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Resident Evil

Resident Evil

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: WANT TO TRIP OUT?
Review: This film was a very intense 2 hours of jumping and gasping. It is based on the popular video game series, but you don't have to have burned corneas or sore thumbs to enjoy this modern and believable zombie flick. For those who haven't played the game, Resident Evil was a spooky game to play alone and in the dark. The film is no exceeption.
In short, a biological weapons manufacturer/gene tampering company has an accidental release in their facility and has been locked down, containing but killing the entire staff. The government funded security team comes to check it out and are shall we say surprised. Oh yeah, did I mention they were 200 feet underground?
The cast did an excellent job and the director was true enough to the games to make any gamer happy. I also suggest to watch it with the commentary the second watch. You hear how intense the set and atmosphere was for the actors to work in. Also guys, you hear the "real" to life Milla and Michelle talk about a bar they "visited" on location. Something about underwear only?????
If anyone is interested in a good scare Resident Evil is a good choice. Lots of blood,gore,and sexy women with automatic weapons.
Does it get any better.....yes the women actually aren't stupid morons like in most horror films. They are the heros not the victims.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Zombie film: Hollywood Version
Review: "Resident Evil" was, originally a series of really enjoyable video games. With a dark, creepy atmosphere that could make you jump out of your seat, it created a world in which you could easily go into. It also had the reputation of being a very graphic and gory game. Another great element of the games was the plot; you had to resolve many puzzles, and your intelligence was required to play.

The same things are not all true in "Resident Evil", the film.

"Resident Evil" tells the story of a woman who had been rescued from a virus infested research center. She awakens later on, she has forgotten everything. After that, a military team takes her and brings her back in the research facility, when the effects of the virus are no longer contagious. They find that the release of the deadly virus was a conspiracy. But there are many problems on their way; some almost invincible zombies, a main system (which takes the aspect of a little girl) that wants to kill every intruder, and a security system that turns against them.

In the case of "Resident Evil", it's not the movie itself that is so bad, it's all those little things that are messed up, without ruining completely the quality of the movie. If you've seen "Deep Blue Sea" and liked it, then you'll love Resident Evil. As much as "Deep Blue Sea" was a very simple and common model of what a suspense movie turns out to be in Hollywood, "Resident Evil" is another clone of that model. What I mean by that is the presence of the similar elements, which mostly are: A good-looking girl, a bunch of men that get killed one by one, a spectacular enemy, some high-tech facilities and equipment, a very simple scenario, some violence (not graphic enough to gross out the average teenager, which is 80% of their target audience, but not mild enough to be rated PG-13), and some cool looking action sequences. It's a formula that works many times, and they chose it for a movie that promised so much, but did not deliver what the real "Resident Evil" fans like.

A movie that could have been so much more...I could easily criticize the plot, or the actors, but you know how it is, and we all know how it is. It's just normal, common, average...it has nothing special...it is an excuse to make a movie. I'll still have to admit that Milla Jovovich is not only a beautiful woman, but she's also a pretty good actress. Even though her role in "Resident Evil" did not require a lot of talent, she's still able, sometimes, to make us share the shivers she plays on the screen.

The points where I would focus a little more are two very important elements in the "Resident Evil" video games. Like I said before, originally, these games were moody and gory. Two major deceptions here. The gore...ARGH! I just can't take it, it's made by computer! This is a message to all directors: If you want to put any gore in your films, do it the old fashioned way. Digital blood looks fake, digital monsters look fake...Even with some very cheap gore/creature effects, you can do a better job than the one they did in "Resident Evil"...the same thing is true in Blade...Every single mutilation in "Resident Evil" was made in CGI, and every single one of them really looks bad. (Spoilers) There's a part where more than half a dozen soldiers are cut in pieces by lasers (and it really deceived me to see that three quarters of the human characters die in two minutes...human characters were the only hope of seeing a gore scene in this film, because the zombies in this film have coagulated blood, which is, for sure, realistic and intelligent, but absolutely not satisfying for the gore fans) and some heads are cut off, some bodies are cut in cubes. But every darn death looks so fake! Even in the excellent low-budget Canadian movie "Cube", the effect with the guy that gets sliced into dices is really, really, really, really, a thousand times better than all of "Resident Evil"'s reunited gore moments. I'm sick of CGI gore...and all CGI made movies...this is removing all the human aspects of movies...people are amazed to see things that were made with computers and almost look real...Yeah, they almost look real, but if they were done like before, they would look even more real! Well, what is the point of being impressed with things that could be a lot more simple and look better if they were done like before...It's not because technology exists that films should overuse it...Technology is a tool, and many film makers don't understand it.

The other aspect, the mood, is not delivered the same way...it's more like a futuristic atmosphere, with a certain lack of terror, a very "Blockbuster" atmosphere, with nothing really eerie. The music is not bad, but it certainly is not as creepy as the one in the games. The zombies are not scary at all, and the other "creatures" are plain laughable.

They kept some elements from the games, and that's a good thing. The city is still "Raccoon City", the train really is identical to the one in the game of "Resident Evil 2", (Spoilers) the city in the end really seems to be an image taken from the game, it's the Umbrella Corporation, etc. But, talking about that ending, which is actually pretty good, I would have seen the whole movie setting in the Raccoon City streets, like we do in the beginning of "Resident Evil 2" (the game).

Overall, I'd say that "Resident Evil" really is a disappointment, especially if you were a big fan of the games, but for those who haven't heard of the games and saw the movie and thought it was good, you should definitely check these games out! "Resident Evil", the movie, is a very common piece of entertainment, that, without being bad, simply offers some acceptable entertainment, some mild thrills, and an easy and agreeable night at the theater. It really is nothing impressive, but it's very ordinary recipe of Hollywood thriller that puts itself under a name that has acquired reputation with the years. Not that bad, but nothing great either.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: F*** you, Paul Anderson
Review: Why did Paul Anderson have to turn the Resident Evil series into a piece of garbage. The video game series was perfectly good but he had to write his own story to start the movie series. Are there lasers that come out of walls in the game? No. Can you kick, punch, and break the necks of zombies? No.(why would breaking the neck of a zombie kill it anyway?) Is there stupid techno music in the game? No. So why is it in the movie? The games had perfect atmosphere for a great horror movie but Paul Anderson had to change all that and put his own stupid ideas in. Why couldn't George A. Romero's scrypt be taken. He would have made such a great Resident Evil movie that was faithfull to the game.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Heavy Metal Zombie Killing
Review: As soon as I saw this movie for the first time I wanted to watch it again right away. It is not a standard horror movie- it is a heavy metal onslaught of zombie killing- oh so fun! I have seen it 6 times in the last 6 months. One of my favorite movies!!!

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: It almost worked.
Review: Of all the video game franchises ripe for adaptation as big screen films, Resident Evil was surely one of the top five. It had the weird history of single-handedly reviving a genre of film that had pretty much faded into distant memory (i.e. the 80's zombie flick) and gave it a modern edge. Based off the cult films of George Romero, Resident Evil created an immersing, suspenseful, and tense environment that proved beyond any doubt that video games weren't just for kids anymore. Naturally, for fans of such a blockbuster game franchise, they would expect similar quality in a feature film. Unfortunately, Paul W. S. Anderson's version comes out rather bland and uninspired despite what could have been a promising script.

The first major issue has to be the budget of the film. With only 40 million dollars allotted to the project, there has to be certain limits to the quality that can be put into various elements of the movie. Sadly, Anderson & Company decided that the biggest cut should be placed on the film's final climactic monster, the Licker, from Resident Evil 2. On the small screen, the CGI and live action model looks passable and gets the point across. But when held up on it's own on the silver screen it just doesn't sell and you find yourself looking away in disappointment wondering how you could have ever gotten sucked in by something so corny.

The other problem was that there were only a few small sets used in the film and we see them so many times in the movie that you never really get the impression that the team is trapped in this massive, sprawling labyrinth that it's supposed to be. When you mix in the very pale lighting and sleek, clean, metallic look of all the interiors, you get the impression that you're in some kind of missile silo or command bunker rather than a research lab.

And yet, it's not just the budget where everything really collapses. The real failure in the movie is the direction during the key action sequences. Anderson actually does a fairly superb job building the tension and keeping the interest of the viewer despite a script short on dialog or character development. It's only when the zombie's come hording in that the buildup collapses and the movie leaves you very unglued to your seat.

Part of this is because Anderson breaks Rule #1 in action/horror film-making. That is, he kills off the 'expendables' too early in the movie and the cast that he has left are all needed to fill the key plot holes for the climax. Had he made the team larger or paced the killing more slowly, it would have given the audience an increasing sense of dread and worked the tension to a fever pitch. When he does decide to slim down the cast in the film's last ten minutes, the deaths all seem rather random and lack creativity.

The other mistake made by Anderson was showing too much of the face of the film's main villain--the guy who causes all this trouble in the first place. There is a decent subplot that runs throughout the film which happens in flashbacks whereby Milla's character, along with the viewer, tries to determine her identity. The movie tries to gradually imply that maybe Milla is the villain which of course never works because we already know that the bad guy is a man with dark hair wearing a black leather jacket.

If it weren't for these slip-ups, however, the film would've worked much better than it did. Tragically, the damage done was too great for any one individual to recoup. The direction of Anderson's was good so long as there was no action involved. Milla, given so little dialog, did such a stellar job in her body language that you leave the film feeling she was a dynamic character despite everything to the contrary. Michelle Rodriguez, aside from her comedic one-liners, never adds much to the film. Milla's fake boyfriend, Kaplan, and the special ops team leader (who gets killed by a hi-tech laser) all give great performances and all end up not surviving the film. As a final note, perhaps the performance by Marilyn Manson who did the movie's soundtrack, stands out the best. His driving mix of industrial rock and techno beats work well within the style of the film and give the necessary push that keeps this whole train rolling even though all the odds are stacked up in favor of it derailing in a bright flash of lost potential.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A disgrace to the name "Resident Evil"
Review: I love the Resident Evil series. I am a BIG fan of the games but most of all the storyline. You can't have a good Resident Evil game without a good storyline. I mean, I admit it, if it didn't have such a cool story then I would probably get really bored of the game. (The only exception is the original RE1 because you can play it for laughs for bad voice acting.)

When I heard they were making a Resident Evil movie I wasn't surprised. The storyline was so unbelievably amazing it would be great to make it into a movie. I was hoping they would add the George Trevor back-story to the movie but I knew they probably wouldn't have that because it would be too long. At least they would have the Spencer Mansion.

But no.

I found out it has some girl named Alice? OK WHOA THERE! You don't just go making up your own little thing based of the games. But that's just what they did. They made up their own storyline. There was only a bit of what their version of the "Spencer Mansion" was and then they had "THE HIVE" ooh that's just great!

These guys had probably only played the first three and loved the more action themed one, RE2. They take scenes from RE2 and totally change them to their liking and make a normal Licker monster a MAIN BOSS? (Who looks like claymation stop time action)

OK. Now I was sad. I wanted Resident Evil and now I have something closer to a fan novel posted on the Internet.

Also! At the end the Licker wound creates a Nemesis growth? Why?

None of this movie makes sense. You could give it a different name for all I care and change the word "t-virus" which they say about twice and it would be fine.

Basically, this doesn't need to be a Resident Evil movie. People who work in Capcom and Japan work hard at getting the true feeling of the "Biohazard/Resident Evil series". I suggest only renting this to see how stupid it is.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A Great Horror Thriller but Could be better
Review: Ok,This Isnt bad movie at all.If you enjoy horror Thrillers like Blade then you will enjoy this one.Full of good special effects and music and actually a well balanced storyline.Full of nightmaric creatures such as Zombies and Hellish Dogs and even a top-secret creature known as a Licker in the video game.If your not into Horror Thrillers this may not be a movie for you...but if you are this is a great movie that I myself think could be better but good enough to earn my support! Please check this movie out! and if you have played the game seriers definantly check it out If you have'nt already! I Give this one 4 and 1/4 stars.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Resident Surprise
Review: Honestly when I first thought about buyig this disc I had reservations. One being that it's based off a Japanese video game called "Biohazard" suitably renamed "Resident Evil" for the states. Two I didn't know any of the actors except for Mill Jovavich and I did like her performance in The 5th Element.

I however went ahead and bought the movie. To my surprise the flic wasn't bad at all. I expected certain things to be "stolen" from other flics especially in the horror genre but then again they're all rehashes of each other really. The story was good and the CG kept up with what the director wanted to portray. Don't expect a whole lot from Resident Evil but it's worth placing in your collection definately. I know you have worse titles in there already so at least you're on your way up with this one. If I had to recommend another recent horror flic over this one I would have to say that would be "Event Horizon". This movie is truly a modern classic and I would recommend it to anyone who loves the horror genres.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: A real bone movie!
Review: Yeah it's geared to teenie boppers... And that's who'll probably like it till they get to see some real zombie flicks!

In my top 5 worst movies ever. Borrows heavilly from other films, incoherent script, inept characterications, crummy CGI, crummy editing and camera... Just all around crummy! As far as an action movie centered around a female hero? I rather watch BarbWire! Yes it's that BAD! 'Nuff said!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: This Is A Must See!
Review: All right, all you chick-flick watchers. I admit it--I'm one of you, too. I have a thing for sappy romantic comedies and Disney movies. But come on...who doesn't like to see some zombie limbs fly through the air every so often? RE:Code Veronica, the video game for Dreamcast, got me completely hooked on the Resident Evil series. The second the movie hit the stores I bought it!There is something for everyone in Resident Evil. There's action, there's a little bit of suspense, there's nudity, and of course there's even some romance. Don't judge a movie by it's box cover; pop this one into your VCR and enjoy! No matter how many awesome chick flicks I watch, Resident Evil will always be my fave movie...at least until the sequel...


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