'Resident Evil' began as a 1996 video game for the Sony Playstation before becoming the blockbuster action film series that has since produced five sequels with the final arriving this month. The first film began life as a screenplay written by horror maestro George A. Romero with intentions to direct the film himself. However when those plans fell through due to conflicts with the various producers involved, director Paul W.S. Anderson was brought in. Anderson had just finished the recent box office bomb 'Soldier' with Kurt Russell and was a big fan of the video game series. His future wife, Milla Jovovich would star in all six films as the character of Alice, a mysterious woman who awakens in an underground facility owned by the Umbrella Corporation, a pharmaceutical company who has been secretly creating biological weaponry before a biohazard broke out within their own labs, resulting in grotesque creatures escaping and causing mayhem.
The first 'Resident Evil' also stars Michelle Rodriguez, who most will likely know from the popular 'Fast and the Furious' series of films. She plays the character Rain, a special ops soldier sent in with a team to interrogate Alice and investigate the reasoning behind the outbreak. She and Jovovich do fine in their respective roles given the little material they are given. The original draft by Romero would have not included these characters at all, and when you read the script it almost read like a shot for shot remake of the video game's storyline even down to the game's ridiculous dialogue and sillier moments. For those who do not really enjoy these films due to their lack of any real connection to the video games, I do suggest you look into the original script if you haven't already. I personally felt mixed opinions about it and really didn't feel that it would have been any better of an adaptation despite its stronger connections.
The film is a basic action film scenario, much like James Cameron's 'Aliens'. A group of soldiers and a few civilians head into certain doom and peril, not knowing of the full extent of the situation. In rewatching the film, it truly does feel much like the 1986 film, just done with a slightly larger budget and without the same level of skills and talent Cameron might bring to the table. This is nothing personal towards Anderson as I enjoy quite a few of his films, with 'Event Horizon' being one I consider to be very underrated in the horror genre along with his adaptation of 'Mortal Kombat'. I think even at the time that this film was put into production, Sony Pictures would have rather just made a film in name only to the games rather than a proper adaptation in order to secure a future franchise. They succeeded for sure, the films despite their negative reviews and outcries from the fans have made millions of dollars on both home video and theatrically.
I think the major flaws of this film are down to its characters and it's lack of any really memorable or strong action sequences, despite its attempts to make you constantly feel as if you just witness the most adrenaline pumping scene ever. It constantly deflates any tension and it really takes me out of the film quite often. The actors do their jobs well, even if they have to do the worst actions and spout off the weakest dialogue. On a technical level, 'Resident Evil' is fine but it's just a lack of action, a lack of plot coherency, and the film just slogs at a snail's pace. I really have mellowed out over the years with this series, much like the 'Alien vs. Predator' franchise. I believe that these films and the games are within their own universes and really don't ruin my experience with the games. They're popcorn flicks that are fun, but harmless and while I really don't think they needed to produce six films, I see the appeal they have and recommend them to action fans at the very least. You could really do much worse.
We will be discussing and reviewing the 'Resident Evil' franchise in depth this week in celebration of the newest entry in the game series and the final chapter of the film series. Be sure to check us out all this week.
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