Fun action-horror

Rating: 7/10 (27 July 2019)

The first in a decade-and-a-half-long film series inspired by the 1996 Capcom video game of the same name, Resident Evil transforms its source material from gothic survival horror to modern action-horror, complete with prominent electronic music, stock action characters, and CGI violence. Although the movie's uninspired shock sounds, dated computer graphics, choppy flashbacks, and stereotypical casting foreshadow the weaknesses of its vastly inferior sequels, Resident Evil benefits from a solid mystery plot, detailed art direction, and a charismatic performance by Milla Jovovich as a mordern, grown up Alice in Wonderland. The result is a fun thriller whose lack of graphic violence does not dampen the horror of the Umbrella Corporation's cavalier attitude toward human life.