Alice, what's the matter?

Rating: 8/10 (7 March 2011)

When a film version of Resident Evil was originally mooted, George Romero was down to direct, a fact that had long-time zombie fans like me drooling in anticipation; eventually, however, Paul W.S. Anderson got the gig, a guy who, to put it mildly, has never been as revered by horror fans as old-timer George. While I have never really understood the dislike for Anderson, finding his films to be mindlessly enjoyable popcorn fodder, I had to admit I was also disappointed by the news, and just a little bit wary.
Imagine my joy, then, when Resident Evil was finally released and I discovered that Anderson had done a bang-up job, delivering a superb balance of ballistic action and atmospheric horror that stayed faithful to the source material to please the gamers and yet remained just as accessible to non-gamers; sure, part of me still wanted to see what George would have done with the film, but I was thrilled with the results nonetheless.
Nowadays, having seen Romero's last three chapters in his Dead series (Land, Diary and Survival) and sadly realising the the guy no longer has the magic touch, I reckon that hiring Anderson was the wise decision after all. Although not as gory as I would have perhaps liked (you can never have too much splatter), Resident Evil is a quality slice of zombie mayhem: Anderson's direction is slick, without being too showy (ie., he doesn't resort to an overkill of trendy editing), there are some cracking special effects (for the day), and the cast all do a great job, with feisty female leads (Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez) not only kicking zombie butt in style but lighting up the screen with their loveliness in the process.