While the bloodthirsty Resident Evil videogame franchise continues to churn out new instalments of the series to the delight of joypad junkies, so we must suffer another sequel to Paul WS Anderson's 2001 big screen adaptation. The third film, directed by Russell Mulcahy of Highlander fame, is in many ways the most satisfying episode so far, with a narrative that occasionally makes sense and a couple of well orchestrated if rather familiar action sequences. Computer generated special effects still lack polish and setting large portions of the film in a bunker beneath the desert begs obvious comparisons with George A Romero's zombie epic Days Of The Dead.
Production designer Eugenio Caballero dusts off key locations from the first film like the laser death chamber, while the snarling hell hounds bound back into the fray during the frenetic opening sequence before the cast abandon the infected cities and head out onto the deserted highways. "For those of us left, staying on the road seemed the only way to stay alive," opines heroine Alice (Milla Jovovich) in voiceover as she straddles her motorcycle. Blessed with superhuman powers, thanks to biogenic experimentation at the hands of shadowy Umbrella Corp, Alice is a constantly evolving mutant trying to hide from her creators' satellite surveillance.
She shadows an armoured convoy of survivors led by feisty Claire Redfield (Ali Larter). When the convoy comes under attack from swarm of carnivorous crows, Alice is forced to intervene, thereby alerting evil scientist Dr Isaacs (Iain Glen). As Alice and the convoy head north to Alaska via Las Vegas, the scene is set for a showdown between the survivors and the might of Umbrella Corp.
Nothing is quite what it seems in Bruce A Evans' psychological thriller about the masks we all wear to project an acceptable public image to family and friends, and to conceal ugly, true emotions. Mr Brooks is a fascinating study of a serial killer casting Kevin Costner against type as the family man tormented by murderous compulsions. Evans and co-writer Raynold Gideon excise all dramatic fat, cranking up the suspense as the protagonist heads for a tragic downfall.
When the moment of bloody reckoning finally arrives, it's at the hands of the person you least expect. But then this is a film, which consistently pulls the rug from under us, exploiting our preconceptions without straying too far from plausibility. To his family and friends, Earl Brooks (Kevin Costner) is the perfect husband and father, recently anointed Portland Chamber of Commerce's man of the year.
However, Earl conceals a terrible secret: he is the notorious Thumbprint Killer, a serial murderer with a raging bloodlust, and a sardonic alter ego, Marshall (William Hurt), who stokes that desire for slaughter. Earl's adoring wife Emma (Marg Helgenberger) and daughter Jane (Danielle Panabaker) are completely oblivious to the cold-blooded killer in their home; they see only the kind, generous, bespectacled philanthropist and provider, who tenderly kisses them goodnight. When amateur photographer Mr Smith (Dane Cook) snaps Earl committing his latest crime, the slaying of a couple in flagrante, the stranger blackmails the businessman.
"What I want is for you to take me with you when you kill someone. And I would like that to be soon." Earl has no choice but to agree to the demands and he begins to mentor Mr Smith, sharing the tricks of the trade: "You never kill someone you know.
It's the quickest way to get caught!" Meanwhile, police detective Tracy Atwood (Demi Moore), who is currently mired in a messy divorce, and her partner Hawkins (Ruben Santiago-Hudson) begin to close in on Earl as their prime suspect.
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