Resident Evil: “Unknown, even to its own employees, its massive profits are generated by military technology, genetic experimentation and viral weaponry.”
Ask yourself, did anyone really think this was ever going to be a good film? It’s a video game adaptation, for one thing. I have never seen a decent video game adaptation (and no, the two Final Fantasy films do not count, as one is a sequel to the game, and one has zero relation to any game in the series). And second, it’s directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. Before this film, he has done such classics as Soldier, Shopping, Event Horizon, and Mortal Kombat (that’s right, another equally bad video game adaptation). Haven’t heard of any of these films (except maybe Mortal Kombat)? I don’t blame you. Most of them flopped and have been thrown in the bargain bin.
Remember, Resident Evil was not doomed from the start. It originally was being written and directed by George Romero (yes, that George Romero), who had his secretary play the game and record every minute of gameplay so he could study it while writing. Apparently, the people at Capcom didn’t like Romero‘s script, so he was booted off the project. Enter Paul W. S. Anderson, who wrote a script that was favoured over Romero‘s. It seems that after hiring a man who pretty much created the zombie genre, hiring Anderson, who’s best achievement had been directing a financially successful but critically loathed adaptation of Mortal Kombat, seems like a pretty bad move on Sony’s part, as Resident Evil has been smashed by critics and fans of the game.
Resident Evil sees a virus is let loose in a secret lab underneath the Umbrella Corporation’s Headquarters, called The Hive, the lab is sealed and everyone inside are gassed and killed. Alice (Milla Jovovich) wakes up in a shower (because you just couldn’t make a clichéd horror film without THAT), not knowing where she is or how she got there. Soon, she, and a police officer she finds wandering around the house named Matt, are attacked by a group of commandos, headed up by ‘One’, and feisty but oh-so-obnoxious Rain (Michelle Rodriguez). They explain that they were sent down to investigate a disturbance in The Hive. As they go down into the depths of Umbrella, they discover the dead have been re-animated, and try and get out safely while trying to find out what caused it.
Resident Evil represents one of the hardest plot summaries I’ve ever had to write, because air has more substance than this film. It’s more of an incoherent mess than Transformers: Dark Of The Moon, and that’s saying something. It’s an excuse to have zombies shot, stabbed, and dismembered. And occasionally, that can be fun. If it’s done well, you can look past the film’s bad points and just have fun with the violence, a perfect example being Predator. The only problem, the action in Resident Evil is terrible! The zombies look terrible, the guns look and sound like toys, and the effects are just abysmal. Everything in this film is poorly executed.
Resident Evil’s acting is as expected. Michelle Rodriguez is easily the one who comes out worst, as her character is so unlikeable and annoying that you want her to get bitten by a zombie. Milla Jovovich cannot really be judged on her acting ability as Alice has, and I’m not even exaggerating here, no character. She has no characteristics, and no real traits apart from being able to fight. Her amnesia is just a reason to have choppy and disorientating flashbacks which serve no narrative purpose. In fact, most of the things that happen serve no purpose. This film could be over in 10 minutes if you cut back all the filler.
Resident Evil is a wasted film. The game could have been great material for an entertaining zombie movie, but they made it a cheap, uninteresting, formulaic mess. This film would have been more entertaining if it had been directed by someone like Uwe Boll, a director notorious or making terrible video game adaptations. But at least his films are fun! Paul W. S. Anderson is an awful director, as his later efforts show, solidifying him in my mind as a poor man’s Michael Bay. Do not see this film over some other modern zombie films, like Zack Snyder‘s remake of Dawn of the Dead. Watch that, skip this.
Originally published on ‘Film-Node‘ website.
Related Reviews
Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004)
Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
By Mark Barrett 24/04/2012 - 13:43
Haha, I’m certainly learning a lot about my movie tastes reading TFG.
I won’t go as far as saying I ‘love’ this movie franchise becasue love is too strong a word, I do like it though. They’re fun movies with a few decent scares and occasional cool action sequences.
One thing I take objection to is the suggestion that Uwe Boll could have done better… how dare you Film Brat, how very dare you! Uwe Boll is a monster! Responsible for some of the worst films to have ever made it into the 2nd hand bargain bin at the local blockbusters!
I mean, have you seen ‘In the name of the King,’ ‘Alone in the Dark,’ or ‘Bloodrayne’? I can only assume you haven’t, otherwise you would not lay such an insult on poor Mr. Anderson.
In closing…You take that back! haha!
By That Film Brat 24/04/2012 - 13:54
Actually, I have seen all of those films, and I can safely say that I enjoyed them all more than this. I said that the film would have been more entertaining if Uwe Boll had done it, Romero would have done a better job.
Should I preface everything I say in my reviews with ‘I think that’? These reviews are my opinion, and in my opinion, this film would have been more enjoyable if directed by Uwe Boll. Not better.
By Mark Barrett 24/04/2012 - 14:02
Haha, I’m just having a laugh. I would definitely have cringed more had Boll done this though!
By That Film Guy 25/04/2012 - 00:23
In fairness Rampage by Uwe Boll was actually quite a well put together film. Just saying.
By Paul Edwards 30/08/2012 - 18:55
Like Mark, I can’t say I Love the Resi film franchise, but I really enjoy it, far more than 1/2 a star, however I accept that a a review is opinion and people can have differing… err… …wait, WHAT????
“…you can look past the film’s bad points and just have fun with the violence, a perfect example being Predator.”
WHAT BAD PARTS?????!!!! There is nothing bad about Predator! It’s a near-perfect 80′s action sci-fi spectacle!
By James Haves 03/09/2012 - 15:02
I works as a great action film, but like most Arnold film, it’s still goofy, over the top, and very, very stupid.
By James Haves 26/01/2013 - 16:27
I would also like to point out that using Predator was a bad move in retrospect, because I hadn’t seen it at the time, and assumed it was just another Arnold movie. I’ve now learned from that, and now having actually seen Predator can safely say that, in my opinion, it’s a massivley over-rated movie.