A cheesy, juvenile action blockbuster, but at least there's lots of adrenaline

Rating: 7/10 (9 December 2009)

This movie is another cheesy video game adaptation, and is based on a game series which I'm not familiar with. The film was released years before it ever caught my attention and it obviously wasn't any of the "Resident Evil" games that lead me to watch it, since I've never played any of them. I first found out about this Paul W.S. Anderson movie when I learned that Milla Jovovich was in it. Before I rented it the other day, I knew it was one of the polarizing modern action blockbusters, but fortunately not one of the universally panned ones. Due to all the criticism, I wasn't expecting a great film, but thought it could be pretty good at best. I can now understand the widespread criticism, but despite the severe flaws, I found some redeeming qualities.
Below Raccoon City, there is a top secret underground genetic research facility called the Hive, owned by the extremely powerful Umbrella Corporation. After a vial is broken, releasing a virus, the lab's supercomputer known as the Red Queen locks the Hive to prevent the virus from escaping, trapping and killing all the employees inside! A military unit then takes Alice and Spence, two people suffering from amnesia, and goes to the Hive to investigate what has happened. The head of the commandos, known as the "One", explains why they are all here, and several members of the team attempt to disable the Red Queen, but are cut up by a laser! This leaves Alice, Spence, Rain Ocampo, Matt Addison, and Chad Kaplan to continue the mission. They discover that the supercomputer is not the only problem, as the employees who were killed have mutated into flesh-eating zombies, and can now be found all over the facility!
From the beginning, I could tell the film wasn't that great, but when the emergency in the "Hive" begins, so does the suspense! After that sequence, Milla Jovovich, who plays Alice, makes her first appearance in the film naked, waking up in the mansion shower, and this scene could easily be cited as a highlight for straight male viewers like me. The suspense continues as Alice looks around in the mansion, but unfortunately, it doesn't stay consistent. The sci-fi action horror film can be a little hard to follow at times, the music is sometimes really cheesy, and there are some extremely juvenile lines. In addition to that, the characters are underdeveloped, and at least some of them seem like naive high school students who shouldn't be on a mission like this. The acting is nothing special, and Michelle Rodriguez' performance as Rain Ocampo is particularly poor. However, while the walk through the Hive before the mutants are found is pretty dull, there's a lot more adrenaline as the film goes along and the group faces the dangers of this underground facility. Jovovich and her fighting moves were another highlight for me. Also, as usual for these modern action sci-fi blockbusters, there are great sets and special effects in this film.
I'm not sure if this video game adaptation deserves the 7/10 rating I'm giving it. Overall, it is cheesy and juvenile, and probably mainly appeals to young male viewers (younger than me). I realize Paul W.S. Anderson was also the one who directed 1995's "Mortal Kombat" (another movie based on a video game), and I didn't like that film at all, but for some reason, that wasn't quite the case with this 2002 blockbuster. I'm not sure what I would think of it with a second viewing, but it wasn't bad for one viewing, as much as I think some of the haters have made some good points! If you hate mindless action, you will hate this movie, so don't watch it, and if you like that sort of thing, well, you MIGHT like this first "Resident Evil" movie, but there's no guarantee. The flaws could still be too much for you to take, and you could end up wondering how anyone could possibly like the movie!