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by Tony Pascarella Published: July 25, 2005
 Who among us can, with a clear conscience, state that they dislike shoot-em-up action movies, especially if they're rooted in science fiction? If you're one of those few, you'll probably want to stop reading here. Resident Evil is not a movie for you. The flick, starring the gorgeous Milla Jovovich, is fast-paced from start to finish. Paul W.S. Anderson directed the movie, which is based off the Capcom video game of the same title.As we learn through the mysterious, yet vivid opening scenes, a deadly virus is manipulated and then released into a ventilation shaft of what looks like an ordinary office building. Soon after the workers are seemingly trapped by the building's computer and left to die, we meet Alice, played by Milla Jovovich. She has a little problem--she has no short or long term memory. A brief action sequence involving black clad commandos ensues, after which we meet Michelle Rodriguez, who plays the tomboyish Rain, one of the aforementioned commandos. Through them, we learn slowly what has taken place. An underground facility called The Hive is the focus of their efforts. Owned by the omnipotent Umbrella Corporation, The Hive is a secret research center for chemical and other weapons. Flashbacks begin to unravel Alice's past, of which, even she is uncertain how to interpret. Their initial mission into The Hive is to shut down the computer that locked the workers in the facility. It soon becomes apparent there is more than meets the eye. The virus has mutated the dead workers into flesh-eating undead zombies. They seek only to feed on living creatures, namely Alice, Rain, and the commandos. After several well-produced battles with the undead, the rest of the team is killed, leaving Alice, Rain, Kaplan (Martin Crewes), Matt, and Spence to get out of The Hive alive. Since this story is full of plot-twists, I'll leave some of them to the imagination. Many of the scary moments are thoroughly predictable, which dampen the fun of the movie as a whole. The CGI used in "Resident Evil" is fairly good, although some of it really comes off looking lame (see the mutant dogs). Milla Jovovich is a strong central female character, and Michelle Rodriguez stuns as a supporting actress in this movie. I think the male presence is underdeveloped, especially Matt's (Eric Mabius) character. A featurette called "Resident Evil: From Game To Screen" gives the viewers a fantastic walk through the development of the movie. Director Paul W.S. Anderson discusses how he designed the movie, which he describes as a prequel to the first Resident Evil game. Several of the cast members weigh in, as well as industry news writers who talk about the changing face of video games. I was impressed with this 14-minute piece. Another one has Anderson explaining the score of the movie. The music composers for "Resident Evil" were Marco Beltrami and shock-rocker Marilyn Manson. Interviews with both men explain how they developed the music for the movie. Manson, born Brian Warner, spends a good portion of the time explaining his motivation for what he did with "Resident Evil." As a major influence, he cites Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland, which might come as a surprise to the rocker's fans. This 10-minute clip is a really good in-depth assessment of Manson's maturation into scoring, something he'd never done before. Closing out the first page of the featurette section are three more technical aspects. Storyboarding, costumes, and set design. The first shows the actual storyboards used side-by-side with the scenes themselves. The second studies the costume design for the movie, complete with the rough drawings used to make the costumes themselves. The set design is interesting by itself, as the designer shows just how he made the set and what various things they used for inspiration. Page two of the Special Features selects various characters, such as "The Creature," the mutant dogs, the zombies themselves, and such things as the elevator, the train, and the laser and shows just how the crew made all of these happen on film. Commentaries on visual effects and the movie itself are done by the director, Jovovich, Rodriguez, and producer Jeremy Bolt. Michelle has a very prominent role in the commentary, which is interesting. The banter between the cast members is really quite funny and adds a lot to "Resident Evil." If you wanted to know anything interesting trivia-wise about the movie, you'll find it somewhere in the commentaries. Paul Anderson narrates the alternate ending to "Resident Evil," which he admits tied up the plot "too neatly." It was cut in favor of the darker ending, which also left a lot of room open for the sequel to the movie, "Resident Evil: Apocalypse." Speaking of the sequel, the DVD includes a clip from that film, which is very cool to watch. Filmographies for the major actors and the director are provided (they're essentially useless on the DVD, but they're on there). The previews included are for "Resident Evil," its sequel "Resident Evil: Apocalypse," "Stephen King Presents 'Kingdom Hospital,'" and "Hellboy." "Resident Evil" is a fun zombie thriller that really offers a lot to a wide variety of audiences. The movie earns its R rating from the MPAA with copious amounts of violence and some nudity. The language is also strong, but I wouldn't say overly so. A few f-bombs here and there (most courtesy of Michelle Rodriguez) are really the extent of it. I enjoyed "Resident Evil," despite a few parts I thought could have been a little better. The DVD extras are quite numerous and on the whole add something to the movie experience. If you don't own it yet, the Deluxe Edition of "Resident Evil" is a solid buy. Film Rating: A- Bonus Material: A |
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