RESIDENT EVIL 3 – SCRIPT REVIEW
Site reader
rlewis85 got his
paws on an EARLY DRAFT of the RESIDENT EVIL 3: EXTINCTION
script written by Paul Anderson and here are his two cents on it below. The
film is directed by Russel Mulcahy, stars once more tit-less hottie Milla
Jovovich and will hit the screens in 2007
WARNING – SPOILERS APLENTY!!!
After
going through the layers of Hell to get it, I’ve just finished reading
Anderson’s final shooting draft for the upcoming third entry to the Resident
Evil franchise. The script runs at 110 pages and has a postmarked date of
May 15, 2006. It’s a photocopy of an early director’s draft (including a few
notes and DRAWINGS!!), but the front cover notes that it is the “shooting
copy”. Onto the review…
First
off, the film opens three days after the events of the previous film,
Apocalypse. 1/3 of the United States is in a quarantine state. A massive
patrolled barrier has set-up that bisects the nation into two separate
areas: “clean” and “the exposed”. Over the past three days, Raccoon City has
been further demolished after the government as pounded the area with two
more nuclear warheads to further sterilize the area. DR. ISAACS is
introduced in the confines of an armored van. He and his small crew of
scientists are dead in the middle of tracking something — and it’s
something important since Isaacs has no problem riddling a member of his
crews with bullet shells after an unneeded comment.
An
aerial shot by a national news corporation reveals that the infection has
spread to epic proportions. Death and destruction roams much of the nation’s
streets. The CAMERAMAN closes in on something of interest — a moving SUV.
It’s black. The same one we saw Alice, Carlos, Jill, L.J., Angie Ashford
fleeing Umbrella from in RE II. It stops at a gas station. It is here where
we are introduced to the passengers.
Everyone from the previous film is
accounted for minus Angie (she just died in an attack hours earlier).
They’re all grief stricken and in desperate need of fuel, both for their
bodies and the vehicle. L.J. and JILL loot the station for food while CARLOS
and ALICE fill the tank. It isn’t long before a gang of hungry ZOMBIES
discover their presence and a pulse-pounding battle ensues between the
groups. During the thicket of things, Alice dispatches a few ghouls by using
some type of TELEKINESIS to rupture their brains.
150
miles away, CLAIRE REDFIELD arrives at a heavily armed outpost near the
outskirts of a city called Birkin. Like Raccoon City and its surrounding
locale, Birkin has been devastated by the after effects of Umbrella’s
empowerment. She stealthily enters the outpost, avoiding the like of
guard-men and the occasional undead shamble. Once inside, an emblem on the
wall reveals that the outpost belongs to UMBRELLA. Claire takes sassy NURSE
BETTY hostage, ordering her to lead to around to points of interest. She’s
in search of her brother. Apparently, this place plays some importance in
finding his whereabouts. After Claire mistakenly lets her guard down, Nurse
Betty activates a security alarm that notifies her presence. She’s caught
and forced to reveal her reasons for paying a visit.
Alice
and crew suit up a few feet away from the perimeter. She uses her mind
powers again to take care of the surrounding guards. Jill hacks into the
security system and shuts it off, causing all Hell to break loose inside.
Test subjects are released from inside. Among them are 3 OMEGA HUNTERS and
one pissed off CHIMERA. Splatter ensues as the creatures feed on the human
inhabitants. These sequences are a nice little homage to the first
film. During this UMBRELLA CAPTAIN, Claire, and Nurse Betty take refuge in a
electrified kennel. Alice enters the facility and dispatches the beasts in
several nasty ways (“head on a stick” is my favorite), making the place
“safe” for her crew to enter.
A
lengthy exposition scene takes place with all 7 characters in which Umbrella
Captain mentions a OMEGA ANECDOTE that can supposedly reverse the effects of
the T-Virus. The only problem is that the sole canister of the serum is
located in one of Umbrella’s ANTARCTIC LABS. Great. Just great. Alice agrees
to take the trek with the intention of bringing it back. Unfortunately,
everyone else is forced to go along as the Captain reveals that they will
eventually die in three weeks if the serum isn’t administered into their
bodies. What a cheap and laughable way to get the rest of the group to join
in on the “fun”. Way to go Anderson!!! Claire realizes the potential in
getting the clues to finding her brother. Thus, our journey begins…
In the
middle of the Nevadan dessert, they run into a group of REFUGEES. Among them
are K-MART, a roughness tom-girl, MIKEY, her “boyfriend”, RUNT, a
tiny, foul-mouthed Puerto-Rican immigrant, and POCKMARK, a “lucky” inmate.
They join forces with Alice and Co., hoping to be lead to a cure and end the
nightmare. It turns out that Isaacs has been tracking Alice and he’s drawing
closer. Just like him, an ARMY OF UNDEAD have been doing to the same. Their
numbers build as they pass by each community (eerily similar to Big Daddy’s
convoy in Land of the Dead).
As ACT
TWO ends, Isaacs and Alice have come fact to face with the zombies steadily
approaching. Alice and a mechanically protected Isaacs duke it out while
Claire leads the caravan off, witnessing the mass of hungry ghouls. The
battle spills over when the dead reach their goal and Isaacs dies by the
teeth of a hundred zombies. Alice escape, but barely. She’s on the verge of
death and is rescued by a solo Claire.
The two narrowly escape from becoming
food thanks to the likes of L.J. and Pockmark. From this point on, the story
focuses on several “near escape” moments that the caravan encounter. Several
die. Including one very surprising death (fans of the game will no doubt be
pissed). Basically, that’s all ACT THREE is — one expanded chase sequence
with zombies and 1 SNAKE. From this point on I will only speak in general
terms about the members of the group. I don’t want to spoil who died in the
previous act.
ACT
FOUR: THE FINALE takes place in the cold of ANTARCTICA. Only a small handful
of survivors have made it. They enter the promised lab, only to discover
that the antidote is actually the veins of an OMEGA-XBA TYRANT. This
creature is a towering mass of surgically constructed limbs with empowering
hand that features four extremely sharp blades. They remove it’s flesh with
a graft and spill it’s blood into several iron containers. Unluckily for
them, the beast grows conscious during the procedure and an epic battle
ensues. One hell of a shocking conclusion follows.
From the
looks of things, it appears that the fourth film will focus of Claire’s
search for her brother. It’s touched upon during pieces of the story, but it
doesn’t really come into play until the final five pages of the script. A
promising clue comes her way and I’m sure Anderson will want to explore
that– he’s GOT TO!!! As for the overall quality, the story feels somewhat
generic in terms of its characters and the situations that occur during most
of its fourth act.
Aside from that, the script is a very breezy read that’s
full of blood-soaked fun and is surprisingly engagement. The emotion is
bumped up in this one as is the gore. In the hands of the right director
(Russell Mulcahy should do just fine), I see this entry as being light-years
ahead of the 2nd but not as good as the 1st. If it weren’t for Claire’s
unfinished business, I’d be happy to have the series conclude on this
high-note.
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed