Another new addition to the mythology of the Resident Evil films is a plotline involving dozens of Alice clones, created and trained by the evil scientists of the Umbrella Corp. Unfortunately for Umbrella, none of the replicas are able to survive the very same deadly trials that the original Alice went through in the first two films. Those scenes, however, should make for some fun viewing by Resident Evil fans, who will see a lot of familiar action sequences -- with different results, of course.

[SPOILER ALERT]


[END SPOILER ALERT]



Jovovich explained the scenario: "There's like a whole scene where they're dumping these clones of Alice, because they've got her DNA and they've recreated all of these clones, and they send each one to try and get the real Alice again, one that's cooperative. So they try and have selective memory choices; they send her through the glass corridor to try and escape the laser grid, then they send her kind of on the same steps she took in the first one, but each time the clone dies, she doesn't survive. So you have all of these clones just being dumped in this pit, and all these zombies...it's really cool!"

Jovovich as Alice in Resident Evil: Extinction

As an actress who likes to give her own input into a film, it's been difficult for Jovovich to give her all into a performance that, in the final edit, gets lost under the guidance of what she may consider an ill-fitted director. While the original Resident Evil is her favorite thus far (and was directed by off-screen partner Anderson), Jovovich is not shy about discussing the shortcomings of the second installment, by first-time director Alexander Witt. "I did some really dangerous stunts that I felt like you didn't really see what was happening," she explained. "What we did was insane. And when I saw the freaking shot, I was like, you can't even tell that that's me, you can't even tell how high I am, you can't tell...and I'm telling everyone I jumped off a six story building! So, whatever. I had my little problems with the second one. Saying that, I think as [it fits into the] trilogy it's great. It's an exciting film. I changed a LOT in the dubbing; that was one of my biggest problems with the director of the second one. I just felt like he wasn't in the moment."

Last year's Ultraviolet was similarly problematic for the actress. The tale of a futuristic vampire heroine defending a boy from evil forces was a highly stylized but incoherent affair with great action sequences, but garnered the ire of critics and ended up with a seven percent Tomatometer rating. When asked about her experience making that film, Jovovich was equally frank about director Kurt Wimmer. "Listen. All I can tell you is I was completely locked out from the editing room, which was unfortunate, because I was promised that I wouldn't be," she began. "On both Resident Evils I had a lot of input into the movie, before it was finished...more on the first than on the second. But with Ultraviolet I was very depressed, because [Wimmer] was a real cad, in the sense that he kind of reneged on his promises and didn't allow me to see my performances."

Milla Jovovich in Ultraviolet

Sometimes actors make subtle changes while filming a scene that nobody else might notice. Jovovich thinks that having that sort of knowledge, and trusting an actor to know their own performance, are important tools for a director to use. "I said listen, I don't want to step on your feet but there are certain things that I did, that I would remember. Like, you know in that scene, take three -- there's just a little movement of my eye, that's cool in the close-up. Or whatever, you know...it's unfortunate, because that's the perfect example of a movie that I spent a year of my life preparing for and shooting, and once you see it, you're like...ok...on to the next!"

Judging from Jovovich's rapport with Extinction director Russell Mulcahy, it seems the actress is already more satisfied with the third film in the Resident Evil franchise. A seasoned filmmaker, Mulcahy (Highlander) is the most experienced director to take control of the Resident Evil series yet. On set, Mulcahy would deftly keep his buoyant star in character with frequent reminders ("You're in the moment!") and has guided the look and feel of the film in a more visually arresting direction than its subterranean and city-locked predecessors. "The way he's shooting everything is so cool," Jovovich gushed. "He does all these dirty shots -- like pans, lots of wide shots, really beautiful, taking advantage of the desert and this incredible set that they built. It's really cool, it looks different. I think the camera work is much better in this one than it's been in either of the two movies...no offense to [Anderson and Witt], but I think it looks really great."

Take a look yourself at the trailer for Resident Evil: Extinction here to see what sun-baked desert zombie goodness you're in for when the film hits in September. Stay tuned for more set interviews with Ali Larter and Oded Fehr in the coming days!