The franchise of Resident Evil is one topic that most definitely deserves some attention; either a fan or not of the series, there is no doubt that it has (much like the monsters we see in the games) mutated into something that fans can't recognize and thus lost it's identity somewhere along the way...
But the topic of the games is one for another day, right now I want to talk about the most infamous and hated by fans... the movies. That series of films that just get worst and worst with each new inclusion; I am sorry if I sound like some sort of mad person but... they are kinda fascinating, in a very bad way of course...
I'll start with the very first movie simply called Resident Evil... like a badge of honor or something. The story takes place on a place called the hive and it's been the place for investigation on biological weapons; after something goes wrong... Alice (played by Milla Jovovich) is now forced to survive in a zombie infested underground lab along with other survivors. The movie in general is not horrible to be honest, I consider it a fun "dumb" little movie; however that dosen´t mean I don´t understand why fans of the games hate this one... It has next to nothing to do with the games is based on, it only has a few references but zero of the characters and story line, thus making it a loose adaptation of the game series. The characters are pretty forgettable, Alice herself is kinda meh and I can´t even remember the name of the other characters... I remember that one dude who got chopped into pieces in the laser room (I mean boy what a way to go) and Michel Rodrigez´s character; but really that´s about it.
I am not gonna say is a good movie for the fans because is not, it has very little connection to the actual game series is based on, non of the classic characters and non of the story lines from the actual video game... but it is IMO a fun movie and I can tell there was at least an effort into making this movie; is self aware and is not trying to be anything else... I probably give this movie a 5 or a 4 out of 10.
The fallowing movie came out with a really kick ass teaser trailer if I may say so myself...
Resident Evil: Apocalypse lunched with high self esteem; mostly because the movie itself was basing itself in the actual games, with locals like Raccoon City and characters like the fan favorite Jill Valentine; much like the first movie is not awful... but it lacks grip; like the characters in general are again very forgettable, I remember the characters from the games (Jill, Carlos and Nemesis) and Alice because she is our main character, but the rest of them are pretty much non existent... almost like they are just there to die in grouse fashion for audiences to be entertained... some of the zombie make ups are very bland and the fight choreography is ok I guess but I have seen much better.
Much like the first movie I can´t bring myself to say is horrible; it has it´s few moments and I ones again agree with the fans on being lame compared to the actual games; they lack memorable characters, locations and creative creatures... is has the look but not the feeling of the franchise.
Resident Evil: Extinction was the first of this movies I saw in theaters and it was... pretty forgettable... first of all; why is the whole world turn into sand? why would Alice trust this agenda from some dead randy? why is everybody so dumb? why is Claire even here? The movie is full of dumb plot points that seem to contradict everything that the previous films established and it alienates even more the fans of the original source material; I can dig the desert local, but in this series of movies just doesn't make any sense. It's almost like the creators are grasping at straws to see what can catch the eye of the audience.
While the other ones are fun to watch, this one is actually kinda boring... maybe the character are not any better fleshed out has in the previous entries or maybe it goes against pretty much everything the other two movies established in its own universe and thus becoming a contradiction of it's own mythos... is really dumb writing.
The next film took another while to be released; Resident Evil: Afterlife is the followup and it pretty much goes downhill from what the previous movie did... I mean, it gets worst. The stories fallows Alice once again has she fallows the signal of the diary she found from the dead rotting guy from the last movie and when she gets there, (spillers) there is nothing! what a surprise! never saw that coming... she finds Claire and she is being controlled by a bug like machine attached to her chest... that makes her... irrationally angry? is not explained very well but I know where it came from (and so you if you saw the movie and played Resident Evil 5). The movie is dumb, although slightly better than Extinction but not by a whole lot, at least not to be better than the first two of the series... the game character addition this time is Chris Redfield and is played by Wentworth Miller who I can tell is really doing his best in playing the character and in my opinion he is the best part of the movie.
The movie in general is really dumb, but I can at least say is much more fun to watch than extinction thou I would not say is better than the first two entries in this film series; it´s biggest flaw is how it contradicts it´s own back story and ignores certain plot elements.
The fifth entry in the series is Resident Evil: Retribution and in pretty much the one with the weakest acting and laziest writing, in fact, if there was an award for lazy writing ever I believe this movie would win... this time Alice is in some kind of underground lab of Umbrella where Alice is now trapped in (first RE movie cut n´paste setting) and she is got to escape the facility she somehow is the best hope for humanity now; because Albert Wesker (the big bad guy of the games) is now the good guy... there we have a problem with the movies themselves because in the previous movies Wesker was the bad guy trying to kill our heroes but now he is the good guy.
I am not gonna lie, out of all the RE movies this one feel like the absolute worst of the bunch; it lacks everything that would make this movie entertaining and not only that but if you have seen the previous films it contradicts it´s own backstory... making it the lowest of the series.
There is one last movie coming up that according to Paul WS Anderson is the final chapter; of at least the last movie with Alice has the main character; We don´t know how is the film going to fare in the public eye but judging by the reception of fans and critics I would not hold my breath; but we we´ll see.
This series of film is fascinating because despite the poor reception, it still viewed by everybody, and is because the franchise itself is full of hungry fans who can´t get enough RE and they are going to swallow everything they can get, even if it´s bad or not has good... but that is just a testament of how powerful this franchise actually is.
I apologize for the large gap between posts; but I have been away from my computer for some time now... and also I really didm´t had anything to post, until I saw the news that Resident Evil 1 is going to be remastered in HD for consoles and PC, great news indeed because I never got to play that title on Game Cube... basically the main reason why I decided to watch this films again (and remember how dumb they are lol).
I will come up later with more post for you guys in the future; stay tuned and remember that you can always leave your thoughts on the comments below.
--Pace
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