Milla makes it happen in third great 'Evil' outing

Published on October 4, 2007

Resident Evil 3: Extinction

Cast: Milla Jovovich, Ian Glen, Ali Larter,

Odede Fehr, Mathew Marsden

Director: Russell Mulcahy

Running time: 95 minutes

Hanuman rating: HHHH

It is rare a movie based on video games will work at all, given the colossal failures of silly fare like "Doom" and "Street Fighter".

But where The Rock and Jean Claude van Damme stumbled and crashed, Milla passes with flying colours, making Alice, the heroine of the game on which the movie's based, more than just an animated object.

Milla's Alice is cool, incredibly beautiful and never loses her femininity as she dispenses with an army of zombies created to destroy her.

At 32, this Ukraine-born ex-supermodel fits the role with her Amazonian physique and agility.

Since making a stunning debut in Luc Besson's "The Fifth Element", Jovovich has stunned viewers with her portrayal of Joan of Arc in "The Messenger" and two previous "Resident Evil" flicks.

"Extinction" should probably be the last of the series, but the film's ending suggests that there could be a fourth chapter, set in Tokyo.

That comes as no surprise because Japan is one of the biggest markets for "Resident Evil" movies.

Asian viewers will enjoy this outing more since they don't suffer the hang-ups of Western societies, which tend to blame crime on video games and movies - though strangely, never themselves.

Yet violent crimes in Japan, Hong Kong and China are few when compared with statistics from the US.

Nobody knows this more than the filmmakers here. Director Russell Mucahy, 54, has been making action flicks and music videos for a long time. His 1994 original "Highlander" was ahead of its time, and the sword-and-sorcery sequences inspired a TV series.

Much of the action is meant to deride the authoritarian regimes. Yet the scene in which Oded Fehr lights a cigarette as zombies attack will certainly be blotted out on Thai television.

Regardless, see this technically stunning production. When it comes to cable, its 95 minutes may be cut to an hour, with all the good parts trimmed by feeble-minded censors.