"Do you wish to save game?" ...Not really.

Rating: 5/10 (10 December 2005)

"Resident Evil" is a LOT better than I ever hoped it would be and, even though it still isn't a very good movie, that's quite a big compliment. It's based on a video game (Capcom's hugely successful video game, to be more specific) and usually that's not a very good sign, since all those game-based horror movies have absolutely no story construction and the special effects as well as the set pieces always look far too hectic. "Resident Evil" looks good, very good even, and the story is surprisingly endurable, despite being first-class nonsense of course. The film is also very gory and action-packed but the only thing it totally hasn't got are genuine frights. And I heard that rather disappointed the fans of the game (personally, I never played it) because that is generally acclaimed to be really terrifying with disturbing images and unsettling graphics. The movie opens bustling and to-the-point, with employers of the Umbrella Corporation (a company that pretty much took over the world economy at the beginning of the 21st century) getting trapped after the outbreak of a dangerous virus. The large building complex  referred to as "the Hive"  is located underground and a team of heavily armed commandos, accompanied by two security guards with amnesia, have to invade it for further investigation. Once inside the Hive, the team encounters many unpleasant surprises like zombie-employers, mutant Dobermans, hi-tech anti-burglary measures and a top-secret army project with a gigantic tongue! After the captivating opening, "Resident Evil" rapidly turns into a routine horror/action movie with blunt characters and atrocious dialogues. Paul W.S. Anderson borrows many ideas and style-aspects from other genre films, like "The Matrix", "Aliens" and George A. Romero's trilogy of the Dead. Michelle Rodriguez and Milla Jovovich are tolerable as the tough girls, but they work too hard on their bad-ass-image. Would a smile, if only a little one, have hurt them? The rest of the cast is filled with adequate performers even though they'll most likely never get a star on Hollywood Boulevard. Anderson's directing skills have obviously improved since "Mortal Kombat" and "Event Horizon", as this accomplishment looks a lot more surefooted. "Resident Evil" is a very watchable film but I still don't regret having waited patiently to see it until it aired on television. There are a handful of admirable moments (my favorite remains the death-by-laser scene) but overall it remains a boisterous mess.