Better than expected for this game fan!

Rating: 9/10 (21 March 2002)

I must say this is a way more accurate translation of game-to-movie than any of the others! I thought Milla would have been lame for this one, but she fit perfectly. I like the cinematic look of this film. As a Resident Evil fan, I am glad they took a huge chunk of the actual plot of the game series and told it in an entertaining movie-like way. And unlike the game, this movie allowed the characters to fight with their hands as well as weapons!
They seem to have combined the first three Resident Evil games into one, in a sense. But the sequel will be more of the latter two. There were quite a bit of shocking moments in this one, and I love the effects! The acting was also really good for a cast of people I haven't really seen before (except for Jovovich of course -- and she looks real good here!).
Some issues I have... they left out the huge sky-high creature like at the end of the first RE game, and there is no rescue plan. But I suppose they're tying the ending of RE1 and beginning of RE2 into the movie's sequel. The commandos were not called S.T.A.R.S. here, at least I don't recall, but they should have been. Also, the music is pretty good but I was hoping they would use some piano pieces, which in my opinion would be scarier. The majority of silence was done well though, because the games are like that as well. One last gripe is that the whole movie was mainly in the lab, and not in the mansion like the game (thus "resident").
All in all, I give it a 9 out of 10! :)