Accomplishes far more than the games could ever hope to

Rating: Null/10 (10 August 2002)

I'm a big fan of videogames in general, but I never liked the Resident Evil series because of the ridiculously bad controls, terrible voice acting and story sequences, extremely silly puzzles and lack of realism (why can't I just jump over the car blocking my path? Why can't I shoot open this simple locker with my shotgun? Why don't the people I meet stay with me to increase our odds of survival?) But I knew that RE the movie, being made by Hollywood people, had a pretty good chance of being good, since the premise of the RE movies is better suited for movies than that of other videogames. Hate Hollywood all you want, mock their predictable plot twists and cliched characters, but you haven't been exposed to the horror that is videogame storylines and acting, written by some dorky twenty-something japanese programmer who thinks he did a good job emulating american zombie B-movies, but bless his heart, has failed miserably. Ignorance is bliss, as they say.
The storyline is well-presented. Since at the beginning of the movie Milla's character is suffering from temporary memory loss, this gives the movie an excuse to explain to you the how and why's. Basically, it's about a rescue team trying to find out why the computer AI of an underground secret military research facility has gone haywire and killed off everyone. I won't say any more, but trust me, it's good.
It grips you from beginning to end because like I said, you're seeing things from Milla's perspective. It does a very good giving you the "they/we're all gonna die!" feeling. The action scenes are so-so, it's the ambiance that makes the movie. The haunting soundtrack is one of the best I've ever heard, and complements the movie perfectly. Kudos to the composer.
The exciting ending does a great job at making you want to know what will happen next. Don't worry, it's not tacked on to make way for a sequel, it actually falls in line with the rest of the movie. I didn't watch RE1 in the theaters because I thought it was gonna suck, but I'll be standing in line at the ticket counter when RE2: Nemesis rolls around.
8/10