The View of an Independent

Rating: Null/10 (11 August 2002)

I refer to this review as "the view of an independent" for the following reasons: a) Although I have played the game, I was never particularly good at it and lost interest in it before I got anywhere near completing it. This is not because it was a bad game, indeed, I thought it was a very good game, it just happens I'm not real big on computer games. b) I'm not a die-hard Milla Jovovich fan, who's likely to applaud her performance no matter what. c) I'm not a self-proclaimed officiado of the horror genre, unlike some other commentators.
To put it another way, you're going to get a broad-based and un-biased opinion from me, not weighed down by any nerdy loyalty to horror films, the computer game or Jovovich's hot body!
When I went to see this film I must say I was pretty sceptical. I'm not a big fan of films based on computer games and thought 'Mortal Kombat' (also by Paul Anderson) was a pretty good justification for this, but my friend and I were in a funny mood and thought that the film would probably be, at least, amusing in a comically gory kind of way and before we went in I did in fact say "this will probably be crap".
I was pleasantly surprised.
The crux of the film is that a deadly virus is released in a top secret underground lab, called The Hive, belonging to the corrupt Umbrella Corp. Fans of the game will be familiar with the details. Basically, the Red Queen, a super-computer and the state-of-the-art in A.I., goes "homicidal" and kills everyone in the Hive.
This opening scene is brilliant and sets the tone for the rest of the film. Anderson has opted for a much different style than he presented in 'Event Horizon' (another rather good film), as he presents us with a world that is sleek and stylish, almost clinical. It becomes clear at this point that the virus has been released deliberately but for what purpose and by whom, we are left in the dark, for now.
After the excellent opening sequence (during which it becomes immediately obvious that the soundtrack is going to be brilliant) we move on to the more familiar setting of the famous Mansion, the emergency entrance into the Hive. Already Milla Jovovich turns up naked, although this is shot well and manages to not seem too gratuitous. Meanwhile the Umbrella Corp. has dispatched a special-ops unit, armed to the teeth, to investigate the strange goings on down in the Hive and to establish why the Red Queen killed everyone. Leading this predictable band of gun-toting rogues is Britain's own Colin Salmon, of the most recent Bond films fame. Salmon offers a good performance and his distinct vocal talents lend themselves well to a seamless American accent.
There is also a good performance from back-up babe Michelle Rodriguez, playing, as others have said, a "Lara Croft wannabe". Rodriguez gives a good, solid performance, although it does rather harken back to Vasquez from 'Aliens', while not quite managing to recreate the unique appeal of that character. The rest of the characters, sadly, are rather non-descript, especially James Purefoy, who plays Jovovich's love-interest and Eric Mabius. You'll be lucky if you can remember the names of half the characters in this film and when you leave the cinema you will be referring to them as "the black guy" and "the one that got eaten near the beginning", etc. Some people have criticised this lack of character development, stating that, feeling little empathy for these two-dimensional cardboard cut-outs, you don't care whether the characters live or die. However, I would argue that this is an asset, as it means you can sit happily for an hour or so, watching people get torn to shreds by zombies and not feel too conflicted. The only other character for whom there is a touch of empathy is that of Kaplan (Martin Crewes) who spends practically the entire film "about to die any minute" and you'll be willing him to live throughout!
So Jovovich, wearing a delightfully skimpy outfit, and this motley crew of ramshackle desperados delve deep into the Hive to confront a psychotic super-computer, hundreds of flesh-eating zombies and a giant mutant creature with a long, razor-sharp tongue. What ensues is plenty of gun fire and Jovovich ass-kicking. All in all it's pretty entertaining stuff, well shot and well lit, with an excellent soundtrack (kudos to Marilyn Manson, the absence of whose whining lyrics provides proof that he actually has some talent). Don't expect Oscar performances from any of the cast, although I always think the lack of A-list talent, minus one to put on the billboards, is an asset for any film! Just expect a range of non-entities, ready to get hacked to bits one by one, led by a couple of sexy, well-armed babes in knee-high rubber boots!
The film is of good quality, although die-hard fans of the horror genre will be comparing it to 'Night of the Living Dead', etc. This is a very different type of zombie film and comparison should be taken with a pinch of salt. The film is faithful to the game, while, thankfully, keeping the zest without merely recycling what we've already seen. There is plenty of gore but not so much that your left reeling by the sickening stupidity of it all! And of course there's Milla, whose naked scenes, as I said before, are tastefully done but are still present for the blatant purpose of keeping the lads' duel lust for violence and "booty" satisfied. The dialogue has some pretty awful cliches, as is to be expected from this genre, but on the whole it's of a better standard than I've come to expect from horror films.
Finally a round of applause for young Michaela Dicker, the voice of the Red Queen. Inevitably, the Red Queen has been compared to HAL but God only knows why because, apart from both being homicidal super-computers, they bare absolutely no comparison. Apart from one - the key to the success of both as 'characters' is the fact that they're not so much "frightening" as they are "disconcerting". In the case of HAL, it was his blatant homo-eroticism, in the case of the Red Queen it's the fact that she's modeled on a little girl, the head programmer's daughter we're told. The sound of a girl, who can't be much older than eight or nine, explaining why it was necessary to kill everyone in the Hive is deeply disturbing and Dicker delivers, by far, some of the most memorable quotes from the film, including: "you're all going to die down here!" and "I've been a bad, bad girl."
This really is a blokes' film, the kind you'd go see with your mates rather than your girlfriend. It all raps up nicely for a sequel (Resident Evil: Nemesis already in the pipeline) so watch this space.
7/10