Well, It Could've Been A Lot Worse.

Rating: 5/10 (16 March 2002)

So, I just got out of the movie about 20 minutes ago so my mind is fairly fresh on some of the details. I guess I really had my hopes up with Paul Anderson (Event Horizon) directing this and having played Resident Evil 1 & 2, I was hoping that the movie would be as thrilling as the first two games (Yes I know it was only loosely based on the 1st game). (I guess I have to say that there may be spoilers and all that other fun stuff ^_^)
When I first saw the Mansion, I thought that half the film would take place there, and the second half would occur in "The Hive," but only the first 10-15 minutes are spent there before the Umbrella organised team infiltrate the mansion then head underground.
I liked how the dogs were brought in, but Alice quickly dispatches with all 6 or 7 of them in a single scene (One in which she wanders off alone and returns without any questions). It almost seemed like the scene was shot later after primary filming had finished. Another thing I liked was the opening part of the film, showing what a normal day in the Umbrella Corp. was like. This was really the only part of the film where I felt tension and suspense that seemed to be lacking from the rest of the film. The inclusion of the "Lickers" from Resident Evil 2 I thought was really cool and how it gave some background into their origins (I don't recall if the game included any).
At the end of the movie, when the camera was panning out from Alice, I really liked the various small details; such as the streaks of blood from an open window and despite the entire film, it made me hopeful for the sequel. Either that or I'm just gullible.
If the sequel were to take on a more gothic approach (without all the pounding scare chords and the heavy metal music; why is it that because the movie was about zombies, killing et cetera, that death & heavy metal bands have to be associated with it? What if Night of the Living Dead had been done with death metal music? I cringe at the thought; off topic.)
So overall, the only point to see Resident Evil 1 would be to understand what is going on in Resident Evil 2, as long as it is better than this movie.