♆♆♆Resident Evil♆♆♆Resident Evil: Apocalypse♆♆♆

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“All Bets Are Off”. Wow, not the tagline I would choose. That sounds like they are giving up on the franchise and just putting out whatever crap they can slap together. It’s a nod to Las Vegas, since that’s where the characters eventually end up, but it still doesn’t put forth a pleasant image. It undercuts the over-the-top but fun action film Resident Evil: Extinction provides.

This time around Alice gets a much nicer intro. Once again there is an apparently large time skip between films and most of the world is in ruin. Now Alice is on her own scavenging through a desert wasteland when she meets up with some old friends. Extinction was clearly chiefly inspired by Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior, but there are shades of Day of the Dead as well. The new setting keeps the series moving forward, foregoing another film with people trapped in a city. Most of the characters in the caravan are likable, including newcomer Ali Larter’s (Final Destination) take on Claire Redfield.

Alice is still ridiculously overpowered but she wasn’t going to get any less unbeatable than she was in the last film so at this point it’s better to just accept it for what it is. The highlight of the Resident Evil films are the MONSTERS, and I’m not talking zombies. The undead are just fodder in the background, taking a backseat to the MUTATED animals and “enhanced” humans. Extinction‘s “final boss” isn’t as interesting, or prominent for that matter, as Nemesis but he does have a pretty cool fight scene.

Resident Evil: Extinction gets the franchise back on track after the misstep of the previous film. Neither sequel captures the magic of the first movie and that might be due to original director Paul W.S. Anderson only returning in a writing capacity for subsequent films. I would definitely recommend Resident Evil: Extinction, but you should probably start with the other movies first so you know what the HELL is going on. With the way Extinction sets up its sequels, I don’t have much faith that they’ll be any good. Luckily, since I’m (currently) only reviewing the trilogy, I get to stop here.

4 masticating mandibles out of 5

★★★★☆

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I know that face. That’s the face you make when you realize you have to wait a whole year for the next MASSACRE MARATHON. Well, don’t fret! Papa Manster is here to provide. Just because October is over and Halloween has passed doesn’t mean the Manster won’t be coughing up fresh, slimy reviews from his disgusting green gullet. If you enjoyed these pieces make sure to check back often as new reviews will be periodically invading the site. I would like to give a sticky, warm THANK YOU to all who have tuned in this past month looking for the gore, the gristle, and the accurate intellectual assessments of horror films that MovieManster is known for. It stings my scars to know there are people out there that care about these scary movies as much as I do. Have a nice rest of the year folks, but be sure to join me again when the fog rolls in and the moon shines bright for another MASSACRE MARATHON!