New year, new cinema critic which thus comes to contrast with our habit of dealing with vaping news. Today we are talking about a movie that can generate expectation, a lot of expectation. It is Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. After several films directed by Paul WS Anderson featuring Milla Jovovich, fans of the famous franchise known in Japan as " Biohazard Were undoubtedly entitled to expect a scenario faithful to the famous video game. So, successful bet?
RESIDENT-EVIL: CULT VIDEO GAMES, CINEMAS AND ANIMATIONS ADAPTATIONS!
Who does not know the franchise " resident evil "? Whether we are talking about video games, films or even a few animated films, it is almost impossible not to have heard of this must of a very particular genre: The survival horror. At the base of everything, Resident Evil is a video game developed and published in 1996 by the famous Japanese firm Capcom also known for video game series like " Street Fighter "Or" Monster Hunter". Since the creation of the first opus, Resident Evil or “BioHazard” in Japanese has sold more than 100 million copies.
Obviously, the lust was too great for a studio not to try to seize this gold mine in order to make great Hollywood films. If the recipe may seem simple: zombies, a devastating virus, a dark company and an apocalyptic atmosphere, it is still necessary to convince an audience acquired in the world of video games. A first saga arousing many expectations developed by Paul WS Anderson appeared between 2002 and 2016.
Largely shifted from the background of video games, this series of films depicts the adventures of Alice (played by Milla Jovovich), a former security agent of the multinational Umbrella Corporation, who tries to survive in a world overrun by living dead and other biological weapons because of a virus released by society. While the series holds the record for the most successful video game adaptation, it will clearly not be unanimous among fans of the franchise. In addition, it is often criticized that these opuses are too far removed from the original plot of video games.
From 2008 to 2017, three animated films produced by Sony et Capcom bring a little balm to the hearts of fans. First of all Resident Evil: Degeneration released in 2008 then Resident Evil: Damnation released in 2012 to end with Resident Evil: Vendetta released in 2017. Each film is inserted between the events of the different games.
While waiting for the Netflix series " Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness Which should arrive shortly, so it's time to take a look at Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, an adaptation which in view of the trailer seems to offer a story and an atmosphere faithful to the first two games in the series. But what is it really?
RESIDENT-EVIL: WELCOME TO VIDEO GAMES FANS?
RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY (2021)
Director : Johannes Roberts
SYNOPSIS
Once the burgeoning headquarters of pharmaceutical giant Umbrella Corporation, Raccoon City is today a city in agony. The exodus of society has left the city fallow and great evil is brewing beneath the surface. When it breaks loose, the townspeople are forever changed, and a small group of survivors must work together to uncover the truth about Umbrella and survive the night.
OUR OPINION ON THE FILM
After this appetizer, it is high time to enter the "zombie" world of Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. And we are not going to lie, the wait was very important for me in view of a tempting trailer which seemed to highlight a faithful adaptation of the first and the second video game and in the same film. Before even attempting a deep review of the film, it must be noted that Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City was directed by Johannes Roberts, a Briton with relatively few films to his credit. In addition, this new film has a total duration of 1h47 which seems quite short for such a vast project. So always ready to find out more? Well let's go!
Casting side, it's no surprise that we mainly find second knives such as Robbie amell for the role of Chris Redfield or even Kaya scodelario who interprets Claire Redfield. The only real good surprise, the presence of the experienced Neal mcdonough (William Birkin) seen in the series T and more recently in the final season ofAmerican Horror Story. With attention to detail, we see that Robbie Amell and Kaya Scodelario stick to the characters quite well physically. Unfortunately, the comparison stops there because for the rest of the cast it is a monumental blunder. Tom Hopper (Albert wesker) is not level and Hannah John-Kamen appears pale in the role of Jill Valentine presented in the film as a madwoman mad with the trigger. Even worse, advance game (Leon S Kennedy) transforms a mythical character from the Resident Evil series into a lousy, goofy, stupid little bastard. The goal is not to assassinate this new film, I would however point out that the presence of important characters such as Cherry Birkin (Holly de Barros), There's Wong (Lily gao) and Brad vickers (Nathan Dales) remains a positive point in the spirit of the franchise. Important oversight in the film for the casting, that of a mythical character from Resident Evil first of the name: Barry burton, a STARS member who saves Jill Valentine numerous times in the video game. Pity…
For my part, the expectation was particularly strong concerning the scenario of this new opus. Finally an achievement at the height of these brilliant games that are Resident Evil? Unfortunately, it will only take a good 15-20 minutes to figure out that if the intentions are good, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City may not be able to fulfill certain promises. Indeed, this achievement offers a scenario that is divided between the stories of the first game (in the mansion) and the second (in Raccoon City) to end up making a mouthpiece leading to a potential sequel (Resident Evil 3?). If you know Capcom's games perfectly well, you will easily let yourself be embarked on the adventure but will quickly be disappointed by the many shortcuts and the lack of originality. Imprecise, often messy and repetitive, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City forget the obvious recipe that made the series so successful: angst, horror and puzzles. However essential in a production of this kind, the original music composed by Mark Korven is not unforgettable adding another bad point to the general mood.
Who says Resident Evil necessarily requires the presence of numerous zombies, various monsters from the series. If we find with pleasure William Birkin (and his hideous transformation), Lisa Trevor, the zombie dogs (doberman) and even a licker, we will be disappointed not to see more. With a very limited budget ($ 25 million), ie less to see much less than for the other Resident Evil films (from 35 to 65 million dollars for each), one should not expect a miracle. And if that is felt in the casting and the scenario, the gap between the stated ambition and the reality is felt especially in the monotonous, minimalist and repetitive sets as well as in the special effects and the extremely limited make-up.
We could do a much longer analysis, but that would not necessarily make sense in view of what has already been said. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City made me salivate by its trailer and then disappointed me. If the budget side is partly to blame for the disappointment, the director's choices as well as the ignorance of the “Resident Evil” universe made this opus a sad failure. Failing to be able to make a blockbuster, it would have been necessary to focus on what makes the strength of the series: The horror, the anguish and the suspense in a simpler framework bringing many nods to the fans of the first two opus. Sadly missed, this opus will quickly join the cemetery of video game films that no one remembers such as Mario Bros, Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat: Final Destruction. Let's just hope they don't tempt the devil with a sequel ...
THE FILM'S RATING
