best of it's genre and sub genre and a darn good flick in general

Rating: 8/10 (24 February 2006)

I never play video games, so I have no attachment to the theme. I saw the sequel a year ago and thought it was lame and derivative, though I liked Milla. I also thought she was the best part of "The Fifth Element", acting against one of the worst movie killers of all time, Bruce Willis. (OK, he put in a few good roles here and there.) So, I got the DVD of RE and it blew me away. The production value was far superior to almost any of those techno-cyber-man-vs-computer flicks, along with it being better than most zombie and action movies in general. It had the same sort of set and theme as the original 70's techno-science thriller, "The Andromeda Strain". The acting and characters were spartan but right on cue. Though most of the team members tended to look alike, they all had some personality and acted more like real people than some soul-less, Ahnuld type killing machines. Milla's body language was excellent, and she was sexy without hamming it up an ounce. She deserved an Oscar and is a pleasure to watch. THough the one scene where she kicks out the mutant dog was lame.
Her character suffered from amnesia due to a nerve agent in the beginning and there was a dream like sequence when she awakes on the floor of her shower and is utterly blank. That scene was filmed in a huge German mansion that the Nazis and Communist used for a retreat, done in red, as her skimpy dress she wears. She has to reconstruct her past while battling zombies, genetically engineered killing animals and the Red Queen, or the AI program that runs the hive. But she always maintained her humanity and femininity throughout the horrors she faced and fought. She was paired with Michelle Rodriguez, doing her macha latina schtick as one of the security team members. But the two of them actually complemented each other and it worked well. Michelle Rodriguez as Rain Ocampo offered up some pretty decent comic relief and lines too!
The sets and mechanical efx are great, but the cgi beasts were weaker. The cinematography and editing were first rate. The soundtrack was pulsing techno that drove the already good plot along, it was great too.
In short this movie set a benchmark for all those cyber-mutant-techno-action-zombie movies that few will beat. Throw us the action, but at least have real people and great but spare efx. It's sequel, of course, was a turkey compared to this. It was made in Europe, which explained it's good techno style, Funny, but my man George A. Romero was supposed to direct it, but gave up. I don't think it would have been as good. Basically, this movie first rate period.