Since Resident Evil: Apocalypse, the second in this trilogy of films based on the Capscom survival horror video games, concisely explains the plot of the first flick in 2 minutes flat, this is one of the very few times when I'd actually recommend you skip the first installment which I found plodding and go straight to the sequel, which not only has a clearer plot structure, but makes sense of the first's muddled plot line.
Briefly, the all-powerful and unscrupulous Umbrella Corporation(aren't they all?) is engaged in developing viral weaponry in their underground high tech research facility called The Hive.
The most potent of this, the T Virus, re-animates dead cells, bringing the dead back to life as flesh eating zombies (aren't they all?).
In the first movie, Alice battled hordes of them with the help of an army commando unit, unleashed down on The Hive, after a sabotage attempt releases the virus, infecting the research staff. In the end, Alice and an environmentalist Matt are the only ones to make it out to the surface, only to be captured by the Corporation who subject them to sinister tests.
In Apocalypse, Alice awakens from a lab, ventures outside to Raccoon City to find it over run by the flesh eaters on account of the T Virus leaking out to the surface. Unable to contain a mass exodus out of the city by panic stricken civilians, the ruthless Umbrella Corporation seals the exit out of the city and prepares to "contain" the virus threat by nuking the city.
It's up to Alice, utterly useless comic relief LJ, gutsy and straight shooting cop Jill Valentine and commando Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr, Ardeth Bay of the Mummy flicks) to head to the sole helicopter available to escape the infected city, while battling armies of the undead, not to mention nefarious Umbrella Corporation man Timothy Cain (Thomas Kretchman, chief vampire in Blade 2 and ship captain in King Kong) and his diabolical plan to pit Alice against a now heavily mutated Matt from the first movie, part of a weapons development project called Nemesis. See,Alice is infected as well, but she has managed to "bond with the virus on a cellular level" to become stronger and faster. Cue lots of wire-fu aided, flashily edited martial arts fights and some nifty heavy duty gun fights, which make Apocalypse a non stop roller coaster of high octane action and a significant improvement over the original. The end of Apocalypse saw Alice and friends escaping Raccoon City, but the chopper they're in crashes, Alice re-captured by the corporation and subjected to further tests by the even more nefarious Dr. Isaacs (Iain Glen, baddie in Tomb Raider, one here and probably doomed to play one in every movie that casts him.) Rescued by Valentine, Olivera and LJ, Alice escapes and is allowed to escape, as part of the Corporation's plan to activate "Project Alice". An ending like that practically screams sequel and so finally we have...
Resident Evil :Extinction
The third installment is a step back for the franchise, as director Russell Mulcahy (Highlander) tones down the high velocity action of Part 2 to give us an uneasy hybrid of the first movie crossed with Mad Max type post apocalyptic scenarios. Cue arid dessert wastelands where the undead roam the lone highways and scattered groups of the un-infected either hole up in dusty shacks or travel in mobile convoys, seeking other survivors. The largest of these convoys is headed by Clare Redfield (Ali Larter from Heroes), along with Olivera and LJ from Apocalypse (whose bright idea was it to bring back the useless comic relief and ditch the babelicious Jill Valentine? Shame on you!)
Also back is the diabolical Dr. Isaacs, now conducting his research in another Hive like facility under ground, still working on developing the ultimate bio weapon under Project Alice, supervised as ever, by the still all powerful Umbrella Corporation (so you now know, in the event of a global catastrophe, only 2 things will flourish: Cockroaches and billion dollar corporations).
Lacking Alice's "pure" infected blood and unable to find her ever since she gave the Umbrella satellites the slip, the "good" doctor is forced to rely on cloned versions that don't measure up, get killed and promptly disposed into a mass "Alice pit".
Plot contrivances assure Alice meets up with Clare's convoy, is re-united with Olivera and sets out on a plan to crash the Hive holdout to transport the survivors to Alaska, apparently the last un-infected place on earth. But not before Alice settles a score with Dr. Isaacs....
Apart from a creepily effective scene involving a gargantuan flock of crows and a zombie attack in deserted Las Vegas, Extinction is short on thrills, regurgitating the flight to safety and mutated monster plot of Apocalypse and even a climactic showdown that re-uses a set from the original. But Jovovich is always good butt kicking fun to watch and for the pervs, rest assured, Extinction does not break with tradition and showcases the requisite Milla nudie shot.
The ending naturally leaves things open for Resident Evil 4, but if you ask me, it's time to leave the undead to rest.
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