Okay, okay, okay…  I know it is a great video game.  I know the movie does not do the video game full justice.  I know that the story is not the same, and that the plot doesn’t follow the same path.  Here’s the thing: I never got into the game, so I don’t care, and you shouldn’t either.  The reason that movies aren’t made for your Playstation and that video games aren’t designed for the big screen is because they are two separate entities.  Start watching Resident Evil with this frame of mind and you’ll have a good time!  Guaranteed.  Of course if you leave your soapbox long enough to enjoy this film someone else might come along and climb up on it...

 The Umbrella Corporation has been conducting experiments…experiments so dastardly (twirl mustache here) that the research facility has to be located far underground away from prying, or even aware, eyes.  Nicknamed “The Hive”, this subterranean labyrinth is host to a new biological virus which is designed to regenerate human tissue, but of course the virus has not been perfected and early experiments have not been “a success”.  The problem is the virus doesn’t leave living subjects unaffected, and works all to well on those no longer alive!  When there is an outbreak of the virus in the Hive, the facilities AI supercomputer, The Red Queen, decides that no one will be allowed to escape and carry the virus to the surface.   

A team of commandoes is sent into the Hive from the surface to investigate the situation and look for survivors.  The Red Queen does not look fairly upon our band of warriors and does what she can to creatively kill them off.  In a pleasant twist from the usual zombie fare, the films females (Jovovich and Rodriguez) are the heroes and are not reduced to whimpering victims as soon as the brain eating begins.  This is good because what the team finds, of course, is not a frustrated group of claustrophobic scientist survivors, but is indeed a nightmare of the shuffling dead…and their fleshless puppies!   

What director, Paul Anderson, has managed to do with this film is create a fast paced zombie movie, in which the characters do not have to fall down a lot to allow the zombies enough time to catch up.  The short attention span MTV editing combined with a very frantic industrial-metal score by shock-rocker Marilyn Manson, makes for a popcorn-entertainment flick that is a great hour-and-a-half rest for your brain.  And with a butt-kicking, various-state-of-undress, Mila Jovovich, it’s not a bad half-hour for your eyes either.   

So whether you are a fan of the game or a fellow zombie lover, this film has just the right amount of scare, gore and evil ambience to keep you entertained.  And before I hear anymore about the movie not equaling the game, let me remind you all of a little movie called Super Mario Brothers.  It could be worse, am I wrong?  Now be quiet and watch the zombies eat.  

-aaron-
 

Directed By: Paul W.S. Anderson   Written by: Paul W.S. Anderson   Based Upon the Game: Resident Evil by CAPCOM   Cast: Mila Jovovich Michelle Rodriguez Eric Mabius James Purefoy Martin Crewes Colin Salmon

DVD Features: Digitally Mastered Audio & Animorphic Video Mastered in High Definition Widescreen Presentation Audio: English 5.1 (Dolby Digital); French 5.1 Subtitles: English, French Cast and Filmakers' Commentary 5 Exclusive Featurettes Music Video: "My Plague" by Slipknot Filmographies Animated Menus Production Notes Theatrical Trailers Scene Selections