Excellent for what it is

Rating: Null/10 (9 August 2002)

***WARNING - POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD***
First things first, let me get a few things off my chest from the get-go about common complaints I keep hearing about the movie:
Common Complaint #1: No plot - B.S. Pay attention and you'll find one. T-Virus is released intentionally by someone, so they can get away scot-free with the virus and anti-virus without witnesses, for profit of course to those lazy reviewers like Richard Roeper who think the whole thing is pointless. Umbrella's (not the military) special forces team, resembling Hunk's team in RE2 for those familiar with the game, infiltrate the Hive lab to find out why the lab's super computer Red Queen sealed it shut, only to find that the researchers have been mutated into the living dead. Amnesia for two characters begins to wear off later in the film, revealing their true intentions and a few cool plot twists. For an even deeper story with even more interesting revelations and characters, play the games.
Common Complaint #2: The Licker - the Licker is created by injecting a virus-riddled zombie with the T-Virus (in the game) or, as the movie puts it, injecting the virus into living tissue. It's an unstable experiment, because the Licker grows stronger and mutates after killing prey and ingesting fresh DNA. So all in all the licker isn't just a random monster used for the purpose of there being a monster. And the Licker is not a rip-off of the Xenomorphs of Aliens. They appear in the game exactly as they do in the movie, so any plagiarism complaint you may have should be directed towards the game's makers, not Anderson. Also, the movie's budget was a mere $40 million, a relatively small amount compared to most blockbusters. I'm sure with a bigger budget, the licker would've looked much better.
Common Complaint #3: Undeveloped characters - if you're still reading and haven't seen the movie, this is your last chance to look away. Anyway, the only reason I see why the characters weren't developed is because the majority of them die off very quickly. The ones that remain though, I had no problem getting involved with them. I liked them all, and I especially liked the Kaplan character, as he evolves from a scared little "rabbit" so to speak into a formidable butt kicker by the end.
Common Complaint #4: The script - get over it. This isn't the worse one out there, so all those who say it's so bad should read a Friday The 13th screenplay and get back to me later.
Common Complaint #5: Paul W.S. Anderson - is an awesome director. Those of you who don't like his movies shouldn't blame his directing ability. It's his screenwriting ability that's somewhat lacking. His directing is top notch, with flashbacks interspersed wonderfully with the present scenes, kinetic action sequences that would put most directors to shame, and an extremely talented eye for detail. Rarely is it the case the directing that brings a movie down: most often than not, it's the script.
Hope I've addressed all the complaints. Anyway, I give this flick a solid 8/10; one of my faves of 2002.