Stylish But Derivative Zombie Flick Based On Computer Game Series

Rating: 5/10 (14 August 2005)

A woman suffering from amnesia is taken into a secret underground complex where a sinister corporation has been carrying out biological weapons research. Unfortunately, a virus has been released, causing the staff to turn into zombies and the super-computer in charge to use all of its defence systems to contain the outbreak. Our heroine must escape whilst trying to piece together who she is and why she is there.
Based on the popular series of zombie shoot-'em-up videogames by Capcom, this is a good-looking but ultimately hollow horror movie. It does a good job of creating the settings and atmosphere of the games, but it all too often wanders into noisy MTV-style visuals which dissipate the tension and make the zombie attack sequences confusing rather than scary and suspenseful. Worst of all, the script and the performances are lacklustre - by the time we find out who these people are we don't really care much about them. There are some good points though - nice visual effects by Richard Yuricich, great production design by Richard Bridgland, and having a little girl voice the Red Queen super-computer is an excellent touch. This film has an odd resemblance to John Carpenter's superior Ghosts Of Mars - zombies, amnesia, an airborne virus, thrash metal music and a finale set on a train - but unlike that movie it doesn't give its characters enough time to develop, and it borrows far too much from better pictures, particularly Aliens and Dawn Of The Dead. An interesting but unsatisfying film.