“You’re all going to die down here.” —Red Queen
Today’s quick review: Resident Evil. A T-virus outbreak in the Hive, an underground research facility run by the Umbrella Corporation, causes the Red Queen (Michaela Dicker), the AI that runs the facility, to attempt to exterminate everyone inside. Umbrella sends a security team to shut down the Red Queen and seal the Hive. But to find the answers they seek, they’ll need the help of Alice (Milla Jovovich), a Hive security officer with amnesia.
Resident Evil is an action horror movie based on the video game series of the same name. Milla Jovovich stars as Alice, an amnesiac caught in the middle of a zombie outbreak and forced to fight to survive. Resident Evil splits its attention between the Hive’s secrets and zombie action, with a good mix of suspense and gory combat. The movie makes for a fun watch for fans of survival horror, but suffers from a few issues when it comes to story and tone.
The chief appeal of Resident Evil comes from its action. The Hive makes for a suitably creepy environment for Alice and the others to explore, filled with deathtraps, corporate secrets, and the living dead. The movie doesn’t pull its punches when it comes to gory kills. However, its attempts to build up a suspenseful atmosphere are at odds with Alice’s fighting prowess. Both aspects of the movie are fine on their own but don’t blend together very well.
Resident Evil is on shakier ground when it comes to its story. The skeleton of the plot is typical for the survival horror genre: a well-armed team journeys into a cramped environment full of unknown threats. But the pacing is off, saving the zombies for late in the game and sinking time into an amnesia subplot that never really pays off. Resident Evil aims higher than the average zombie movie, but its aspirations come at the cost of consistency.
How much you get out of Resident Evil will depend strongly on taste. Resident Evil has some visceral moments and some clever story ideas, but its issues with tone and pacing keep it from realizing its full potential. Horror fans may find its story to be flaky and some of its action sequences to be out of place. Fans of violent, schlocky action will get more out of it; it’s a decent popcorn watch for anyone in the mood for something dark and action-packed.
For creepier sci-fi horror, try The Thing. For a sci-fi action horror movie with a similar setup and better execution, try Aliens. For action horror in a similar vein, try Doom.
6.7 out of 10 on IMDB. I give it a 6.5 solid survival horror with a few rough edeges.