A pleasant surprise!

Rating: 9/10 (11 August 2002)

Yeah, I've read the other reviews and I agree...Super Mario Bros, Double Dragon, Street Fighter...any movie that is based on a video game has killed itself before it's even been released. I am a big fan of the RE games, but honestly was not too thrilled to see this when it came out in theaters b\c of the above facts. To me, there was no way that anyone could come close to translating that game into a good movie. So, when this hit the video stores, it was 'the hot' dvd for the time being, so I indulged myself and bought it for the heck of it. Man, was I pleasantly surprised!
First off, I agree with 99% of the other negative reviews on what was negative about this movie...wooden characters, little to no character development, cheesy CGI at the end, etc. But despite these annoyances, I couldn't help but admire this movie. I mean, this movie defines how atmosphere should play a huge role in any movie. The Hive is filmed as a dark and spooky place, grim and bleak from the sudden loss of life of the Umbrella employees. Paul Anderson once again, like in Event Horizon, concentrated all of his efforts on atmosphere and direction and it shows. Like the story, this movie really makes everything feel like a dream, like you've just woken up from a strange dream into a weird type of Alice in Wonderland nightmare. Marilyn Manson did an excellent job with the score, it is appropriately creepy and gives a feeling of both naivety and desperation.
As for scares, there are a few, but the surprises far outweigh the frights which is actually good in this case. I liked how everything was going on in the beginning and you really don't know what's going on until 30 minutes into it, and Milla Jovovich finally asks what we're all wanting to know. This is just not a conventional action/horror flick at all. It offers a big factor of unpredictability, and not just cheap plot twists that make no sense, but instead, real human reactions if this were really to happen in real life. Though the characters were underdeveloped, their expressions fit their roles. Milla looks incredibly hot, especially at the beginning and the end. She always has this innocent look on her face like she knows something noone else does that totally goes with the movie. Michelle Rodriguez, though cliched (I think this badass woman thing started with James Cameron's masterpiece, Aliens) really convinced me that her character, Rain, was truly a take no prisoners, show no fear, take no crap soldier especially when she's fighting. Both women make the movie, period. The others, well, are just there as zombie fodder, though a lot of the deaths were totally unexpected (not so much who would survive, but when said people would buy the farm). With this in mind though, I will agree with some other reviewers that there weren't enough zombie deaths, nor gunfights (if you think about it, these commandos really did not bring very much ammunition, nor did they think about picking up their fallen camarades' gear) for a zombie flick, but like I said earlier, this one is very untraditional.
This movie really stays true to the game, which is as unpredictable as they come. Anderson even pays homeage to it by using some of the same camera angles (die hard fans will love them). And the scene with the attack dogs was refreshing since it was done without CGI. The direction is solid. Enough said.
All in all this is a good movie. It has a great beginning (that will give you chills down your spine) that literally keeps you glued to the screen, and a slightly weaker second half that delivers as well. Milla and the atmosphere alone are worth the price of viewing. This is one of the better horror films to come out in the last ten years. I give it a solid 8.5 out of 10.