RESIDENT EVIL (2002)

RESIDENT EVIL (2002)

Tagline: A secret experiment. A deadly virus. A fatal mistake.

(Action, Sci-Fi, You’re All Going To Die Down Here) [R]

The T-virus is protean, changing from liquid to airborne to blood transmission, depending on its environment. It is almost impossible to kill.

In this one, an evil corporation called Umbrella has designed a secret facility for military testing in an underground bunker called “The Hive”. After the T-Virus is leaked into the atmosphere it doesn’t take long before the workers are forced into quarantine and slowly morph into flesh-eating zombies. Umbrella sends a special ops team in to join Alice who is a security specialist who has no memory of who she is but knows she has ties to Spence who also seems to have very little memory of who he is. The special ops units’ mission is to retrieve any survivors and shut down the Red Queen. The Red Queen is a homicidal AI modeled after the daughter of the inventor of the T-Virus, that trapped everyone in “The Hive”. Can Alice and the special ops team overcome her returning memories, an army of zombies, horrifying experiments, and infected dogs in order to get back to the surface?

First off this movie is definitely in the horror zone, but I never really think of it like that, which is why this review is getting done outside of my usual “October horror review window”. I think back when this thing came out most fans of the video game were pretty excited about it. From what I recall it was received well and the movie did turn a profit making over 3 times what it cost to make. However now when you look at the reviews most of them are trashing this movie for virtually no reason at all other than the fact that it didn’t give us a perfect cinematic version of the video game. I have a rule about that, but I am not going to repeat it for the thousandth time in this review.

Acting wise you can tell there was a real passion from everyone involved in making this movie. Michelle Rodriguez (DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS: HONOR AMONG THIEVES) actually wanted to do a RESIDENT EVIL movie so bad that she told her agent she wanted to be involved if a script for a film involving the game was ever written. She might be the second-best character in this thing. The first best, of course, is Alice played by Milla Jovovich (MONSTER HUNTER) who is the only character we see in every installment in the 6 movie original series. Jovovich’s performance in this is vastly different from other characters she had played before Alice. Leeloo and Joan Of Arc had already given us her vast range as an actress, but this was a more dominant character than we had seen in the past. Eric Mabius (CRUEL INTENTIONS) is solid as Matt and is one of the more honorable characters in the film. James Purefoy (SOLOMAN KANE) is good as Spence. He kind of reminds me of a guy you get to do your movie if Thomas Jane isn’t available. Colin Salmon (MORTAL ENGINES) is epic in this as "One". If I had a complaint about the cast, it’s that "One" didn’t get quite enough screen time. 

Overall this is a very creative movie, for some reason, I really never got the horror vibe, but for me, that wasn’t a complaint. The world-building is incredible and the action sequences are really well-shot. I also love Paul W.S. Anderson’s directing style. It’s kind of over-the-top bonkers stylized nonsense and I just freakin love it. I can see where the complaints might have come regarding some of the CGI. There are some moments where I think some practical effects would have been the way to go. For instance, in one case part of a zombie’s face is missing and it’s kind of CGI’d off. The final look is just wonky looking. I would have rather seen the guy's whole head bigger and the effects work done to give it the look they were going for. This is stuff more capable effects guys could have pulled off. Having said that, my only complaint wasn’t enough to knock the score down. 

As a first effort, I give this one a solid 6 out of 7. It is not my favorite movie in the series, but it’s way up there. 

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