'EVIL' : Dead on the Mark!

Rating: Null/10 (14 April 2002)

I have a friend who when we watch movies, he refuses to watch horror films because they unnecessarily scare him. Yet,the only video game he seems to enjoy playing is RESIDENT EVIL. He still has yet to explain that stroke of contradiction to me. Then again,this is someone who once told me he doesn't wear a safety belt because he is not afraid of dying,but once when I wanted him to go skydiving with me, he turned me down flat because he said he is afraid of heights. Maybe his logic is that he likes to be in control of a situation if he is going to be afraid of one. I on the other hand,am not a huge fan of video games. At least playing them. These days the graphics and sound are so advanced that I find myself watching them rather than wanting to play them. I do however love watching horror flicks. Surely there could be some sort of horror movie that I could take him to see. Instead of just waiting for a follow up to his favorite game, he found out that it was coming to the big screen and he wanted to see it. Being the hit video game that it was,it came as no surprise that a movie version of RESIDENT EVIL would be highly anticipated. Almost everyone would agree that movies based on popular game franchises are not a successful investment. RESIDENT EVIL is clearly the exception to the rule only because its source material already borrows from a popular horror genre. The right director is employed to make the movie work. While Paul Anderson(MORTAL KOMBAT,EVENT HORIZON)will not give you a subtle, thought provoking film in the vain of MAGNOLIA director P.T. Anderson, he doesn't adopt P.T. Barnum's "there is a sucker born every minute" school of thought either. The film is well aware of its George Romero zombie roots. It pays homage to it while staying close to the plot similarities of the video game. RESIDENT EVIL takes place mostly in the hi-tech underground facility of Racoon City. The evil Umbrella Corporation has a monopoly on all the world's technologies including nuclear,biological and chemical weaponry. Is this supposed to be a sendup of the Phillip Morris companies? Anyhow, the film wastes no time cranking the action level into full throttle. A saboteur in the research and development department meticulously unleashes a deadly virus(in an opening shot similar to the one seen in HANNIBAL) that will annihilate those exposed and turn them into blood thirsty zombies. The facility goes into automatic lockdown and all Hades breaks loose. Enter the super slick response team set up for failure from the word go. The "Hive" is controlled by a HAL 9000-like supercomputer to keep them from getting out. Milla Jovovich(THE FIFTH ELEMENT,THE MESSENGER) and Michelle Rodriguez(THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS)are the heroines who get to do most of the bloody work. sLiPkNoT,Mudvayne and Marilyn Manson,artists who seem to make most of their money playing on soundtracks of horror movies rather than on the radio are on the soundtrack of this one too. RESIDENT EVIL is a fun, in-your-face and ghoulish action pic. Whether you have heard of the video game or not,if you are expecting a fast paced frenzy accessorized by the lush color that blood will provide than this may be your cup of Joe.