Hello everyone, I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. Currently still have a late Christmas gift for everyone with a review of the original Black Christmas. So stay tunedI w for that.
Resident Evil. It's a title that is such a massive name in both games and movies. It carries a very distinct image when comes to one's mind. Either you think of the fantastic game series or you immediately have flashes of the Paul W. S. Anderson film series. For me, my interaction with the franchise overall is a bit interesting. I remember hearing about the game series here and there after my family had bought a PS1. It was something that was a bit terrified of. For some reason, my mind kept hyping up the games so much. It probably was due to the fact that one of the first games we bought for the system was Alien Trilogy. I was super creeped out and terrified of that game because of the first person perspective and the face huggers that would leap at you and then just appear over the entire screen. Nowadays, I just see it as a Doom clone.
Later on, the first Resident Evil movie was getting ready to come out in theaters. I was excited about it. Mostly because I had seen how everyone put the game series in such a high standing. I managed to come across the S. D. Perry Resident Evil novels. If you haven't checked those out, I highly recommend them. They were and still are some of my favorite novels. I was hoping that the first movie would capture some of what made that first novel, The Umbrella Conspiracy, so memorable to me. I had started playing Resident Evil 3 as that was the only one my local video store, Family Video, had. Again, huge scaredy cat when it came to games at that time. So it wasn't a long run.
When I had finally had the chance of seeing the film when it was released on DVD, I was a bit caught off guard. Where were the characters that I had known? Why did Paul W. S. Anderson, who claims to be such a fan of the series, care to tell a more original story? Well to an extent, I guess. Why was it so important to have basically carbon copy cutouts of the stereotypes that we were somewhat familiar with? I eventually overcame this and appreciated the film for being a fun popcorn flick. It just wasn't what I was hoping for. I just kept wondering what it would have been like if they would have been more close to the games. But it kept me interested in the franchise.
This brings me to Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. This is a very interesting film to me. By now, it's well known that the story is a bit of a mashup of Resident Evil 1 and Resident Evil 2. Also by now, let it be known that I am well acquainted with the story of Resident Evil 2 Remake. When I had first heard it was going to be a mashup, I was a little confused as to why but pretty pumped. I am happy to say that Johannes Roberts did a good job of creating this mashup. The film is a huge rollercoaster. From minute one, immediately we are thrown into the Raccoon City Orphanage where we see young Claire and Chris Redfield. They are under the care of Doctor Birkin. If he had a first name, I don't recall hearing it in the film. This opening sequence is one that was a bit tense and creepy as we are also introduced to Lisa Trevor. I don't know much about this character, but what we are shown in the film. It's pretty interesting and had me wanting to see more of the character.
Now, there are flashbacks in the film involving the young Claire. There's not many like one or two that I recall. My question is why? Why wasn't this all connected to the opening sequence? It presents no information that we are not already present to. It honestly feels like it was part of that sequence originally and just moved to different parts to keep it flowing. It's honestly just a small nitpick I guess.
Now for the most part, I have heard people complain about the way characters are portrayed. They have said that Leon is presented as a bumbling idiot. Honestly, I don't see him as a bumbling idiot completely. He just feels like someone that is recovering from being a little down on his luck and is a rookie on the police force. It's a bit of a solid introduction to Leon as hopefully we will see him come into his own in another film. Wesker is another aspect that have seen some complaints about. Honestly, he feels like a mashup of Wesker with Barry Burton. It's changes like these that feel different but not bad. I mean we have seen far far worse changes with the Resident Evil lore in the Paul W. S. Anderson side of things.
Now, the cast is a bit stacked. We have Kaya Scodelario as Claire, Hannah John-Kamen as Jill, Robbie Amell as Chris, Tom Hopper as Wesker, Avian Jogia as Leon, Donal Logue as Irons, and Neal McDonough as Birkin. Everyone seems to be enjoying the work they did in this film. It doesn't feel like nobody was phoning in their performances. Each performance had something interesting going on with them. The only downside I will say is that the film feels like it throws everything into gear rather quickly. So, we don't necessarily have as much time to get to know the characters a little better.
There's action in the movie. Though honestly, not as much as I had hoped for. The trailers made it seem like it was going for a huge bombastic action feel. That is not present here. This is a film where it's a bit closer to John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13. But what is presented here is done well. Well, outside of the final fight that this and the 2002 film had. That part literally had me scratching my head in a small sense of deja vu.
This film didn't strike me as gorey. I know that there is some violence in the movie. But nothing too far or heavy on the gore-tastic spectrum. Honestly, there was a point or two where it felt like they had to lean farther on the gore-tastic spectrum for the rating they were shooting for. If those moments weren't there, it wouldn't have felt out of place being a hard PG-13.
Now when you think of Resident Evil, you know there are zombies and creatures. This film didn't really disappoint. For the most part, we have our 'zombies'. They are our basic enemy type in the film. Honestly, they did a really decent job of adapting the looks from the games to the movie. We also have our returning creatures - the Pupper, the Licker, and the Tyrant. Each of these creatures are given a sequence that showcases them in a pretty cool way. The favorite easily being the sequence with the Licker. It left me sitting there with my mouth hanging open. It's just such a badass thing that I didn't see coming. The Tyrant was featured in Resident Evil: Extinction. However, I vastly prefer it in this film. It feels a little more grounded in the beginning stage. It feels vastly more practical. It doesn't feel like overbloated CG. The second stage of it can't be said the same for. But that's okay because it's still a bit interesting to see. And then there's Lisa Trevor. I mentioned her earlier and I still don't now much about her.
And then there's Umbrella. Umbrella is typically the big bad of the Resident Evil franchise. In this film, they do have a presence. In the background art of the Orphanage, their symbol pops up everywhere. They have mottos with "An Umbrella is a shelter from rain." and "Umbrella is your family now." on the walls as well. This honestly was pretty interesting seeing this presence. Outside of that type of stuff, it's pretty bare. They mention that Umbrella has set up shop elsewhere and it definitely feels like it. It helped make the film more interesting for me, especially as we see the effect that Umbrella had on Raccoon City.
Overall, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City delivered on everything I had hoped it could be. If I could go back and tell my younger self to just be patient and wait for a more solid Resident Evil adaptation, I would. This is definitely the film I had hoped the 2002 film would be. I am hoping that this will find its audience. Its definitely worth taking the time to spend with it. And it's honestly, my favorite video game adaptation so far. Hopefully we will get another installment that furthers the world that's being established.
Rating: 4 out of 5.
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