Resident Evil is one of the world’s most popular video game franchises, starting out in the 1990s it became a smash hit from the get-go. The story of this particularly weird zombie apocalypse, starting out in Raccoon City, became a sensation. Everyone was playing this game and they still do to this day with new installations in the franchise coming out every other year. However, one of the few things that have kept the franchise in relevancy even after it went into stagnation after Resident Evil 4 were the films. The funny thing here is that they’re not even good!
How to Stream or Download Resident Evil (2002)
You can stream it or you can download the film from a digital store. Click on the Download button at the end of this review and make your choice. if you like the movie check out also the more recent addition to the franchise – Resident Evil: Welcome to the Raccoon City.
The Movie Review
While the games follow stories of characters such as Leon Kennedy, Claire Redfield, and Chris Redfield, the film follows a completely different arc. This story follows Alice, a brand-new protagonist as well as a team of different commandos as they infiltrate an underground research facility belonging to the umbrella corporation.
What is their purpose? Well, their job is to contain the T-Virus from breaking out. The T virus is a deadly strain of infections that can cause humans to turn into flesh-eating zombies, with nothing else to do, Alice and her squad head down to save the world.
There are a lot of video game films that don’t work, these films simply take some creative inspiration from the games themselves and make an entirely different story with new protagonists and characters. That particular aspect of these films I do not like, especially because it deletes the nuances and the character-driven arcs that made the game so great.
Resident Evil suffers from that exact formula, creating an uninspired character and a cast of misfits who just do not fit together well.
The world itself is also contained in an underground facility here, which just isn’t a perfect setting for a Resident Evil story in my opinion. The original game, Resident Evil 2 to be precise started inside of a police station and then moved on to different locations. Here there is just constantly in the same area, with little to no changes in scenery. This makes the world feel much more stagnant, not to mention the zombies are much different in these films than they are in the games.
The film brings up larger-than-life action sequences, which would have just felt silly in the video game as weird as that sounds.
When it comes to the performances though, this film does have a lot of campiness to it. There is nothing of emotion that you will get from these characters. It is hard to keep a straight face while you’re watching this film because the acting is so laughable that your senses are going to force you to smile a little bit even during emotional moments.
It’s hard to explain how damp this film makes the games feel because it takes creative liberties in every aspect which it shouldn’t. Gone is the gritty realism of the video games, and here comes some Michael Bay-style action that just doesn’t work.
When it comes to the visuals though, at least Resident Evil got some things right. The visuals and the cinematography of this film are very much inspired by Sam Raimi’s work in Darkman.
The film looks visually pleasing and has some moments which would not be as good if it wasn’t for the impressively campy cinematography. The camera angles aren’t revolutionary or anything, yet they still make sure that you see things in a different light.
While this was a movie from the 2002 era, the synth-heavy soundtrack just did not fit this film either. It’s still the soundtrack I would listen to on my own, yet it just doesn’t work in the context of this film. It’s too noisy, and grungy and the synths do get repetitive after a while.
Resident Evil is a film that could have been much more fun to watch if it wasn’t for the many things holding it back. The era in which video game films took creative liberties and broke the system, ended up becoming quite stagnant. Films like this are still being made, unfortunately.
As recently as 2020, we’ve seen Paul W.S Anderson make movies like Monster Hunter which was simply disappointing, to say the least. Resident Evil was a bad film with a bad effect, and I hope that the industry learns its lesson soon
