Other Titles • Resident Evil (2002) • Resident Evil the Movie • Resident Evil: Ground Zero • Resident Evil - Genesis (2002)
Synopses for Resident Evil (2002)
1.
Given that Resident Evil is a Paul Anderson movie based on a computer game which was itself highly derivative (especially of George A Romero and James Cameron films), it's probably unfair to complain that it hasn't got an original idea or moment in its entire running time. In the early 1980s, Italian schlock films such as Zombie Flesh Eaters and Zombie Creeping Flesh tried to cram in as many moments restaged from American originals as possible, strung together by silly characters wandering between monster attacks. This is a much-improved, edited, photographed and directed version of the same gambit.
As amnesiac Milla Jovovich remembers amazing kung fu skills and anti-globalist Eric Mabius mutters about evil corporations, a gang of clichéd soldiers with nary a distinguishing feature between them (except for Michelle Rodriguez as a secondary tough chick) are trapped in an underground scientific compound at the mercy of a tyrannical computer--which manifests as a smug little-girl-o-gram--fending off flesh-eating zombies (though gore fans will be disappointed by the film's need to stay within the limits of the 15 certificate) and CGI mutants, not to mention the ever-popular zombie dogs. It's tolerably action-packed, but zips past its borrowings (Aliens, Cube, Deep Blue Sea) without adding anything that future schlock pictures will want to imitate.
On the DVD: Resident Evil on disc has the expected trailers, both teaser and theatrical; a half-hour making-of; zombie make-up tests; featurettes on music (with Marilyn Manson), production design and costume. A lively commentary track features Anderson, Jovovich, Rodriguez and producer/zombie Jeremy Bolt--Jovovich upbraids Anderson for talking about different gradings of film stock over her nude scene and everyone else talks about how much she hurt them by punching them out during action sequences. Anderson mentions an alternate commentary track with visual effects designer Richard Yuricich, but it isn't included. --Kim Newman
(9 votes)
2.
Something rotten is brewing beneath the industrial mecca known as Raccoon City. Unknown to its millions of residents, a huge underground bioengineering facility known as The Hive has accidentally unleashed the deadly and mutating T-virus, killing all of its employees. To contain the leak, the governing supercomputer Red Queen has sealed all entrances and exits.
Now a team of highly-trained super commandos including Rain (Michelle Rodriguez - The Fast and the Furious, Girlfight ), Alice (Milla Jovovich - The Fifth Element ) and Matt (Eric Mabius - Cruel Intentions) must race to penetrate The Hive in order to isolate the T-virus before it overwhelms humanity. To do so, they must get past the Red Queen's deadly defenses, face the flesh-eating undead employees, fight killer mutant dogs and battle The Licker, a genetically mutated savage beast whose strength increases with each of its slain victims.
(8 votes)
3.
A secret experiment…a deadly virus…a fatal mistake. Based on the wildly popular video game series, Resident Evil is an action-packed thriller starring Milla Jovovich (The Fifth Element), Michelle Rodriguez (The Fast and the Furious) and Eric Mabius (Cruel Intentions) in a battle of good and evil, human versus computer, the living against the Undead.
Something terrible is lurking in the Hive, a vast underground genetic research facility run by the Umbrella Corporation, a faceless bio-engineering conglomerate. A deadly viral outbreak occurs, and in response, the Red Queen - a vast supercomputer that controls and monitors the Hive - seals the entire facility to contain the leak, killing all the trapped employees.
Alice (MILLA JOVOVICH) and Rain (MICHELLE RODRIGUEZ) must lead fellow commandos to isolate the virus that has wiped out Umbrella’s entire research staff. The team soon discovers, however, that the workers are…not…really…dead. They are now the ravenous Undead, and they are prowling the hive. One bite or scratch from an Undead causes infection and worse, instant transformation into their kind.
Alice and the military task force have three hours to complete their mission before the virus threatens to overrun the Earth. To access the Red Queen, the team must pass through a series of increasingly horrifying obstacles in the maze-like hive. These include deadly lasers, mutant dogs and a vast specimen room where Alice witnesses the results of Umbrella’s evil experimental research. Alice soon discovers that the former humans are the ghastly result of Umbrella’s latest project gone awry -- the T-virus.
Initially designed to combat ageing and fight nerve-based diseases, the T-virus has the ability to reanimate dead cells. Alice realises that an unknown saboteur has stolen the virus and freed it into the hive’s atmosphere. That’s how the outbreak occurred. Who would do such a thing, and why?
Confronting the giant computer, Rain demands that she guide them to the surface. The Red Queen agrees, but insists that no one who is infected will be allowed to escape. Unless of course, they can find the Anti-Virus first. Standing in their way is a genetically mutated experiment that is now a vicious creature known as “the Licker,” bent on destroying them all. The Licker’s strength increases with each victim it slays–making the team’s job even more deadly.
Will the team defeat the Red Queen and find the anti-virus in time? Or are they doomed to turn? Who, if anyone, will escape the evil Hive alive?
Marilyn Manson worked on the soundtrack, so it's no surprise that Resident Evil is best enjoyed by headbangers, goth guys, and PlayStation junkies. Like the interactive game it's based on, this horror hybrid pits a small band of SWAT-like commandos (including Milla Jovovich and Girlfight's Michelle Rodriguez) against a ravenous hoard of zombies, resulting in a gorefest that only sociopaths could love. The tenacious heroes are trapped inside the Hive--an underground complex where an evil corporation conducts illegal research with a deadly virus--and the zombies (reanimated corpses of sacrificed employees) are fodder for endless rounds of gunfire. It's utter nonsense (not unlike director Paul W.S. Anderson's previous Event Horizon), so your best defense is to wallow in it or avoid this trash altogether. A few cool sequences are borrowed from better films (that slice-and-dice laser is cribbed from the 1998 Canadian shocker Cube), but if you're in the mood for heavy-metal carnage, this movie's for you. --Jeff Shannon
DVD features The Deluxe Edition of Resident Evil retains the major features from the original DVD and adds some new ones. Of primary interest is the alternate ending, which has action and style (and was never finished), but far less emotional punch than the one that was used in the film. There's a new commentary track by writer-director Paul W.S. Anderson and visual effects supervisor Richard Yuricich (which lags a bit when there are no on-screen effects to discuss); new featurettes on storyboarding and the film's videogame roots; and six visual-effects featurettes that focus on such elements as the laser and the zombie dogs. Retained from the original DVD are three featurettes and the raucous commentary track by Anderson, producer Jeremy Bolt, and actors Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez. Dropped are the making-of featurette, the zombie makeup test, and the Train music video. The Dolby 5.1 sound remains exciting and immersive, but DTS devotees will have to stick with the Superbit edition. --David Horiuchi
(8 votes)
5.
"Resident Evil rocks! A slick, sexy and scary horror show." - Tony Timpone, Fangoria
A team of paramilitary commandos must battle flesh-eating undead, killer mutant dogs, and a supercomputer's deadly defenses before an unleashed virus consumes humanity in this adaptation of the hit video game series!
(6 votes)
Mooviees.com is not the official site for this film.
All editorial views and opinions expressed here are for entertainment purposes only.
Movie Database
In Theaters
