Action

MOVIE REVIEW [Guest] . Resident Evil

Alex is back with a review of the oft-hated Resident Evil adaptation. I know Kris and I dug it, but we’re pretty big fans of the games. So what does an unbiased third party like Alex think? Read on.

Resident Evil is by far one of the scariest games to come out of Capcom’s evil lineup, spawning a long list of titles overflowing with scares. For its time it was quite an original game. Sure, you’re trapped in a mansion / lab facility where scientists have been doing wacky stuff, but you have to fight some of the freakiest monsters ever seen. Zombies, Zombie monsters, zombie dogs, zombie sharks, they even had zombie plants! That’s right; you have to poison horticulture to survive.

So, although it was a video game into movie conversion, I went into the film with high hopes. The idea of being stuck inside of a mansion surrounded by monsters lurking in the darkened forest around it seemed perfect for a horror film. Survive till daylight, fight off the zombies, send for a helicopter, easy enough. But wait, what is this? Where is the mansion? Where are the monsters? Where are my ZOMBIES?

Resident Evil takes a very different direction from its game counterpart, and keeps you on your toes the entire film. It shows an alternate universe of the evil umbrella corporation’s sick and twisted laboratories, where things might have gone differently if some backstabber hadn’t fudged it all up. While not the same, it is still quite good. It makes up for the lack of monsters by rooting the story in fear of the “T-Virus”.

There are a few moments of downtime where characters fill in plot holes, regain their memory, and whine about losing friends and family. But those few minutes are worth it, because as soon as things start getting comfy the zombies are right on their tales. And yes, there is a monster. The crazy tongue beast from Resident Evil 2 makes an appearance, killing whatever it can find, and eventually turning a few characters into meals.

No matter how much you expect a character to die, or to live for that matter, they eventually fool you with just who survives. They also don’t bog the film down with too many references to the game, so the average moviegoer can sink right into a chair and watch without any trouble. Sure, I miss the sharks and evil plants, but the idea of being trapped underground for all eternity with a whole bunch of zombies is good enough for me to forget all about them. The film is a definite must watch.

About the Author:

Alex Candia is a student at Academy of Art in San Francisco, and a fan of all things horror and anime. In his spare time he works for noble causes, tutors in English, and fights off the honeys with a stick. A big one.