Resident Evil

Reader M. Grochmal writes with his brief review of Resident Evil, below. Yes, Resident Evil the game has been turned into Resident Evil, the movie. You have been warned.

The latest in a line of video game adaptations, Resident Evil was released over the weekend. While past conversions such as Super Mario Brothers and Street Fighter were box-office flops, Resident Evil has the chance to break the game-to-movie-flop habit. While the movie is not a straight port of the game, it can still offer a good viewing experience.

The movie takes place in Raccoon City, USA, within a secret underground research lab called The Hive. The lab's work on a cell regeneration medicine ("the T-Cell serum:) for the Umbrella Corporation has a very negative side effect: it reverts the donor into a creature with basic instinctive needs. A lab experiment causes the virus to be released in the air circulation system and, after a logic snafu from the Red Queen (The Hive's AI), this AI quarantines the lab and kills everyone who may have been exposed to the virus.

A SWAT team (not STARS, for the Resident faithful), is sent to find out what's going on. After finding Alice (Milla Jovovich), they break into the HIVE. The Red Queen's traps have fun with the troops, and one they figure things are going their way, the dead scientists of the HIVE are released. On top of that, they're all thirsty for blood.

From here, it goes into a Night of the Living Dead shoot-and-scream-a-thon. There are some genuine scares, but most of them are peppered with shouting and running. There wasn't enough time to get to know the characters before they start getting killed off. The movie tries to be like Aliens in some respects, and sometimes it works.

Plot notwithstanding, the movie still offers a good viewing. It is a shame that George Romero didn't take the project, as was the original plan. Instead, it was taken by Paul Anderson (Soldier, Event Horizon, Mortal Kombat), whose influences show with strobe lights, dark passageways, and a loud soundtrack. Go and see it during the matinee, or wait for it on video. AfterThought: For those who are also fans of anime, here is a video you may wish to download: Resident Eva . It uses the trailer's audio track and makes good use of Neon Genesis Evangelion.

Comments

Oh my.

[Electric Angst]

Is that...

No, it can't be...

Wait! It is.

Someone is linking to a dyndns server on Slashdot, for a large multimedia file, no less.

I have a feeling someone's cable modem is about to explode.

But how true to the games is it?

[dave-fu]

Most importantly, I'm wondering if the characters (players?) in the movie can step side-to-side or if they've stayed true to the RE series and made them all move like tanks (turning on their axes). So which is it?

Not all video game movies are flops

[TrollMan 5000]

While past conversions such as Super mario Brothers and Street Fighter were box office flops

Tomb Raider grossed about $131 million. Not a superhit but definitely not a flop.

Angelina Jolie probably helped that one out.

Asteroids, The Movie

[Anonymous Coward]

Ship twirls around and fires. Misses. Fires again. Hits a large asteroid. Fires again and hits a flying saucer. Keeps firing. Hits a small asteroid. Fires four times in rapid succession. Oh-oh, tiny fast-moving rock: hyperspace. Re-enters close to the screen. Oh oh oh, dangerous, moves closer to the middle. Tiny spaceship comes out. Ship fires and hits it. 1000 points. Fires. Misses. Fires again. Another tiny spaceship fires back and hits him.

George Romero?

[Knunov]

"It is a shame that George Romero didn't take the project..."

It's even more of a shame that John Romero didn't take the project.

What with his obsession of story lines in video games, Resident Evil would have been nothing less than a smash hit.

Just ask him. I'm sure he'll agree.

Knunov

Write your own /. movie preview.

[nob]

In the past game-to-movie conversions have been _______(negative adjective.) But ________ (newest game-to-movie) has the chance to break the habit. Since the game has sold over _____ (big number) copies, and the movie has a budget of _____ (big number), it will probably be very ______(positive adjective.)

Milla Jovavich

[psycht]

I'd watch Pokemon if it had her in it.

From the hoster of the AMV...

[Mike A.]

• Yes, it's hosted on a DSL connection.
  
• Yes, it's quite thoroughly slashdotted.
  
• No, I don't mind. It'll be cleared up enough by the time I get home.
  
• Yes, I was warned in advance.
  
• Yes, you may mirror the file if any of you successfully managed to get it.
  

Thank you for visiting my beleaguered box. :)

Faithful adaptation

[JohnLi]

I'm not quite sure where all the bad reviews of this movie are coming from. I planned to see this movie last Saturday, but before hand, I looked up a few reviews. They were about 80% negative, so I decided to not go see it. The next day, a friend of mine pressured me into seeing it anyway, and it was awesome. The atmosphere was exactly like the games...sure there is some filler/fluff, and most of the characters die 20 minuets into the movie, but again, that is just like the game. If you haven't seen it, for sure don't post opinions, and at least give it a chance. To put this movie in the ranks of Street Fighter, or Super Mario Bros. is just silly.

Pong, The Movie

[Bonker]

http://www.youngprimitive.cz/pong.html

Some people just have way the fuck too much time on their hands.

My (better) Review

[jabber01]

Resident Evil, starring Milla Jovovich (yummy), is based on the video game of the same name. I've never played the game, but I assume it's pretty much the same general idea..

The plot is mind-numbingly simple: The Umbrella Corporation is the biggest company in the US. It makes all sorts of consumer products, and is involved in military tech, and viral and genetic research.

Deep underground beneath Raccoon City (yep, that's what it's called) is The Hive, Umbrella Corp's secret research facility..

The movie opens with someone stealing what turns out to be a mutagenic virus from one of the labs, and leaving a broken vial of the nasty stuff to cover their tracks. In response to the contamination, the facility AI brain seals all exits and kills all occupants.

There's really not much more to it than that.. We get to see Yummy Milla passed out naked in a shower stall, in a nice mansion, due to having been gassed by the Red Queen (the AI code name) defense system. We get a gratuitous nipple shot, and then the action picks up as an Alien's-style special forces team arrives to figure out what hapenned in The Hive.

What follows is a joy-ride of mindless violence, cool special effects and lots and lots of zombies.

There's a few plot-related explanations that strangely hold together pretty well, but 'plot' is not what this movie is about.. It's about action, suspense, effects, soundtrack, and of course, Yummy Milla in a short evening dress doing acrobatic fight scenes.

It's been said that "Every Breath You Take" is the perfect Pop Song.. It's devoid of content, but it has everything a great pop song needs to succeed. A good beat and melody, plenty of rhyming and easy to recall lyrics, and a simple structure that doesn't test even the most mundane of brains.

This movie is the perfect Popcorn Movie. It's got a non stop mix of suspense and shock, which alternates with loud gunfire, growling monsters, and the occasional computer-screen overlay.. It's a study in brilliant, yet vapid, entertainment.

It's Night of the Living Dead, on Methamphetamine.

And best of all, it's more than just a movie about the game "Resident Evil". All you need to do is replace Yummy Milla with a male, and the openning "virus theft" sequence with an experiment in trans-dimensional travel, and suddenly, it's also a movie about the game "Doom".. Seriously, right down to the final scene, except there isn't a bunny-head on a stick anywhere in sight..

If you've got $8.50 burning a hole in your pocket, this is a fun, albeit mindless 2 hours on which to spend it.