Resident Evil

I was generally surprised that I liked this movie, not being a fan of either of it's stars. I decided to give the movie a try since it does deal with one of my favorite horror topics...zombies!

As a horror movie Resident Evil fails miserably, it's not scary and contains only small amounts of suspense. It is much better as an action film although much of the action is chaotic, accompanied by lame heavy metal/thrash music. But seeing as it is based on a video game and made primarily for teenage boy video game addicts it is quite good in and of itself.

The movie plays well, even though it is apparent that some scenes have been cut to achieve an R-rating. The characters do what they need to do in order to survive.

One small problem with the movie is the relative lack of zombie screen time. They do appear in two major scenes but most of the time the hallways are clear. This hive was supposed to employ thousands of people but you only ever see 100 zombies at the most. Also, the humans seem to be able to travel easily wherever they have to go until it is time for another action sequence. It would have been better if they constantly ran into single zombies which they were able to easily dispose of, but this is nit-picking on my part.

Overall I enjoyed the movie and I have never seen, let alone played, the video game. I'm not sure if this movie will have the staying power over multiple viewings for me (like Aliens) but it's a very good single viewing action picture. Easily the best movie I have seen based on a video game. Despite it's flaws Resident Evil rates a 7 out of 10, if taken more seriously this could have been a really good movie. It would have been nice to see a George Romero version.

I had to sift long and deep for a good comment on this. Why all the hostility? I think there was great chemistry on this production and it shows; the actors and crew involved loved the game and had a good time making this. This movie successfully recreated the feel of the game, and because it kept exposition to a minimum of what you needed to know for this particular story and didn't borrow from or revise any of the original characters or settings, it supported and strengthened the franchise. No story is retold here, no words are wasted, the setting, feel and pace is familiar to fans of Resident Evil and yet it's perfectly accessible to those unfamiliar with the broader storyline. Not giving the fan-boys their favorite characters was a good choice since characters tend to get mangled in adaptation, and yet the fan-boys still complain. With this film you have a good, watchable story that can partake of the Resident Evil cosmology, showing it due respect.

It did an excellent job establishing characters without too much unnecessary background, developing them just enough to make you want to know what they'll do next, to make you care before the sudden and gruesome happens to them. The acting was above par for a Resident Evil, certainly much better than the first game. The plot was no more comic bookish than any of the games. My one complaint was that the characters were too battle-trained, too slick, too good at fighting for them to be sympathetic horror subjects. This could've been balanced out with more reaction shots showing the soldiers wetting themselves. But Alice's over-the-top commando-style action made her too much of a super heroine to really make anyone concerned about her survival; characters made of Teflon make good action but apathetic horror subjects.

As a big fan of splatter and horror films i was gladly surprised when i watched this. I haven't played the game so i had no idea what to expect and had nothing to compare with. I really feel that this pays homage to the old zombie films at least to an extent. The zombies here are a little bit faster though.

It begins with a nice back story and then builds slowly in pace to a climactic frenzy. The effects are top notch, solid directing, a really imaginative and eerie production design and great acting.

Yes, i may be a little biased but i really like Milla Jovovich. I think this is the kind of role that fits her best, strong kick ass attitude with an odd personality wrapped in a seemingly fragile shell. Her performance here reminds me a bit of the character she played in "The fifth element" and also the character in the later "Ultraviolet" The other actors did a good job as well so she's not the only one to get credit although the movie revolves around her character. The child AI is a very nice and creepy addition to the atmosphere.

The RE theme could have ended up as a nice trilogy but the sequel unfortunately lacks nearly everything(except Milla) that this film delivers. Not that RE2 is a complete mess but nowhere near this. I haven't seen the third installment yet but even if that one holds true in quality to this one number two becomes the odd one out.

If you like zombie and action films you'll certainly like this one.

I saw this when it first was up on the big screen, and then while I thought it was pretty cool I kinda forgot about it. Then a few days ago I saw it on TV, and I have to say, it's definitely better than I remember it now.

It starts out in a slightly surreal style as we get to follow the employees of the Umbrella Corp., and the events leading to the disaster in the underground laboratory. Then in the same style we get to follow an agent waking up and how she meet the SWAT-like squad she's to work together with to set things straight again.

The overall feeling of the movie is hard to describe but I like it. No nonsense, just straight forward action. No second wasted. I am sure there were clichés in this film but certainly not many and apparently they didn't bother me anyway. Usually when you watch a B action you can get bored simply because it's like every other B action. Not so with Resident Evil, which was not B in my opinion.

Visually, it's also great. At times it was almost a dream-like feeling, from the intro laboratory scenes to the scenes from Alice's home; and most that happened thereafter.

As for storytelling, it told us what we needed to know, nothing more. If there's anything from the introduction scenes that leaves us wondering what in the world happened, who did it and why, we will get the answers as the story moves on.

Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriquez both make their parts really well in my opinion. I have not seen Milla in many other movies but what I've seen so far, I definitely like. Michelle was entirely new to me as far as I know, but I liked her performance.

My complaint could possibly be that some devices in the laboratory seemed a bit of a stretch, especially one particular security defense mechanism that they encountered early on.

All in all, a good action that is somewhat unusual in its style.

Exactly the right movie at exactly the right time. The music and atmosphere, the sets and costume design, the special effects, the cast. Everything lined up perfectly for a young shaggy. That kid was a gothy nerd with love for video-games, horror, industrial music and Mila Jovovich. This movie managed to check all the boxes. Watching it now, it still pretty much holds up. Maybe a little cheesy but stylish and entertaining. 6 stars for watchability, one for nostalgia.