Well here is a film franchise I never expected to be sitting down to watch. I have never played any of the games the franchise is based on, and due to the low critical response the films received there was very little reason for me to ever bother to watch them. That was until this lockdown flipped everything on its head, and suddenly these films that I had no intention of watching had become essential viewing experiences (bit much?). And so I sat myself down to start from the beginning with 'Resident Evil' (2002). When a an AI computer system goes haywire and kills all the workers in an underground research facility, the owners of the facility, Umbrella Corp, send a group of insurgents in to shutdown the computer. Two of the group, Alice (Mila Jovovich) and Spence (James Purefoy), are both suffering from memory loss as a result of the facilities defense systems and there memory of what was going on within the facility is coming back slowly and in flashes. Upon entering the facility the group realise that there may be a lot more going on than just a computer malfunction as a huge group of zombies also resides in the facility. The mission now takes on extra gravity with team not only looking to complete their original mission, but also trying to survive and work out exactly what is going on at Umbrella Corp.
I know I mentioned this earlier, but I have never play the Resident Evil games and so I have no idea whether the story of this film follows the games closely or not. Either way, the narrative here is not great. It feels like a narrative with so many ideas and it lacks focus as a result. This leads to a lot of moments where I was a little confused as to what the hell was going on. The poor narrative isn't helped by the fact the film isn't exactly pretty to look at. It isn't shot all that terribly, but the set design is all just your standard, boring, metallic looking science facility that you see in hundreds of films. ANd the editing, oh boy can it be obnoxious. The amount of gratuitous slow-mo in this film is ridiculous. And I couldn't write a review of this film without mention the laughably bad CGI. The practical effects in the film are a mixed bag but they are mostly well doen. The CGI on the other hand is horrific. None of it looks real, and most of it probably wouldn't even pass in video game form. Now you may look at it and go "well the film came out in 2002 so maybe it was good at the time", to which I would say that 'The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers' (2002) came out in the same year and 'Jurassic Park' (1993) came out almost a decade before, both of which have impeccable CGI. Genuinely, watch this film and try to defend the atrocious CGI. You can't. It's impossible.
Now, onto the acting. As with the rest of the film, it is crap. I can't think of anyone who was even good. There were a couple performances which were entertaining, with Mila Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez having a strong enough screen presence to keep my attention. But calling their performances good would be a stretch. Most of the performances are monotone and dull, with the actors seemingly going for the cool soldier in film stereotype, which immediately sucks any kind of charisma or personality out of the performance. I can't say who had the best performance in the film, but I can definitely say who had the worst. That would be Pasquale Aleardi as J.D.. Some of the line readings from this guy were hilariously bad, and I didn't believe a single emotion that he tried to put across. No one is good in the film, and when you stand out as being bad among other crap you know you've put in a stinker of a performance.
'Resident Evil' is undeniably crap. It has a weak and poorly constructed narrative with really poor acting and CGI that would make the original games look state of the art. The set design is dull and the editing obnoxious. Although some of the practical effects are decent at times, the design of the zombies is lazy and cliched. From a critical perspective there is very little redeeming I can say about the film. And yet. And. Yet. There is something about this film that I found really entertaining. I'm not kidding. I had a huge smile on my face the majority of this movie and I burst out in audible laughter on more than one occasion. This may have not been the reaction the filmmakers wanted, but I couldn't care less. I had a genuinely fun time watching this stupid and ridiculous film. So on that basis I have to recommend it. It is shit, lets make no mistake about it. But god did I have fun watching it. And, whats that? There are five more of these films and a long lockdown ahead? Well, strap yourselves in because I am going to review every. Single. One.