The zombies let it down

Rating: 6/10 (6 January 2017)

I was never really into video games growing up, and I'm still not today. So a series like 'Resident Evil' just completely passed over my radar. With the 'Final Chapter' coming out shortly though I decided to go back and review the series to see what I think of it. Going back 14 years when it comes to a CGI heavy film can be a dodgy thing to do. Admittedly, there is a noticeable difference compared to the quality being produced today, but it's certainly not distractingly bad.
I quite like films that are set in a confined space with the characters having to either work their way to the centre, or find a way out. This is one of those films and most aspects of it are done fairly well. The one element (that happened to be probably the biggest of them all sadly) that didn't work was the zombies. Zombies are simply not scary, not visually impressive and not entertaining. They're still better than vampires, but they are not a strong thing to have as a heavy component of your film.
Having never played the game I can't confirm how close this is in terms of being true to it. I suspect though that it's pretty close. A lot of scenes feel like they're straight from a game and you can even imagine yourself having to pass the level that the characters are currently on. Milla Jovovich plays the lead role well, but I hope in the sequels she evolves a lot. At times in this one she felt like just another member of the squad, and certainly not the main character. People to this day say are still waiting for a great video game adaption to come out. 'Resident Evil' is a solid film, but it's certainly far from being great.