Extras: Talent and Filmmakers' Commentary, Slipknot music video,
filmographies, production notes, theatrical trailers.
Director:
Paul W.S. Anderson
Screenplay:
Paul W.S. Anderson
Cast:
Alice: Milla Jovovich
Rain: Michelle Rodriguez
Matt Addison: Eric Mabius
Chad Kaplan: Martin Crewes
Spencer Parks: James Purefoy
J.D.: Pasquale Aleardi
Red Queen: Michaela Dicker
Resident Evil
was one of the movies I waited for. I'm a fan of the
game series, who the movie was made for. So if you want to read a review
from a more cynical type source (which I usually am) then this isn't the
review for you. I'll say this right now, if you do not like the games or
any of the Romero flicks like: Night of the Living Dead,
Dawn of the Dead
or Day of the Dead, then you have no place to be here. Or if
you're just looking for fun and some zombies to boot then your welcome
to read.
Resident Evil is actually a prequel to the first video game. It tells
the story of a secret lab founded by a pharmacuetical company named
Umbrella. Underground in a lab called The Hive, they conduct viral
experiments on animals and such. One virus is found that has the ability
to regenerate dead tissue and turn them into flesh eating zombies. At
the start of the film, a man is seen taking the virus and breaking a
sample by the ducts. This triggers a lock down and everyone is quickly
infected.
Meanwhile, a woman named Alice wakes up in the mansion above.
She cannot remember a thing and begins to look around when she is
confronted by Umbrella's cleaning crew. The crew was sent to disarm The
Hive by destroying the main computer operated by a hologram called Red
Queen. Throughout the rest of the movie, they run into tons of zombies,
mutant dogs and a monster called the Licker (you'll see why). The plot
sounds kind of cheesy from just reading that little blurb, huh? But
that's what makes it good, the fun factor.
Fun movie (notice how I have a soft spot for the movies most people
refer to as turkeys?). This is mindless fun at it's best. Tons of
action, decent effects. This is easily one of the best video game
adaptations (besides Mortal Kombat, it's slim pickings) and easy for new
viewers to like. But like I said if you're not a fan of these type
movies you probably won't find much here. It also helps to like director
Paul Anderson's style. He often films the scenes at breakneck pace and
gives little time to breathe. Good and all but not great if you like to
absorb the action.
The only thing I didn't really care for was that they
never showed the zombies, you know, do what they're notorious for, they
just kind of act like they're gnawing at the people. The scene that
attempts it is when JD is dragged down by the zombies. They gnaw at him
and everything and then they drag him down where we can't see him
and... cue the munching sound effects. I mean I'm not expecting a huge
graphic scene or anything, it just kind of comes off as unbelievable.
They're zombies right? They don't just bite people. I'm a fan of Dawn of
the Dead so I hold it to that standard which I should not do and I know
it's R-rated. Columbia is releasing a "special" special edition next
year with all the cut out gore and everything added in.
Into the disc. The video on this disc pretty good considering how dark
the movie is. The majority of it takes place in a dark underground lab
so it's hard to get vista like shots. Occasional grain pops in from time
to time but it's VERY hard to notice. I had to use my reviewer eye
against the screen practically just to see it. Just don't go in
expecting the movie to be bright and colorful on you screen since the
only shot you might get that from is the last scene. Good transfer from
Columbia nonetheless.
The sound is awesome though. It's presented in 5.1 surround and sounds
great. I would go even as far to say that it sounds better than it did
in the theater. Guns and explosions are very booming and everything is
audible throughout.
The extras are kind of disapointing. Just a little bit though.
Columbia smells the money and they decided to release a "special"
special edition (funny since this release says special edition on the
cover) with two discs next year. That release will include the gory
scenes cut out, deleted scenes, alternate endings, all the stuff special
editions are known for. But I liked this movie so much I bought this
release and I'll probably buy the next edition as well.
Anyway, for the extras on THIS release. 5 interesting featurettes are included, a
suprisingly funny commentary featuring Paul Anderson, Jeremy Bolt, Milla
Jovovich, and Michelle Rodriguez. A Slipknot music video is also
included. Then trailers for Resident Evil, Final Fantasy: The Spirits
Within, Spider-Man, Men in Black II (which had to be the worst sequel
I've seen in a long time), xXx, and Formula 51 are there as well.
Production notes and filmographies round out the bunch. Overall, not
bare bones but you can tell they're holding out until the real special
edition.
Overall, I liked this movie a lot. Maybe it's because I'm a fan of the
series (I recently got a Gamecube just so I could play Resident Evil 4
and 0) or maybe it's because I'm a fan of zombie movies as well. Give it
a chance and you won't be disapointed. Be aware that it does have it's
flaws (name a movie that doesn't) but they're easily overcome.
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
