Review of Resident Evil (2002) by Safa A — 05 Oct 2012

I never played the Resident Evil computer game. Not because I didn't want to, but because I absolutely suck at first person shooters and spend my whole time looking at the floor before getting killed in about ten seconds. Perhaps watching this film after not playing the game is the equivalent of not having read the novel that a film is adapted from - it allows you to go in with fewer expectations. Whatever, Resident Evil is pretty enjoyable on the whole.

The back story is classic sci-fi. An totalitarian organisation has a strangle hold on the economy when a virus outbreak in its subterranean headquarters results in the computer going into mass genocide mode. At the same time Milla Jovavich wakes up in the shower with no memory of who she is before Colin Salmon and Michelle Rodriguez burst in SAS style and drag her and That guy who was in Ugly Betty into the underground lair. Once there, they discover that the virus has the slight side effect of re-animating the dead.

So, it's a zombie movie, and not a wholly original one at that. Fortunately, director Paul W.S. Anderson knows how to handle this glossy sci-fi horror stuff having steered Event Horizon previously and he's got a kick ass cast to help him along with some pumping nu-metal on the soundtrack.

Jovavich looks pretty stunning in her red dress and knee high boots and her character Alice is pretty good. You get the feeling that you'd prefer to see her banging heads with the undead a little more but the sequel baiting ending proves they didn't want to maybe give too much of that away in this film. All is not lost however as Michelle Rodriguez does what she does best and shoots stuff and mouths off like a trooper. It's hard not to enjoy an actress like her doing this sort of stuff.

Colin Salmon is a bit wasted in his role which is a disappointment while Eric Mabius looks a bit too well groomed for the most part. His is the only character that you might not miss if he'd been left out of the film.

The computer that controls The Hive, the underground base, is given the visage of a small girl which is a pretty cool touch. Everyone knows that small girls are scary. The film does lack a really memorable, big action scene that would have lifted it a little higher, but it does well with its story telling. Often movies adapted from games seem to stumble and run out of story ideas quite quickly but Resident Evil spins itself out quite well. The finale is a let down but the eyes were clearly on the long game, rather than the opening stretch.

Resident Evil might not be a great film. It's got some dead wood floating around performance wise and the zombies aren't all that inspiring but it's also got a decent story, a couple of nice creepy moments and two rocking performances from its central females that it's guaranteed to raise a smile.