Resident Evil: Extinction

Rating: A is for Awesome, Alice and All I needed to be happy was Milla Jovovich fighting zombie dogs again.
Important to know: Gory" would be rather insufficient. "Violent" is also mild.
For the Gamer Chicks: Alice could kick Lara Croft's ass on a bad day with no Umbrella-induced powers and no guns. We also get some new ladies.

If we learn any lesson from this most recent Resident Evil film (indeed, from the first two as well) it is that women are awesome, and all men are weak except for Carlos Olivera.

If you think about it, it holds true. Men tend to be evil and short-sighted in the land of Resident Evil. Women last longer. Alice notwithstanding, Rain made it to the last real of the first film, Jill and Angie survive the second, and this film offers up some new female protagonists: Betty, Claire and K-Mart. Carlos Olivera, played by Oded Fehr, is the only exception to the rule. He made it through Apocalypse and because he is brave, honorable and bad-ass (see how I didn't mention smokin' hot? I'm rather proud of myself for that), he gets a sizable role here and one fantastic shot all to himself.

Extinction opens 5 years after Apocalypse, as narrator Alice clues us into the current situation: wicked Umbrella Corp. dropped the ball yet again. The T-Virus survived a nuclear strike and consumed the globe within a year. A side effect included wiping out vegetation (A missed opportunity, zombie plants would have been cool) and so what's left of humanity is in little groups that must stay on the move or risk drawing the hordes of flesh-eating beasties.

One such group is led by Heroes Ali Larter, playing world-weary Claire Redfield (Claire is evidently a game character, but as in the other movies, she's been adapted). Her caravan contains both Carlos Olivera and fellow Apocalypse survivor LJ, as well as about 20 or so other movie archetypes. I feel a little bad for saying that, but it is true. Ashanti plays the sassy tough Nurse Betty (a sassy tough black woman? groundbreaking). There are also a cowboy marksman with a Texas accent - of course, an adorable angel-curled communications geek boy, a perky blonde teenager called K-Mart and the obligatory passle of big-eyed moppets.

Our hero Alice has been living on her own, since she discovered that Umbrella could somehow track her with satellites. This information, as well as how she avoids them, is given in a concise fashion by Alice and is totally believable, we've seen what she can do. Alice hasn't been twiddling her thumbs all this time though, she's gone and turned into Jean Grey ala X3 - except that where Jean totally sucked in that movie, Alice is awesome. Telekinesis on a ridiculous scale has been given to her, as well as strength and an intelligence that lends itself well to battle strategy.

A slight accident with her new powers facilitates her arrival at the caravan in their moment of need, reuniting her with her old friends and giving her the chance to supply the people with hope: she's found information that they could be safe in Alaska. Here is where the movie makes a few really good choices. It does not set Alice and Claire at odds, rather gives them a meeting of the minds (if the two characters were male, there'd be a fist bump or perhaps some serious head-nodding, you know the kind) and allows them to work together. Where K-Mart and Claire have a sisterly relationship, K-Mart bonds to Alice like a child to her mother. Where Claire and Carlos act like fellow soldiers and teammates, the minute Alice shows up the sparks between her and Carlos could cause an explosion. I have no idea if any of this was done on purpose, but it treats the feminine side of ass-kicking Alice very well. Also, pay close attention to the blocking in the scenes when Alice first walks among the caravan members, it's done so well that a major plot point makes sense.

Meanwhile, nasty Dr. Isaacs, last seen at the end of Apocalypse, has been up to no good underneath the Nevada desert. His machinations regarding Alice are at the heart of this story, often driving the action. Umbrella is trying to retake the world, and evidently has underground complexes all over the Earth - or so the nicely done holographic boardroom would suggest. Of course, all the evil C.E.O. types are men.

The action scenes are brutal and bloody, often a little confused to convey how fast things are happening. The CGI is good and wisely used - The White Queen makes her debut, bringing symmetry between this movie and the first. There is just enough science talk to explain how what happens could be plausible, not enough to get boring.

Also, Milla Jovovich is fantastic. She handles her action sequences well, pulls off the obligatory odd Alice outfit (I have no idea of those are nylons or leggings or some sort of body stocking she's got on under her shorts) fights zombie Doberman pinschers with her usual flare, and breaks out that trademark half-smile of "you're about to get your ass kicked" that we all know and love. She also conveys Alice's loneliness and resignation from five years of self-enforced isolation turning into righteous violence brilliantly.

The ending - what can I say? It could have gone any way at all, but the road they chose just reinforces the lesson at the top of this review.