The film was released in the United States on September 21, 2007 and was commercially successful, grossing $147,717,833 worldwide. The film received mixed reviews from critics. It was released on DVD and Blu-ray in North America on January 1, 2008.
This film was initially titled Resident Evil: Afterlife according to the leaked script. For unknown reasons, it was renamed to Resident Evil: Extinction. The title Afterlife was used for the fourth installment of the series.
Plot
Alice (Milla Jovovich) wakes up at the mansion, just as at the beginning of the first Resident Evil film. She defeats several obstacles, though she is eventually killed. Her body is taken outside and dumped into a pit. The pit is then shown to be filled with hundreds of Alice clones. The camera zooms out to show a shack camouflaging the facility's above-ground entrance (the rest of the facility is underground); it is surrounded by a high fence and hundreds of zombies.
Five years after the T-virus escaped Raccoon City, it has spread around the world despite Umbrella's attempt to sterilize it. As the virus spread, the Earth's environment slowly became destroyed. Alice wanders the desert wastelands of the Southwestern U.S. Dr. Sam Isaacs considers Alice's recapture a top priority, since she has the ability to bond with the T-virus and not suffer mutation. He tries to persuade the Umbrella board that he can use her blood to develop a permanent cure as well as tame the infected. The new Umbrella chairman Albert Wesker (Jason O'Mara) orders Isaacs to instead use the clones to create a cure, and he refuses to authorize Alice's recapture until they are 100% sure of her location.
Meanwhile, Claire Redfield's (Ali Larter) convoy, which includes the Raccoon City survivors Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) and L.J. (Mike Epps), along with new survivors K-Mart (Spencer Locke), Mikey (Christopher Egan), Chase (Linden Ashby) and Nurse Betty (Ashanti Douglas) along with others, travels cross country. While searching a motel for supplies, L.J. is bitten; he keeps this secret. The next morning the convoy is attacked by crows that had been feeding on the infected. The crows almost overpower the convoy, killing Nurse Betty and taking out the flamethrower operator, causing the weapon to careen out of control. Alice appears and saves Carlos and others from a fiery death, using her psionic powers to cover the sky with a blanket of fire, killing the crows. Alice is introduced to Claire and gives her a diary she found. The book claims there is a "safe zone" in Alaska. Alice and Carlos convince Claire to take her convoy to Alaska. They agree to go to Las Vegas to search for supplies for their trip to Alaska.
Dr. Isaacs's attempts to domesticate the infected have led to a new zombie breed that remembers basic things, such as how to use phones and cameras. Wesker's security officer, Captain Slater (Matthew Marsden), is adamant about Isaacs' not disregarding Umbrella's regulations. Slater does admit that the "super zombies" (the Crimson Heads) would be useful, but reiterates that Isaacs is out of control.
Umbrella triangulates Alice's location based on her psionic abilities. Dr. Isaacs has a crate of his new zombies sent to ambush the convoy, against Wesker's specific orders. L.J. succumbs to his infection and bites Carlos. Most of the convoy, including Chase and Mikey, are killed in the ambush. Umbrella tries to shut Alice down remotely, but she breaks free from their programming and continues to fight. She finds Isaacs at the scene, and he becomes infected as he tries to flee. Alice and K-Mart use Isaacs' computer to track the helicopter's flight path, leading to Umbrella's underground location.
The convoy goes to the site, which is surrounded by zombies. Carlos sacrifices himself by plowing his truck into the zombie mob and blowing them all up, giving Alice and Claire time to load survivors into the helicopter. Alice decides to stay behind. Ordered by Wesker to liquidate Isaacs, Slater finds the scientist locked in his lab, injecting himself with massive doses of Anti-Virus in an attempt to counteract the infection. Slater shoots Dr. Isaacs, triggering his mutation into a Tyrant. Despite retaining his mind, Isaacs kills all the facility employees but is confined to the lab's lower levels.
Entering the facility, Alice meets a holograph of the Red Queen's sister AI, the White Queen (Madeline Carroll). The White Queen informs Alice that her blood is the cure to the T-Virus. She then tells Alice about Dr. Isaacs. Alice agrees to deal with him. On her way to the lab's lower levels, Alice discovers one of her clones, still in development. The clone awakens, but seems to die from shock upon seeing Alice. Alice finds a replica of the mansion she lived at and finds Isaacs, who fights her with equal strength and psionics. Finding themselves in a replica of the Hive's laser corridor, Alice awaits the grid's arrival, watching Isaacs getting sliced into cubes. Just as Alice is about to meet the same fate, the system is deactivated by her clone, which has inexplicably revived.
Later, in Tokyo, Japan, Wesker informs the rest of the Umbrella board that the North American branch has been lost, and he will now control everything from Japan. Alice's hologram makes an appearance, declaring that she is coming for them now, and she's bringing some of her "friends". Standing beside her clone, Alice looks out onto the hundreds of pods containing her developing clones.
