Resident Evil 3: exSTINKtion???

Daniel Scillieri

Personal Grade: C-/C

Resident evil....such a great line of video games...such an average, possibly below average Zombie movie series. Mind you, it is a zombie movie, not a film that is going to be up for the best movie of the year award at the next Oscars. Still, there are tons of fans of the Zombie genre of horror films and an equal amount loyal to the hit video game titles (who have long hoped for a movie adaptation of a popular game to be a success) I myself fall into both those categories of fans so I had to go see the movie. Nomadic survivors searching for supplies, fuel and people who escaped the undead makes for a great movie. Their search for a safe haven gives the people hope and a purpose to fight on through a world that is dying a little more each day. As usual here are the Pro's and Con's of the Third and Final installment of the Resident Evil trilogy.

PROS:
Milla Jovovich = HOT. She has been a hottie since her roll as Lelu in the 5th Element (cool movie, possibly a later review). Where can you go wrong with a smoking hot woman rocking post apocolyptic clothes and a whole array of zombie killing weapons. Later on she meets up with a caravan of survivors who also have a few hotties of their own (Ali Larter for one). The zombies are the stereotypical zombies, slow moving with little brain function besides an unending craving for human flesh. They aren't the insanely crazy zombies who can run fast and solve problems like undead in a few recent movies. I mean seriously, that is just unfair. These zombies use suprise and overwhelming numbers to spread so fast and in time destroy the civilized world. As every horror movie should, this film presents a good amount of death and gore that makes every fan of the genre grin from ear to ear. Those loyal to the game should be pleased at a few quality name drops from the hit titles. The world is dying, along with the few remaining survivors, all key essentials for a Zombie thriller. Bad ass characters and great fight sequences will keep your attention for the duration of the film

CONS:
For every good thing in this movie, there was something that made you shake your head in confusion and disappointment. The Umbrella Corp, enormous hives deep underground with supplies that are slowly running out do not seem to be in a rush to save the world from the mess they created. Such amazing technology and they can't figure out any way to do something productive to rid the Earth of undead? All the supposed brilliant minds of their company and only one man is trying to find a cure. All these supposed supplies, technology and man power, they can't find a system to start killing the zombies...i mean they are slow mindless undead, come on now. One of the earlier scenes is the above ground area of an Umbrella hive, the only thing protecting this facility is a small chainlink fence which is surrounded by thousands of zombies with thousands more on the way. I am pretty sure, mindless or not, a thousand zombies craving flesh could push a fence down and get into the facility. The film also has the "survivor stupidity" that happens in almost every zombie movie. One survivor will get bitten somehow but won't tell the others until it is to late, leading to him/her becoming a zombie and attacking fellow survivors. (usually killing at least 1). Another display of "Survivor Stupidity" is that one of the humans will chase after something they shouldn't, like a dog or something they dropped that they ABSOLUTELY DON'T NEED. They run back into the zombie horde and look back with confusion while the undead tear them apart. Finally another example of "Survivor Stupidity", which also happens in most zombie flicks is that one of the survivors will eventually be killed and turned into a zombie and one of the living can't kill them because they love them or won't accept they are undead and gets attacked by that same zombie.
Later on in the movie things just get more and more ridiculous, Milla Jovovich has crazy strong Psychic powers and can make huge fire storms with force fields and a few other insane powers. WHERE DOES THAT COME FROM?? Also from all the experiments on her, she can be shut off as if she was a robot from a Umbrella Satellite orbiting in space. Literally in the middle of the fight the satellite turns her brain off and her body goes into lockdown. But of course her impressive psychic powers fights back and turns her back on....( and shake head in confusion). Another thing that bothered me in the movie was the Umbrella scientists attempts to tame the mindless undead. They try to work these newly fixed zombies in hopes to have them do the small jobs when the living reclaim Earth. Zombie farmers, garbagemen and several other ridiculous jobs came to mind during these scenes. And finally, the ending, *sigh* I won't spoil it to much but the first word that came out of my mouth when the credits appeared was CLIFFHANGER. How does a "third and final" movie leave two amazingly huge cliffhangers. Alice (Milla Jovovich) has a new army and is looking to take on the remaining Umbrella Hives while killing the waves of undead. Claire Redfield ( Hottie Ali Larter) and the remaining survivors escape on a helicopter for a supposed safe zone to the far north but we never know if they make it there. These cliffhangers set up for a 4th movie perfectly, but I thought this was the final movie????

Overall, Resident Evil 3 offers fast paced intense zombie action, those fans of the zombie genre and video game series should find this movie some what entertaining. But even if you try to bear it, the movie leaves you wanting a stronger conclusion, a solid ending to a trilogy of movies. Don't Say the 3rd and final installment and then leave such an open ending. A few minutes of extra ending would have easily made a groovy ending.