The escaped virus has turned the earth into a desert-like zombie planet, leaving a few survivors on the run while the sinister Umbrella Corp tries to find a cure. Dr Isaacs (Glen) heads up the research with a complete disdain for medical ethics; he actually needs to find the genetically modified Alice (Jovovich), whose blood has the key to an antidote. Meanwhile, she roams the wilderness alone until she joins a refugee convoy led by Claire (Larter) and her old friend Carlos (Fehr). When Isaacs finally spots her by satellite, they head for a huge showdown in sand-swamped Las Vegas.

The plot is extremely basic, and the characters are even simpler. This is a straightforward action suspense thriller that really wants to scare our socks off, but hasn't a clue how to go about it. Unless loud noises on the soundtrack do it for you, there isn't a bit of horror here, even though the story is quite tense, and has several nifty twists, including the emergence of an outrageous super-megazombie.

After the lively second film, the cast looks a bit exhausted this time. Sure, the stunt work and action choreography are whizzy and thrilling, although the fight sequences are so badly edited that we're never quite sure what's happening. Even the climactic all-out war in Vegas is filmed with far too many close-ups, filling the screen with movement and grisliness that has little meaningful context. And with characters this thinly written, there's not much to grab on to at all.

Still, it's busy and often bewilderingly chaotic, which keeps us watching. And the continuing story takes some satisfying turns along the way, leaving the door open for further carnage. Director Mulcahey uses the extensive flesh-and-gore make-up brilliantly, although the bigger special effects are more uneven. He also shamelessly indulges in rather a lot of female flesh, which will keep the fanboys coming back for more. Which is kind of the point, isn't it.

themes, strong violence, language

23.Aug.07