The first good game-to-movie

Rating: 8/10 (31 July 2006)

I wanted to see this movie the first moment I heard it will be made. The good news (director having at least one good horror movie in his resume, authors of the game having a degree of control over the production of the movie) encouraged me to go and actually see it. And I was not mistaken. I can say it's the first game-to-movie that is actually good. Not mediocre (like Resident Evil), not barely decent (like Tomb Raider), but a really good one. While not especially "scary", it keeps the dark atmosphere of the games, with all the psychological and emotional aspects.
Changes to the original plot are noticeable, but the new story behind the town and what happened to it is as good (or maybe even better) as the one told in the first game (which the movie is heavily based on). What's important, it still poses some questions, like all the games - touching the subjects of faith, devotion and dedication to family. There's no character that could be unanimously called "evil" due to his or her deeds and motivation - whether driven by faith in a misunderstood cause or the desire of "righteous" revenge, nobody in the movie comes out as saint or as the evil incarnate.
Visually, the movie is true to the original. The CGI effects blatantly stick out in some moments, but I'm still impressed by the quality of "monsters" - played by dancers and gymnasts. Their make-up may fondly remind you of what you saw in the games, but luckily, the "survival horror" moments are rare enough not to tire the viewers with constant barrage of bullets and repeated whacks of metal pipes (only one typical pistol clip worth of bullets is spent during the whole movie).
Go see it. Or own a DVD. This movie is great even if you didn't play any of the games.