Has a good idea, but wasn't nearly as good as it could've been.

Rating: 6/10 (30 November 2002)

I had been anticipating the movie Resident Evil since I heard to was to be released back in 1998. At the time there were various directors and writers attached to the project, even George A. Romero -- The Master of Zombie Flicks. However, if you read Romero's script which appeared online, most would agree it was a quite corny script that had no real development.
So finally I heard in 2001 that Paul Anderson, who directed Mortal Kombat (and did a good job at that) would write/direct the project. And it was finally released March 2002. So here are my thoughts on the flick. His ideas for cutting away from the game by introducing a new story was a good idea... to leave some surprises for the gamers and non-gamers. However there were many problems in his script. The story is good because it keeps close to the idea of the corrupt Umbrella Corporation. However, character development and dialogue are the two biggest things wrong with the movie. Though the cast is minimal, there are only two interesting characters in the entire film. Milla Jovovich plays the mysterious "Alice in Wonderland" character who can't remember her identity. As the movie progresses, we learn more about her character, but never the entire thing (I'm sure it'll be answered in the sequel). However the problem with Jovovich's character is though she's mysterious, she's not very interesting. The only other character in the film that was interesting was One (played by Colin Salmon). Colin Salmon kicks ass as the elite group's leader. His dialogue is very well written, too. He basically explains the entire situation of what has happened, which is good because Salmon has a great, bold voice. It's very unfortunate that this movie follows all the other roots of 'horror' flicks and kills off the token black character early. So before we can even embrace Salmon's character, he is dead (an incidentally, dies in the sickest & coolest way possible).
So with only one really interesting character who doesn't last long and another who isn't quite as interesting, this movie drags. However there is enough action-packed sequences in it to keep one entertained.
OVERALL: 6 out of 10 (okay)