Umbrella Inc. "Bringing comfort into your home"

Rating: 9/10 (24 March 2002)

Does anyone else see the relation of Umbrella and Enron, although Umbrella's deception turnouts to be a little more deadly? For those of you that are confused I am talking about the major corporation that does play a pivotal role in the plot of this movie(contrary to critical and cynical belief a plot does exist).
My advice towards the other reviews that you are reading too is to be wary of any extreme take on this movie. Some people gave it a 1 out of 10 and that is not realistic because they were p***ed off by something in the movie thus shredding to part the entire film with fabrications and unbelievable exaggerations that actually made me laugh. On the other hand be wary of someone who gives it a 10 out of 10 because they might be one of those crazed, lunatic biased fans that jumps at the sound of an unexpected groan.
Although I have to admit that I am a biased fan of the game and I did go into this movie extremely pumped, I also had expectations for the film to live up to. And just being able to say that I like a film that I have expectations for, much less being sucked into says a lot. Now enough of this BS credibility stuff let me tell you about an a thriller of an action/horror movie. The first thing that jumps to mind when I think about Resident Evil- beginning, middle and end- is the atmosphere. There was just something about the movies extremely fast pace, tense feeling and genuine dread that made me connect to the picture. Granted I do have my "I wish" 's about the film too but like the others said, its a horror flick you let them slide and keep an open mind so that you are able to enjoy the rewarding aspects of the film, which are fresh, unexpected and plentiful.
Milla makes me think that there are few things more sexy than a woman with a gun. She is stunning throughout the picture and honestly feels like the only character developed by the way she plays her role outside of the dialogue and story development. As Alfred Hitchcock once said (not in his exact words) "a really good actor saves you 20 minutes of character development because the audience buys into the character" and Milla does this. You really get a good feel for who her character is by just watching her and she is the one person that I got attached to. Now if we could have only gotten a little more out of the other characters in terms of story development. I also felt that Hugh Jackman could have fit perfectly as the prisoner in this movie, but it did have a small budget. The movie is also unique in its pace as it never slows down and you honestly cannot look away for a second for fear of missing something critical, which you might. I have never ever seen a picture move faster. This again adds to the atmosphere of the movie that I felt comparable to Memento or the Matrix. If you know the feel of those movies then you know what I am talking about.
The action choreography is very good and better than most movies and there are even some scenes that will leave you saying "awesome" and "glad I wasnt that zombie getting my neck snapped." I felt that the special forces as protaginists with guns gave the movie more validity and realism, as well as staying true to the game. Of course there are also some great sequences with the hardware which also left me impressed. I am anticipating the DVD of this movie already because I would love to see if there is a directors cut of that gives us a little more in character development and in turn would add to the story. The thought of this however might take away from the razor fast pace, which creates the critical and unique atmosphere that Resident Evil video gamers definitely are familiar with. Overall I would give this movie 9 out of 10 as I am rating it based on what it is. A movie that is well above par from your average horror flick bringing in a realistically scary storyline and solid plot that aside from a little more development and omission of a few cheesy scenes and one liners could be one of the classic horror movies of all time. This film will not disappoint the gamers either and fans of Milla, as I am now one of them after watching this movie, will respect her performance. She is the standout in this film. Also look for the things that make the horror picture a different type of scary movie. Director Paul Anderson uses the element of terror to scare the sh*t out of you and that is rare in a scary movie and I find it more terrifying. Moreover the original concept and conscious effort to avoid cliches left a refreshing taste in my mouth, but an extremely paranoid and skittish mind waiting for a zombie to reach from the back seat of my car on the ride home and take a chunk out of my neck.