Rating: 8.5/10
Review date: April 25, 2002
Before I go on to review this movie, I have to GREATLY emphasize that this particular review is undoubtedly biased. The reason for this is because I’ve been a great fan of the Resident Evil games from its original release on the Playstation console in 1996.
The second reason for my “excessive affinity” to this movie (I’ve seen it five times already) is also due to the fact that it’s a horror movie and Hollywood did a damn good job on it.
The movie’s plot is quite simple as it is about a secret underground facility called “The Hive” which is used by a giant corporation to experiment with viruses. When on of the viruses is loose and kills everyone inside, a group of elite commandos were sent in to find out what’s going on and eliminate any biological threats before the virus escapes.
The movie features two sexy actresses kicking lots and lots of zombies’ asses throughout the show. Milla Jovovich as Alice shows off her assets quite frequently and she looks really “hot” with that skimpy red dress while fighting zombies at the same time.
Michelle Rodriguez stars as Rain who delivers quite a lot of cool one-liners and a great acting to go with it. Both female stars act brilliantly in this movie but Alice’s role is only saved by the fact that she provides a great acting; otherwise her presence could have been branded as a mere “eye candy”. The other characters did a great job as well although there isn’t anything ground breaking that will win Oscars or anything like that.
The action was very well done as well which is further reinforced by the pace at which the movie is running. The gripping intro scene as well as the constant hammering of the thumping soundtrack merely increases the tension that the audience is feeling. This fits very well with the atmosphere surrounding the whole area which deserves praise. One of the best scenes throughout the movie is the “corridor laser” (which I won’t be talking about to avoid spoilers) where Resident Evil would be known for its amount of gore.
The special effects are also very well done, ranging from the zombies to the CGI animated “licker” monster which should be quite memorable for the masses.
My advice if you are planning to watch this movie will be to expect nothing less than cool brainless action between humans and zombies. Remember to turn off the lights and maximize the volume to get the full fright out of this movie since the director (Anderson) had put on quite a few rather effective “boo” moments to scare people. Go watch this movie for its wonderful setting, special effects and most notably the scary moments that it can deliver then I can promise that you will enjoy it as much as I do.
Memorable quote: “Bitch isn’t standing now…”
-Michelle Rodriguez as Rain-
(c) 2002 Martin Taidy