Resident Evil: Extinction

“Resident Evil: Extinction” is the third movie in the series. The films are very loosely based on the games. The movies do not necessarily reflect the games, since the movies have made up some of their own characters, and they don’t follow the game’s plot line. Even the characters from the games that appear in the movie are drastically different from their game counterparts.

The movie begins by showing that the Umbrella corporation is cloning Alice. The ones that fail the series of tests meet a violent death and are thrown into a trench. It has been five years since the last “Resident Evil” movie, and Alice now wanders by herself. The world has become infected by the T-virus at this point, and there are only a handful of survivors left. Along her journey, Alice finds a notebook that says there is an isolated place in Alaska that is free of infection. The movie also features Carlos and LJ from the last movie. They are traveling around with a large group of people led by Claire Redfield (from “Resident Evil” games 2 and “Code Veronica”). Alice meets up with the convoy, and they make plans to head towards Alaska.

Issues in this movie that may offend Christians include violence, language, and nudity. This is a zombie movie, so obviously it is very gory. Most of the violence is directed towards zombies, however there are a few scenes where people kill others. Early in the movie, Alice is captured, and she kills one of her captors. The rest are killed by zombie dogs after she escapes. Alice also kills a few Umbrella scientists by shooting them. Characters die gory deaths by zombies, crows, and in many other ways. Of course, the zombies are also gory to look at. The language is pretty mild for the R-rating, but many of the same words are used over and over again. The characters use words like B****, S***, D***, A**, and God’s name is used in vain a few times. LJ also makes a reference to porno, but in a joking way when he walks into an abandoned motel.

Nudity in this movie is not done in a way that is really exploitive. A female zombie is partially exposed, for example. There are also brief shots of frontal nudity of the Alice clones. Some of the female characters wear outfits that can be seen as revealing, but it is not completely unwarranted, with the movie setting being in the desert most of the time.

Another issue is that the movie sort of glorifies smoking, but less than the last movie did.

The good things about this movie are that the convoy works together as a family would. They all care about each other deeply. There is a concern for others in the group. After a bunch of the people die, the surviving members of the convoy bury their dead and set up crosses. Sort of shocking, in a good way, that they would use a Christian symbol. In one scene Carlos saves one of the teenage girls in the group. He is bit as a result and is infected. He sacrifices himself later to help the group.

Alice, as a character, has both good and bad qualities about her. She saves her friends and feels bad when someone dies in her group, but she is unforgiving and seeks revenge. She has dedicated her life to bringing Umbrella down, and rightfully so, but she is unloving towards the people behind Umbrella. The Bible calls Christians to love their enemies, by doing this they pour burning coals on their enemy’s heads.

As a “Resident Evil” fan and Christian, I have mixed feelings about this movie. I liked the movie, but as a fan of the series, I wish that it would be closer to the games. Overall, I liked the movie, but feel that it was a bit rushed. A casual movie-goer probably wouldn’t get it, because it is so much dependent on the other two movies, which isn’t a bad thing necessarily.

If you liked the other two movies, or you’re a fan of the games and don’t mind the different storyline too much, then this movie is for you, but if you don’t have a strong stomach, then it probably isn’t for you.

Violence: Heavy / Profanity: Moderate / Sex/Nudity: Moderate

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.

• Positive
• Neutral
• Negative
• Young people