Believe it or not- this is this best game-to-film movie made so far... (eep!)

Rating: 3/10 (14 March 2002)

Ah... The video game crossover... What a horrible thing... There was "Super Mario Brothers", "Double Dragon", the 2 "Mortal Kombat" films and "Tomb Raider". Now that your eyes are sore from all that cringing here comes "Resident Evil" from director Paul "W.S." Anderson. He, as many of us know is responsible for such atrocities as "Mortal Kombat", "Event Horizon" and "Soldier". But let's give his new initials (W.S.) a chance... Being a big fan of the "Resident Evil" games I was excited when I heard of the film being made. It was originally supposed to be directed by horror veteran George Romero but he decided not to after his script (which was way better) was turned down. Enter Mr. Anderson... Now writing and directing isn't the easiest thing to do and is a daunting task indeed. Which is why I wasn't completely insulted by the film. I won't give much of the simple plot away but here is what I liked and disliked. Likes: Production. -Great looking effects and design. The mansion and facility looked really good and solid. Dead Guys. -The zombies were some of the scariest looking I've seen in a while (very well acted too). Mostly make-up with good C.G. enhancements. The 'hunters' look pretty good as well. Gore. -Bloody but not ridiculous. They could've gone for a P.G.-13 rating for the kiddies but opted to go the whole 9 and make it violent like the game. Scares. -I jumped at a few of the scares. Great if u have your clingy lady-friend sitting near you... ;) OK... now the cons: Dialogue. -Really bad dialogue at times. Very bland lines. Some jokes worked and some didn't. Acting. -Other than the main actors (Jovavich and Rodriguez) everyone else seemed deader than the zombies. Directing. -Very slow narrative and the action was dull and brief. There was also too much emphasis on establishing a 'style' with wash-outs and camera angles. Very distracting...Editing. -Too many quick cuts. Plot. Too simple and ineffective with too many plot holes and unoriginality. This is based on a game that plays like a film so it really shouldn't be 'that' difficult... Music. -Probably the worst gripe of all. Crappy 'industrial' music from Marco Beltrami and Marilyn Manson. Ugh... It was 'accidental' instead of being 'incidental' music. It gave a lot of the scares away and was louder than the film itself. Overall this film is for the fans of the game who will appreciate it more than others who haven't experienced the 'Resident Evil' games. With a better script and better director this would've worked much better. Maybe the sequels will be better...
P.S.: The original title was 'Resident Evil Zero' which would've been a better title because this film basically is the back story to the first game.