| VITAL STATS
|
|
 Director: Paul Anderson
Cast: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius, James Purefoy
Classification: 16V
Running time: 100 minutes
A secret experiment...a deadly virus...a fatal mistake. Based on the wildly popular video game series, Resident Evil is an action-packed thriller starring Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element), Michelle Rodriguez (The Fast and the Furious) and Eric Mabius (Cruel Intentions) in a battle of good and evil, human versus computer, the living against the Undead.
|
|
|
Exceptions to the rule are not that common with Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within the only one that I can recall (but then it was an animated movie). It overcame one of the biggest challenges directors face with adaptations in that the movie must be similar enough to the game to appease loyal followers and yet be able to stand on its own so people who haven't played the game will still know what is going on.
It is true that some games lend themselves more to film than others. Resident Evil is a prime example. When the original game was released in 1996, it set a precedent for the first-person horror genre. Here was a game that combined a story (yes games can tell a story) with great graphics (for the time) and some really edge-of-your-seat scary moments.
So does the movie deliver?
It stars Milla Jovovich as Alice, a woman who wakes up with memory loss and is forced to become part of a group of soldiers who enter the Hive, the famed underground genetic research facility of the game. They must find out why the Red Queen, a supercomputer controlling the Hive, has sealed the facility, killing all the employees. It is soon apparent that a viral outbreak occurred that transformed the dead workers into ravenous zombies and now threatens to infect the outside world.
|
|
Group hug |
|
Resident Evil does not have any pretensions to be a serious movie. It does, however, want to be a scary movie. Unfortunately, it does not really succeed on that front with many of the frightening scenes coming across as funny (well, I laughed). The movie almost seems formulaic in its approach and most of the horror fundies out there will be able to predict exactly what is going to happen next.
The special effects have been nicely done without being breathtaking while the soundtrack is excellent and conveys the almost futile situation the characters face. While there is a lot of violence in the movie, there is a distinct lack of blood and graphical dismemberments. This should please the mother-grundies but does not mean you can take a five-year-old along with you as it has a 16-rating for violence.
Unfortunately, the movie promises much and delivers little. There is no real character development to speak off which leads to an almost apathetic attitude towards the group. You don't really care who is going to die next; you only want to see more of the beautiful Alice in her revealing outfit.
Having said all that, the movie is very enjoyable from a “popcorn-eating-forget-about-the-outside-world” perspective. It stays close to the game and gives people who never played it a view of what the series is about.
While the movie is as soulless as the zombie monsters in it, it does have entertainment value and is set to win many converts to the game while doing just enough to satisfy fans.
