight. Drawing inspirations fromWestern films andpost-apocalyptic movies, including theMad Max series,Extinction manages to reference such predecessors, with plot elements revolving around theshortage of oil, the shortage of supplies, aconvoy traveling across a desert and the desert taking over civilized land.[6]
Anderson stated that the film's story is original, and unfolds in a world that fans of the game recognize: "It's all part of trying to deliver a movie-going experience that satisfies the fans of the game but also provides a fun cinematic experience for a broader audience that has never played aResident Evil game."[6] The story takes place five years after the events ofResident Evil: Apocalypse. While previous installments in the series had minor changes to plot and characters,Extinction branches completely away from the video game series, as evidenced by the fact thatResident Evil 4 takes place six years after the events portrayed inResident Evil 2, and the world has not become overrun with zombies. References toCode: Veronica are made, such as the replica mansion and the viral outbreak itself.[6] A common element used throughout eachResident Evil film is the climactic battle, which occurs in the finale.[6]Extinction marked the first appearance of herbs, a healing item in the video game series, as seen in Dr. Isaac's lab,[6] and it also referenced thefirst film with the inclusion of a replicaHive facility, patterned after the one inRaccoon City, the Raccoon City Hospital, a holographic computer database known as the White Queen and the replica Spencer Mansion.[6]
Numerous references to the video game series have been made, including zombies being unleashed through a T-virus mutation. While the concept of the undead remains the same, this film includes the "Super Undead". As Anderson explains, these are "a result of Umbrella experimenting with the Undead and attempting to give them back some of their reasoning power, some of their intelligence and a little of their humanity. Unfortunately, these experiments don't quite work and the side effect is the Super Undead, which are Undead that are faster, stronger and [a] more cunning foe."[6] Other creatures from the video game series have also made appearances in the film, including the Tyrant, a swarm of crows and a pack ofDobermans (althoughBelgian Shepherd Dogs were used during production).[6]
Two main characters were added to the film's cast:Albert Wesker (portrayed byJason O'Mara) andClaire Redfield (portrayed byAli Larter) fromResident Evil 2.[6]
Horror magazineFangoria featured the film in its August 2007 issue, and also on the cover of its September 2007 issue, talking with director Russell Mulcahy. The following details reported were inaccurate, possibly indicating to a change in the storyline:
Resident Evil: Extinction beganprincipal photography inMexicali,Baja California, Mexico[19] in May 2006[20] after filming locations had to be changed from theAustralian Outback to Mexico, causing production dates to be pushed back repeatedly from November 2005 to May 2006.[10] Numerous sets were designed by production designerEugenio Caballero, includingUmbrella's underground laboratory, theLas Vegas Strip, theNew York-New York Hotel & Casino,Paris Las Vegas, Realto Ponte,Luxor Hotel and the replica of the Spencer Mansion.[6] The film enteredpost-production in late July 2006, with details about production being kept secret,[21][22] and with the film'sspecial effects being covered byTatopoulos Studios and Mr. X Inc., both of whom worked on the film adaptation ofSilent Hill (2006).
In late June 2006, Sony released the film's first two production stills, which included Alice wearing a costume designed by her fashion companyJovovich–Hawk,[6] as well as Claire Redfield.[23]
The film'steaser trailer was shown withGhost Rider on February 16, 2007, and was structured in the same manner of the "Regenerate" teaser trailer forApocalypse.[24] The film's website was launched by Sony on February 17, 2007, with confirmation of its September 21, 2007 release date.
The film's teaser poster was leaked onto the internet via afansite in May 2007,[25] before appearing onIGN,[26] whereas a German website leakedconcept art forExtinction, including vehicle and numerous set designs.[27] The film'stheatrical trailer premiered onYahoo! Movies in late July 2007,[28] withNBC releasing several scenes, including the crow attack sequence.[29] The social networking websiteMyspace also featured numerous clips of four of the main characters—Claire Redfield,[30]Carlos Oliveira,[31]Nurse Betty[32] andAlice.[33] The official website forExtinction launched anonline game titledResident Evil: Extinction – Online Convoy Game in August 2007.[34] On September 12, 2007, Sony released numerous promotional clips and television spots,[35] and on September 17, 2007, the film's soundtrack was released, whereas the film's score was released on December 18, 2007.
On July 31, 2007, a full two months before the film's release, a novelization byKeith R. A. DeCandido was published.[citation needed] At 368 pages, it is the longest of all of theResident Evil novels. DeCandido also wrote the novelizations of thefirst (subtitled asGenesis) andsecond films.
The Japanese version uses "Last Angel" byKoda Kumi as theImage song.[36]
Resident Evil: Extinction was released on DVD,UMD, and high-definitionBlu-ray Disc in North America on January 1, 2008. A Blu-ray release of theResident Evil trilogy, featuring the three films in one package, was also released on January 1. A three-disc DVD set of theResident Evil trilogy was also made available in 2008.[37] Milla Jovovich and Oded Fehr filmed a commentary while Jovovich was pregnant, which Fehr expected to be shown "in a little square box in the corner" of the Blu-ray version.[38] The DVD and Blu-ray versions of the film showed previews forResident Evil: Degeneration, a trailer ofDevil May Cry 4 and a video ofResident Evil 5.[39]Resident Evil: Extinction was released on DVD in Australia on February 13, 2008,[40] and in the UK on the February 18, 2008.[41]
Resident Evil: Extinction was the number one movie at the North American box office on its opening weekend, grossing $23 million in 2,828 theaters, averaging $8,372 per theater. As of January 1, 2008, the film had grossed $50,648,679 domestically, and $97 million internationally, for a worldwide total of $148.4 million.[1]
OnRotten Tomatoes it has an approval rating of 24% based on 101 reviews, with an average rating of 4.4/10. The site's critics consensus reads: "Resident Evil: Extinction is more of the same; its few impressive action sequences unable to compensate for the pedestrian plot."[42] On Metacritic it has a score of 41 out of 100, based on reviews from twelve critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews".[43] Audiences surveyed byCinemaScore gave the film a grade B− on scale of A to F.[44]
Steven Hyden ofThe Onion′sA.V. Club said that "the movie delivers some simple-minded thrills" and praised the "solidly effective killer-ravens sequence" but felt the film was too predictable, saying: "Anybody who has ever seen a zombie movie can figure out what happens next. Somebody will get bit without telling the others, which will inevitably backfire. Survivors will be forced to shoot suddenly undead friends in the head. One of them dastardly science folk will protect the monsters in order to study them, which will also inevitably backfire. And legions of undead will be re-killed in surprisingly easy fashion."[45]
Kevin Crust ofThe Los Angeles Times praised the film, saying that "the story and characters are surprisingly engaging, with fight scenes and scares effectively placed between plot turns" although he felt that the ending was too "open-ended".[46] Scott Brown ofEntertainment Weekly said thatExtinction "plays like a flabby middle chapter, full of nerdy details but fraudulently short on the ruined Vegas-scape that ads have been promising."[47] Jack Mathews of theNew York Daily News gave the film a score of one and a half stars out of five, calling the action scenes "monotonous" and urging audiences to "flee this yawn of the dead."[48]Helen O'Hara ofEmpire gaveExtinction a score of two out of five, but said that the film was "better thanResident Evil: Apocalypse" and had "an effectively creepy empty world setting"."[49]
Frank Scheck says that as the film is "fast-paced and filled with brisk action sequences", it should "reasonably satisfy the devotees."[50]Maitland McDonagh ofTV Guide gave the film a score of two and a half stars out of four, saying: "Equal partsMad Max andDay of the Dead, [Extinction] is no less derivative than its predecessors but moves along at a brisk clip."[51] Pete Vonder Haar ofFilm Threat gaveExtinction a score of three out of five, saying that the film had "rather lazy pacing", but added that "the way Anderson keeps upping the ante with regard to Alice's ultimate fate continues to amuse."[52]
A common complaint was the noticeable digitalairbrushing on many close-up shots of Jovovich's face, which many reviewers found bizarre or unnecessary.[53][54][55] The film won theGolden Trailer Award for Best Action Poster and was nominated for Best TV Spot.[56]
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