I reviewed Resident Evil: Extinction three years ago, I had forgotten the ending and this movie picks up where the last one left off. Only three actors from the last movie return: Mia, Ali Lanter, and Spencer Locke as K-Mart. The movie starts out in Japan with beautiful photography. The writer and director of this one is Paul W.S. Anderson, who wrote and directed the first one. The last one was not directed by Anderson and it shows a dramatic change. The last movie didn't feel like a video game, this one sure does. The movie does resort to a lot of Matrix moves and slow-motion moves, but it revels in it, tongue in cheek. This is a marvelous ride of action and has its dramatic moments. Mia does seem like she going through the motions at times and even seems as if she is looking at things with fresh eyes. It seems Ali Lanter gave all she could last time, and used it all up because here she isn't given much to say or do. There are some awesome scenes of females kicking ass and not needing men to protect them. We are introduced to yet more 'survivors' and it seems all for naught. Last time we are given a desert, now we get a former jail in the middle of Los Angeles.
This was filmed for 3-D, but there is much eye-popping stuff, some look good, and some are ridiculous---throwing glasses to the screen anyone? Wentworth Miller knows exactly what this kind of movie is so he doesn't overact--taking it too seriously, nor does he ham it up. He plays the right amount of medium-ocity. There are plenty of predictable moments, just one surprise I didn't expect, but it is pretty common once it's done. Shawn Roberts (X-Men, Psych) hams it up as Albert Wesker, with an uber-deep voice and campy performance to make Ceasar Romero blush.
Related: http://spanengrish.blogspot.com/2007/09/resident-evil-extinction-review-and.html
