Resident Evilis a complicated franchise. It runs in unusual cycles that feature groundbreaking excellence interrupted by the occasional bloated mess. The cinematic adaptations are far less varied. Almost everyResident Evilmovie and show is terrible. The live-action attempts are shoddy and dim-witted. The cartoons are oddly soulless despite their fun action scenes. On balance, 2002’sResident Evilis likely the best of the pack.
Paul W. S. Anderson has his name on eight video game movies. Uwe Boll beats his score with eleven, but Anderson gets some extra points by creating one or two features worth watching.Anderson’s 2020Monster Huntermoviewas a financial disaster, leading him away from the genre for a while. Fans eagerly await a return as his comically sloppy tryhard style grows on its audience.
What happens in theResident Evilmovie?
The hilariously evil Umbrella Corporation constructs a deadly underground laboratory called the Hive. A shadowy figure stealsthe nightmarish bio-organic weaponT-virus and exposes the Hive’s staff to the pathogen. The Hive’s AI system, the Red Queen, seals the Hive as a defense mechanism. A group of mercenaries arrives to investigate the Hive. Alice, the franchise’s hero, wakes up without her memories in a mansion. She learns that she and her amnesiac partner, Spence, were guarding the Hive’s entrance. Mercenary leader James Shade orders Alice and Spence into the Hive with his team. As they travel deep into the Hive facility, a laser trap kills James and several of his commandos. A mercenary deactivates the Red Queen, releasing zombies and a massive bio-organic weapon into the facility. Alice slowly regains her memory. Several soldiers die.The survivors come togetherin the Red Queen’s central chamber, where they learn they have one hour to escape before the Hive traps them forever.
What isResident Evil’s Rotten Tomatoes score?
Resident Evilhas a 35% positive score on Rotten Tomatoes. Its audience score is considerably more generous, with a 67% positive rating.Resident Evil: The Final Chapterand the 2022 Netflix series are the only live-action entries that top its critical score. The film is absurd in its presentation. Most of the good elements critics found in it came from the game. The bizarre tone, needlessly convoluted narrative, and borderline experimental action scenes are pulled from the source material with few alterations. There are a few scenes that stand on their own. An early sequence with a laser hallway stands out in almost every review. CGI still wasn’t perfect in 2002. The practical effects the production could afford fail to impress. One of the most intriguing aspects of the film is its hero, Alice. Alice eventually became the unstoppable action protagonist fans would remember for decades, but she isn’t that Alice yet. Milla Jovovich spends most of the movie as an amnesiac audience point-of-view character. She’s the team member without knowledge of what she’s up against. Thatcomplex role allows Jovovichto evolve through the film and the franchise.Resident Evilcould never be a critical hit, but it’s still a lot of fun.
How doesResident Evilend?
Several mercenaries get bitten by zombies. Alice remembers the antivirus that could save them and leads the group toward the lab. She arrives to discover the antivirus missing. Alice and Spence recall that Spence stole the T-virus, infected the Hive scientists, and hid the virus and antivirus on a fast train. Spence attacks the mercenaries, but he’s quickly bitten. He locks them away and retrieves the antivirus.The Licker, the mightiest BOWin the Hive, kills Spence. The Red Queen offers the soldiers an escape if they kill their most infected member. Alice refuses as a power outage knocks the Red Queen temporarily out of commission. Alice finds the antivirus and kills a reanimated Spence. They board the train and begin their escape.
The Licker attacks, but Alice subdues it briefly. The Licker kills one commando while the antivirus fails to save another. Alice kills her infected comrade, dropping her body onto a button that opens a hatch to release the Licker onto the train tracks. Alice and Raccoon City Police Officer Matt reach the mansion.Umbrella scientists tranquilize themand take them away. They induct Matt into the Nemesis Program and reopen the Hive for future study. Alice wakes up in Raccoon City Hospital and walks out to find the city destroyed. She picks up a shotgun from a nearby police car and steps out to face the new nightmare.
Resident Eviltells its simple story with far too many misremembered details and non-twists. It could be a straightforward sci-fi horror experience, butPaul W. S. Andersonfelt the need to add an amnesia plotline. Either way, it’s among the bestResident Evilmovies. Twenty-one years after its initial release,Resident Evilis worth a look back. Alice’s first tangle with Umbrella still holds up, at least in the same bizarre way it did in its debut.
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