Zombies, mutated creatures, killer musical score, Michelle Rodriguez and ass kicking Milla Jovovich…what more could you ask for in a movie? 2002 put Capcom’s survival horror video game on the big screen pulling in millions at the box office despite mixed critical reviews. Written and directed by Paul W.S. Anderson Resident Evil takes us on a modern horrific journey with several nods to the classic tale Alice in Wonderland.
The movie starts off as yet another day at the office for employees of the Umbrella Corporation. Unbeknownst to them somewhere in the building a thief sets off a catastrophic series of events as he unleashes a virulent pathogen as a means of covering his tracks. The automated security system detects the virus in the air system and begins to systematically shut the facility down, killing everyone as a safety protocol.
In the next scene we find Milla Jovovich who awakens on the shower floor with no memory of who or where she is. As she wanders the halls to find clues to her identity, a group of commandos swarm the mansion and she is taken with them (along with another man named Matt) as they begin to infiltrate the “Hive.”
As they enter the underground railway system, the group comes across another man on the train who is also suffering from amnesia. It is then that we learn that Milla’s character (whose name (Alice) is only revealed in the credits) and Spence are guardians to the Hive entrance. Their amnesia is a side effect of the nerve gas released as part of the Hive’s security protocol at the time of the facility shutdown.
For fans of the video game the movie is packed with references from several of the individual games including references to characters and organizations. Likewise, after the film’s release there are references to elements in the movie found in the video games seamlessly tying the media franchise together. For those who have never played the game, the movie is designed to be an action packed romp filled with flesh hungry zombies and mutated creatures worthy of even the best nightmares.
Though I am not the largest fan of zombie movies, Resident Evil still ranks as one of my top horror films of all times. It is entertaining enough to view multiple times and the musical score by Marco Beltrami and Marilyn Manson make this film fun to listen to as background noise while passing out candy to the trick or treaters.
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