Written by John Scalzo  on March 25, 2002

Resident Evil The Movie: Big screen BRRRRRRRRAAAAAAIIIIINNNNNNSSSSS!

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аThe Plot
Resident Evil the movie is actually a prequel to Resident Evil the game. On screen text opens the movie up and sets up the background story for all the non-Resident Evil fans in the audience. For those of us that don't already know, something has gone horribly wrong at the underground lab facility of the Umbrella Corporation known as The Hive. A top-secret viral weapon has been released and the facility's computer controlled security system, The Red Queen, locks everyone inside, killing them. Part of this lockdown has left Alice (Milla Jovovich, who is never actually addressed by that or any name in the movie) unconscious in the mansion leading down to The Hive. Dressed in the traditional female attire for Resident Evil (thigh high boots and a skimpy dress) she is soon joined by a local cop (Eric Mabius), another amnesia-stricken employee (James Purefoy), and a black ops team (lead by Michelle Rodriguez) sent to investigate why The Red Queen went homicidal. Once below, they find that all the supposedly dead scientists are transformed into the walking dead, and that's just the least of their problems.

The Lowdown
The list of failed video game to movie adaptations is a long one. The only one that would be missing from that list is Mortal Kombat. Feel free to add Resident Evil as another one that works.

The movie manages to stand on its own by wearing its identity on its zombified sleeve. It is an action movie, plain and simple. Character development is kept to an absolute minimum because the characters have been thrown into this zombie filled situation. Instead, it moves you quickly from one action sequence to the next. One scene in particular involving a laser cutter perfectly combines plot details with an exciting action sequence. This fast pace ties the entire story together as everything is explained on the go. Although, this quick paced action does only give Milla Jovovich the spotlight with everything to do. Between Resident Evil and The Fifth Element, Milla has shown she is the rightful heir to Sigourney Weaver's flamethrower. The rest of the cast can be summed up as Hard Ass Military Guy 1, Hard Ass Military Guy 2, Hard Ass Military Guy 3, and so on.а

Resident Evil works on a deeper level though, because of its faithful spirit to the games. Paul W.S. Anderson was able to recreate the Resident Evil atmosphere perfectly up on that screen. Dark corridors with dim lighting. Sounds emanating from this darkness that make you stop and think "what now?" And just like the games, lots of jump scares with hands grabbing at people through the walls. Little touches from the series appear throughout as well, and if you're a fan, you'll have just as much fun pointing all of them out.а

The special effects do not disappoint either as Resident Evil shows we've come a long way from Night of the Living Dead. The zombies look great, and a nasty monster from Resident Evil 2 known as "the Licker" is recreated exactly as it should be. There's not a whole lot of gore, but what's there is very well done.а

A few moments in Resident Evil do fall into B-movie pratfalls, though. If you've seen the trailer, you've no doubt seen that ridiculous spinning off the wall kick Milla Jovovich delivers to a dog's head. It doesn't come off any better in the context of the whole movie. It's dumb, and puts a sour end to one of the movie's better action scenes. Secondly, I'm very thankful the reliance on the crazed super computer angle was kept to a minimum, but more than once the Red Queen scenes in the second half left me scratching my head.

Without a doubt, Resident Evil is the best video game to movie adaptation to date. By knowing it's just a "video game movie" and running with it, Resident Evil proves to be a lot of fun. Throw in a killer ending and you have yourself a great popcorn flick.

On the Shermometer: 8 out of 10