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Reviews
Resident Evil: Extinction (2007)
Lives Up To the Standards of its Predecessors
Resident Evil: Extinction, the latest offering in the movie trilogy based on the popular horror video game, lives up to the standards of its predecessors and will not likely disappoint fans of apocalyptic zombie films (of whom this reviewer is one).
Omnipresent action star Milla Jovovich reprises her role in Extinction as little-red-dress-and-jackboot-wearing monster hunter Alice, and is ultimately joined by former compatriots Oded Fehr as soldier Carlos Olivera and Mike Epps as L.J. Other returning players include Iain Glenn as the gloatingly evil Dr. Isaacs (and the equally malevolent Manfred Powell in Lara Croft: Tomb Raider).
In Extinction, the effects of the zombie-generating T-virus have spread far beyond Raccoon City and decimated not just the human population of the planet but also the environment, creating widespread desertification. Survivors in this undead-haunted world include hidden enclaves of Umbrella Corporation minions, pockets of cannibalistic scavengers, an armored convoy of nomads led by Olivera, L.J. and Claire (Ali Larter), and, naturally, Alice, attired for the post-apocalyptic world in renegade biker garb and armed, among other things, with a pair of Nepalese kukris.
Survival in the harsh, zombie-ridden wasteland of the future would likely be difficult enough without anyone trying to make it worse, but that is, of course, what Dr. Isaacs endeavors to do, in the course of his interminable experiments.
One element in Extinction has got to be either a tribute to classic Mel Gibson action film The Road Warrior, or a rip-off from it, is the armored tanker truck, complete with fighting platforms and flamethrower. Hell, it might actually be the same truck for all I know (although it would not likely have made its way from Australia to the various Mexican venues where Extinction was filmed).
There are a few potentially minor weak points in the film that might chafe even fans of the genre a little. One of these is the use of fragmentary flashbacks that are not likely to mean much to people who haven't seen the previous films (if there are any that have seen this one and not the others). Another is a super-monster that, while more than adequate, is not quite as interesting or impressive as those that appeared in the previous Resident Evil movies. And, with no cobbler being apparent in Isaacs' Nevada facility, one might wonder why the profligate Umbrella Corporation does not bother to reuse boots no longer needed by their wearers (you'll see what I mean).
Those points aside, however, there are a number of fun twists and revelations in Extinction that help to fill in the blanks in the Resident Evil story and plenty of zombie-killing action and the necropolis-like remnants of the Las Vegas strip alone make this film well worth watching.
Michael J. Varhola, Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine
Cavemen (2007)
A Missed Opportunity
So why does this show suck? Unfortunately, that really is the only question, because there is no doubt that it does.
For those unfamiliar with the premise of the show, the doomed-to-be-shortlived series Cavemen focuses on a number of Neanderthals and their struggle to exist in modern day America and is based on the characters featured in a series of television ads for Geico Insurance. The concept is solid and there is every reason to think it could be executed successfully.
I had to think about it for awhile, but then the tagline from the commercials -- something to the effect of "We're not that much different from you" provided me with the key to the show's suckiness. Even though cavemen/Neanderthals are actually a different species than humanity, the title characters of this show, it turns out, are exactly the same as those of us who are boring jerks.
Maybe its my background as a game writer -- rather than a soulless, hack, committee-based writer from California -- but this show had so much potential, and none of it has been realized. To start with, the producers should have focused on the fun things that would make cavemen different from us.
What could conceivably be funny, for example, about giving them occupations like perpetual grad student and furniture store clerk, when they would have more compellingly been drawn to things like subterranean utility workers and guides at cave parks? Why would they play prosaic games like squash, when a whole episode could be devoted to them trying get hunting licenses to go after game with spears? A show like this could write itself, and it takes some willfully bad writing to make it quite so crappy and boring.
Another tiresome aspect of this show is an attempt to portray the cavemen as being subjected to a number of stereotypes associated with various human minorities. Yawn! This has been done so many times before, and never more drearily than this. And, as noted previously, Neanderthals really are a different species, so using them as a metaphor for racial stereotyping is both uncompelling and off the mark.
Responses are welcome, including those from anyone who wants to tell me why I'm wrong. I'd like to enjoy this show and am just sorry that I have thus far been unable to.
Michael J. Varhola, Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine
Darkon (2006)
By Gamers, About Gamers, and Ultimately for Gamers
One of the few non-comedic movies by gamers, about gamers, and ultimately for gamers, Darkon (Ovie Productions/Seethink Productions, 2006) is a documentary that focuses on the activities of the Darkon Wargaming Club, a fantasy live-action role-playing (LARP) group in Baltimore, Maryland.
Moreso than movies of any sort by non-gamers about role-playing gaming (e.g., the execrable Mazes and Monsters), Darkon explores the purposes, positive aspects, and benefits of the hobby and the motives people have for participating in it. While it also hints at the all-consuming effect RPGs can have on their participants, it is ultimately more of an apologia for the hobby than an examination of it.
From a technical point of view, Darkon is well filmed, excellently scored, and structurally sound. One thing it does not do, however, is explain what a LARP is. Naturally, this does not matter much as far as gamers are concerned, but the absence of such explanation severely limits the value this film could have had as a tool for telling the non-gaming world about something about which it has limited awareness and little understanding. It is also a little on the long side, with multiple, interchangeable battle scenes, some of which could have been cut in lieu of some interviews with some third parties who could have helped put LARPing and RPGing in context.
A product of its times, Darkon draws as much on the genre of reality television as it does on that of documentary, with asides to the camera by its various subjects that shed light on their motivations and relationships in and out of the game. Depending on whether one likes reality TV or not, this could be seen as either a benefit or a detriment.
Some of the costuming and props used by the Darkon LARPers are impressive, with especial kudos going to the Dark Elf players (who do not appear in the film nearly enough). Firing catapults and a wooden fortress that is actually burned at the end of a battle demonstrate the willingness of this club's members to go above and beyond in their gaming.
Overall, Darkon is worth a watch by anyone interested in seeing a particular side of the gaming genre. It is likely, however, to be just as confusing as it is enlightening to outsiders, and does not go nearly as far as it could have toward producing an understanding of the hobby to those not already familiar with it.
Darkon is 93 minutes long. It premiered and won the Best Documentary Audience Award at the 2006 South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, and is an official selection playing at the Hot Docs, Maryland Film Festival, Silverdocs, LA Film Festival, Britdoc and Melbourne International Film Festival. It aired on the Independent Film Channel Nov. 12, and that might thus be a good place to keep an eye out for it.
Michael J. Varhola, Skirmisher Online Gaming Magazine