(Long Island, NY)You normally won’t find the words “fine cinema” and “based on the hit video game” in the same sentence. Such is the stigma that video game-based
film adaptations have had to endure throughout the years, although the burden is not entirely undeserved. Early on, video game movies were rushed, cheap, sloppy, and often catered directly to children (hello, Super Mario Brothers).
It appears, however, that Hollywood is beginning to realize that the children of yesterday are now the adults of today, and that they’re still playing (and have more money to spend). The video-game business is maturing and now spans all age ranges, from kids to grandparents. In terms of entertainment media, video-games are beginning to compete with (and in some ways even eclipse) Hollywood’s
efforts in terms of profitability.
Here’s a good example of how neck and neck gaming and movies are currently running: Remember my brilliant review of last summer’s blockbuster film Spiderman 3? That movie set an initial box office record of $59 million in its first 24 hours of release. That’s a lot, right? Now, along comes Halo 3- a highly-anticipated game for Microsoft’s Xbox360 console- and it sells more than $170 million worth of copies in its first full day of release. Impressive, yes, but even more so when you figure in their respective budgets- Spiderman 3’s was a whopping $258 million, while Halo 3 clocked in at a meager (competitively speaking) $25 mil. Of course, when we also take into account a movie ticket’s price ($10) versus a video-game price ($60- ouch), the gap closes ever so slightly, but the fact still remains- video-games are big business. Thus, it would be expected that the associated tie-ins (in this case, films) would finally increase in quality, and for the most part, it’s happening.
Which brings us to today’s film review- Resident Evil: Extinction, the third of a trilogy spun off of the immensely popular series of “Survival Horror” video-games made by Japanese developer/publisher Capcom. Players of the Resident Evil games find themselves combating undead zombies, exploring spooky old mansions and laboratories, searching for vital items and solving complex puzzles. A film adaptation seemed only natural, since the Resident Evil video-games were themselves inspired by zombie movies, mainly George Romero’s Dawn/Day of the Dead. So, we have films giving birth to games giving birth to yet more films- that’s called coming full circle, folks.
The Resident Evil film series, which deviates slightly from the ongoing plot of the games, follows the evil machinations of the Umbrella corporation, a multi-national conglomerate that specializes in bio-organic and viral weapons for the U.S. military. Their crowning achievement is the development of the deadly T-virus (no relation to Mr. T, although I pity the fool exposed to it), a mutagenic agent that kills those infected and re-animates them as bloodthirsty zombies. Through internal espionage, the T-virus is released into one of Umbrella’s research facilities, and from there spreads to the town of Raccoon City, transforming its innocent inhabitants into savage monsters. In an attempt to contain the virus before it spreads further, the military drops a nuke on the once-peaceful mountain town. Now, we’ve all seen this done before (Return of the Living Dead comes to mind) and, as we all know, it never works. And guess what? It doesn’t work this time, either.
In Resident Evil: Extinction, we learn that, within months of the Raccoon City incident, the entire Earth has been overrun with the T-virus. The remaining uninfected humans, lead by Claire Redfield (Ali Larter), roam the ruined cities and roadways of America in a convoy of armored vehicles, surviving the zombie hordes by keeping on the go and taking
food and fuel where they can find it. With that said, I love how Claire’s convoy has to scavenge for food and gas, but they seem to have no problem finding all the toothpaste and Crest Whitening Strips they’ll ever need. I mean, these people are eating expired, botulism-infested refried beans out of rusty tin cans but they all have gleaming, pearly-white teeth. It’s amazing.
But the story of Resident Evil: Extinction centers around not our roving gang of American Dental Association-approved road warriors, but the character of Alice (Milla Jovovich), the heroine of the previous two films. Alice, as it turns out, is Umbrella’s ultimate bio-weapon, a creature that looks oddly-enough like a twig-thin supermodel, but is in fact a genetically-engineered, T-virus mutated, superhuman fighting machine. Their control over her lost, Alice has escaped Umbrella’s grasp and is now wandering the wastelands of Earth alone. However, the diabolical corporation is one step behind her at all times, with the ruthless scientist Dr. Sam Isaacs (Iain Glen) plotting to use Alice’s unique genetic makeup to further his own twisted ends.
Joining up with Claire’s convoy, Alice and her new allies fight their way through the zombies surrounding one of Umbrella’s fortified underground bunkers in a bid to steal a helicopter to escape to the supposed safety of Alaska. But will Alice go with them, or descend alone into the mysterious depths of the bunker to confront both her past and her future? And more importantly, is there abundant dental floss and mouthwash awaiting our survivors if they reach Alaska?
Resident Evil: Extinction was solid- it’s a flashy, mindless action flick, just like the first two, so if you liked those, you’re bound to like this one as well. It was fast-paced- lean on storyline and fat with gunfire and hand-to-hand combat, with minimal baggage to slow down the plot (as threadbare as it is). Extinction is also fairly predictable- as usual, you’ll find the typical underdeveloped stock characters for the monsters to eat, and it’s pretty easy to guess who’s living to see the end credits. But speaking of monsters, the makeup and CG effects on the various creatures was indeed quite impressive- the best of the series to date, in fact. However, I would have liked to have seen a greater variety of the grotesque enemies representing the video-game series’ extensive bestiary- there are plenty of fan-favorites to choose from.
Now, let’s get to a personal gripe I have with the Resident Evil movies: Watching 75-pound Milla Jovovich spin-kick and manhandle armies of monsters three times her size like they were kindergarten students takes a suspension of disbelief that is almost impossible, even in this day and age. But after watching her do it for three Resident Evil movies running, you
can almost manage to believe if you try hard enough. It’s much easier when it’s Arnold Schwarzenegger on the screen killing everything that moves with his bare hands, but alas, he’s busy running California.
Of course, the ending of this film leaves it wide-open for yet another sequel, so I’m sure there will be yet more zombie hi-jinks coming to a theater near you in 2009 or so. But the fact remains that this is a successful, solid franchise, and if you’re looking for some hard-hitting horror/action fun, you’ve probably come to the right place. There’s no way it could ever be mistaken for the “fine cinema” mentioned in this review’s opening paragraph, but at least it’s a sure sign that video game adaptations are improving from the garbage we used to get just a few years ago.
