Ooogh, I think I'm going to be sick!

Rating: 1/10 (15 March 2002)

I went into this film with very low expectations. I enjoyed director Anderson's sc-fi horror movie 'Event Horizon', but 'Mortal Kombat' and 'Shopping' were just terrible. I then heard that they had rejected horror mastermind George Romero's script, and that Anderson's script used amnesia as a major plot device. Tip: Amnesia = sucky script.
I was pleasantly surprised, however, as I began watching the movie. It was by no means great cinema, but it was entertaining. It was definitely familiar ground, ripping off Cameron's 'Aliens' and Romero's 'Night of the Living Dead', among other films, but you could easily get into the stylish, mtv-speed movie. The only distraction from enjoying the movie was the way the team got separated and then back together again for no logical reason ("Where's the rest of the team?" "I dunno, we lost them!"). The only distraction, that is, until the ending.
SPOILER WARNING:
Then, when I was really enjoying the movie, the ending happened. Remember the ending to 2001's summer blockbuster, 'Planet of the Apes'? Remember how it felt convoluted, like it had been tacked onto the end of the film? 'Resident Evil' has an ending that makes that ending look predictable. It makes no sense! It was Twilight-Zone-esque, except that it was really very stupid. We're supposed to believe that several days have passed between her falling asleep and waking up? Why did Umbrella take her to the public hospital? How were they able to take them at all? Why weren't there zombies roaming the streets? How did the virus get out? What happened to the hunk?
The whole ending felt like they were trying to shock the audience, and pave the way for a sequel. Lame, guys! Just because an ending is predictable doesn't mean it's bad! It can be comforting to see the guy get the girl (or in this case girl get the guy) and save the world. Oh, I'm all for surprise endings, but not when they don't make any sense! This movie left a bad taste in my mouth.