 A team of paramilitary commandos must battle flesh-eating undead, killer mutant dogs, and a supercomputer's deadly defenses before an unleashed virus consumes humanity in this adaptation of the hit video game series! Storyline: A virus has escaped in a secret facility called "The Hive," turning the staff into hungry zombies and releasing the mutated Lab "Animals" that they were studying. The complex computer shuts down the base to prevent infection. The parent corporation sends in an elite military unit, where they meet Alice, who is suffering from amnesia due to exposure to nerve gas. The military team must shut down the computer and get out, fighting their way past zombies, mutants, and the computer itself, before the virus escapes and infects the rest of the world. Alice must also come to terms with her slowly-returning memories. Written by Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Martin Liebman, December 29, 2007 You're all going to die down here. Comparing Resident Evil to other films proves to be a difficult thing to do. Looked at next to other zombie films, such as Dawn of the Dead and Re-Animator, the movie is mostly a flop. Compared to high-octane sci-fi/action movies like The Matrix and The Fifth Element, the movie begins to look a little more palatable. Finally, putting it up against other video game to film adaptations like Street Fighter and Doom, Resident Evil becomes downright good. This movie is a genre bender, combining elements of three major streams of entertainment revenue (zombies, action, and video games), and as such it's no surprise that it ranks somewhere smack dab in the middle of the good/bad chart in terms of quality. All the elements are here to make it a winner, but they could just as easily make it a loser. Fortunately, it falls into the latter category. It's much better than it has any right to be, but it won't walk away with any awards to be sure. Resident Evil is perhaps the epitome of the teenage boy fantasy movie. It's got an attractive female lead, lots of guns, plenty of blood, a decent yet ultimately underwhelming script that moves the story along in a coherent manner, and, of course, the undead. How could this formula possibly fail? Well, guess what--it can. See Resident Evil: Apocalypse. The Umbrella Corporation. It's the leading provider of several important industries in the world, but while it puts on a happy public demeanor above ground, below the surface (literally) it is engineering and manufacturing those oh so pesky chemical weapons for military contracts. As the movie opens, it's just another day in the "Hive," the underground beehive looking facility where all of the shadier Umbrella business takes place. The day starts off normally enough. There's the release of a biochemical agent through the air ducts which will ultimately turn the living into the living dead; there's the girl who gets her head chopped off as she tries to exit the elevator; and, of course, what morning would be complete without a little spilled coffee! Above ground, Alice (Mila Jovovich, The Fifth Element) awakens on the floor of a shower, confused. She soon finds herself surrounded by a team of special forces type operatives who seem to think she's somebody she doesn't remember being with crucial information to their mission. It just so happens that the mansion they are in is really an entrance to the Hive, and she and the team descend into it in hopes of finding out what happened to kill everyone. As it turns out, the brains behind the Hive, a supercomputer named "The Red Queen" has gone homicidal, though possibly through third party interference. What the team discovers, after a few of them are sliced and diced along the way, is that Umbrella has been working on a chemical agent known as the "T-Virus," and that is what was released through the ducts. It re-animates dead bodies, but the catch is that these living corpses have only the most basic of motor skills and crave only one thing: food. And we're not talking carrots and celery, either. These suckers want warm human flesh, and they won't stop until they've had their fill of your brains and guts. Ultimately, it's up to Alice, who is really a highly trained killing machine, to fight off the zombies and monsters and escape the Hive before everyone and everything is lost. Viewed simply as a "turn-your-brain-off-at-the-door" type movie, Resident Evil works very well. It has just the right mix of action and scares to satisfy most viewers. I found very little to dislike about the movie, especially when watched with low expectations. In fact, it exceeded my rather low expectations, proving itself to be a mostly slick, well paced, and fairly original movie that doesn't require one bit of familiarity with the video game series to get into it. I have only limited exposure to the game, and the movie worked very well for me, and I think it will work for any audience, gamer or not. The video game based movie has proven itself to be a pretty unsuccessful genre, thanks in part to lazy screenwriters who don't take the material seriously, afraid to push the boundaries in film that the games pushed that made them successful. It's also a hinderance when Uwe Boll is the face of the genre. Fortunately, it appears that, perhaps, the genre is on the upswing. While I didn't care for the sequel, Resident Evil is a very good adaptation, as is Silent Hill, one of the creepiest horror movies to come along in a while, and one that certainly approaches the level of the games it is based on. Perhaps the worst aspect of Resident Evil is the shoddy monster CGI that rears its ugly head in the film's final act, but it's not too terribly distracting. On the whole, this is one of the best movies of its ilk, but taken in context that's not saying a whole lot. For now, Resident Evil can hang its hat on the top rung of the video game turned movie ladder, and it's well worth a watch for fans of the game, of action, of science fiction, and of zombies. Resident Evil is clearly one of the best movies out there that is based on a video game. From beginning to end, it's a well polished, competent movie that delivers exactly what one would expect it to--good action, some scares and gore, decent acting and direction, and plenty of undead with a bad case of the munchies. Thankfully, this Blu-ray disc is stellar. The video and audio quality are top notch and the supplements are of sufficient length and quality to satisfy most fans. Resident Evil, when taken for what it is, is fine entertainment that is a decent entry into annals of the zombie/action genre, and is, for now, arguably the best of the video game movies. On the whole, this one is well worth adding to your collection. Recommended. Cast Notes: Milla Jovovich (Alice), Michelle Rodriguez (Rain Ocampo), Eric Mabius (Matt Addison), James Purefoy (Spence Parks), Martin Crewes (Chad Kaplan), Colin Salmon (One), Ryan McCluskey (Mr. Grey), Oscar Pearce (Mr. Red), Indra Ové (Ms. Black), Anna Bolt (Dr. Green), Joseph May (Dr. Blue), Robert Tannion (Dr. Brown), Heike Makatsch (Dr. Lisa Addison), Jaymes Butler (Clarence the Security Guard), Stephen Billington (Mr. White). IMDb Rating (09/28/09): 6.3/10 from 59,274 users
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