Review of Resident Evil (2002) by Kai82 — 24 Oct 2020

One of the better videogame adaptations. I must also point out the movie uses only themes, names, concepts and ideas and is not a direct adaptation of any game in the series. Resident Evil while not inventing the genre is the poster child for survival horror games and a well know series in the industry.

Over the years there were many games, spin offs, remakes and some controversies. Mainly the game focus on characters stuck in nightmarish situations caused by a virus that causes the transformation into zombies and even far worse creatures.

An evil company is behind it in the earlier games. Back to the movie: In a secret underground Umbrella Cooperation laboratory called the hive a sample of a virus and the antidote is stolen. To hide all evidence the cult-print spreads the virus in the complex.

The AI named Red Queen is now in full damage control and quarantine mode. Nearby the protagonist Alice awakens in a mansion without remembering anything and is shortly after recruited by a heavily armed group that stormed the house and wanted to enter the hive.

So starts the story. We got some good twists, action and menacing situations that have to be solved. The actors are good and deliver mostly. Milla Jovovich is excellent as lead actress in this kind of movies.

The rest of the cast is maybe a bit underused or underdeveloped. I only remember Michelle Rodriguez and Eric Mabius to have bigger moments that made them interesting with exception of Heike Makatsch ( Maybe because of a very short screen time).

Additionally the script is really good for this kind of movie. There is no time to bore the watcher which means also good pacing. Remember this is an action horror movie and does not have or need a Shakespearean story as it would be not expected.

The special effects however looked really good for the time and budget. Overall this is a decent or even good videogame movie. Worth watching and has memorable moments (The Laser scene is often quoted).

Be warned that the sequels are not as good and especially the final movie has an awful conclusion.