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Rating:  - The best adaptation
I am about ten years from retirement to give you an idea of my age. And yet I enjoy many of the new horror movies if they have something besides all head banging music and tons of gore. This movie will rock your world no matter what age you are. Many adaptations of games do not make it in my replayable list. This one excels there. This is one you will find yourself regularly popping in the player for a revisit of the haunting music, great acting, and scary as hell zombies and other creatures. This is by far one of my favorite horror movies. Well thought out screenplay, excellent directing, and super music score. I give it a high recommendation. I haven't owned a console game since the first Nintendo, but this movie has tempted me to buy a new one even though I prefer the PC versions. By the way I did not care for the last Final Fantasy movie, but I'm sure game console gamers may. This movie although possibly not as appreciated by those with game consoles, will definitely be appreciated by Horror/SciFi movie fans. I recommend the sequel as well. Although not quite as scary, still quite good in the action department.
Rating:  - Not as good as I had hoped.
I'll admit that I only wanted to watch this movie because I am currently addicted to the Resident Evil 4 game that just came out for the Wii. I read the reviews that said that fans of the video game need to have an open mind so I attempted to do so when I watched it. Still, I had a tough time really liking this movie, not because of how different it is from the game, but because it just wasn't entertaining.
So what's to like about this movie? First of all, there's a ton of eyecandy in terms of actors and actresses. Some that you may recognize are Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, and Eric Mabius. Second, it's action packed. Lots of guns, fast-paced music, matrix-like moves, and, of course, zombies. This is truly a movie that guys and gals will want to watch.
And what's not to like? The first part of the movie up until the laser scene (which really had me biting my nails) was great. From there, it went downhill. Let's first talk about the zombies. Apart from a couple here and there, they just weren't that scary. The majority of them looked like normal humans only they walk with a limp and like to bite people. And then you have this weird mass of regenerated tissue that's attacking people. If the writers fail to produce creatures that frighten the audience, what's left? The main plot about the virus is not engaging whatsoever and it's sometimes confusing to follow. There were a few things that went unexplained or could have been improved to make a better movie. Also, where's the climax? Without giving away any spoilers, the supposed "ta-dah!" scene of the movie was nothing to be excited about. Not to mention that the ending left me saying "That's it?".
Let's face it. A confusing plot, unimpressive monsters, and no climax make for a mediocre movie. I'm sorry to say that I was disappointed with this film.
Rating: - Excellent fun. Fans of the game will hate this movie. To them I say "Keep an open mind idiots!"
While this movie bears the name of Resident Evil it does not follow the game story line at all. In fact other than the evil corporation Umbrella, the zombies and the licker, this movie has nothing to do with the game. If this movie had been called anything other than Resident Evil it would have been an excellent movie. Milla Jovovich is a severely underrated actress she is great as Alice. All the cast is very good you feel for them when they get hurt or they die. In my opinion those who are hard-core fans of the game keep an open mind and try too watch the movie as what it is: a good Zombie flick.
Rating:  - GOOD STUFF
I really liked this movie. The sets were excellent, the acting decent, the action very good. I never played the game so I came into it totally unbiased. This is definately on my top ten list of movies to watch on cold winter days when I'm able to curl up in front of the tv and enjoy myself.
You've already got the basic story line from other folks and apparently this is a 'love it' or 'hate it' type. Maybe if you can see the movie while putting aside the game you'll have a better time. Just sit back and enjoy the story and the action. You'll do just fine.
Rating: - Roaring Transition Of A Great Game Line Into A Great Movie
"Resident Evil" starts off with a slam-bang double-opening - inside an ultra high-tech underground research-and-development facility, something goes terribly wrong and a gas escapes as the facility's emergency system kicks in, locking down the building and resulting in the apparant deaths of hundreds of employees; at about the same time, above ground, a young woman named Alice (Milla Jovovich) wakes up inside a grand mansion with no memory of who she is, only minutes before the place is stormed by a group of well-armed commandoes. Thus begins the successful movie adaptation of the "Resident Evil" series of video games.
With "Resident Evil", it was far from a given that it could make such a good transition into a movie, to me at least. It's not like "Silent Hill" (which has also generated an excellent movie) or "Fatal Frame" (which I'm still waiting for the movie version of), both of which had lots of identifiable movie potential from the beginning. The "Resident Evil" games are a bit different, almost nonstop action, most of them not as developed along character or story purposes (these aspects have begun growing in some of the more recent Resident games). They needed to fill in some areas for the movie to be as good as the games. Most of the games pit S.T.A.R. (a highly trained law enforcement organization) agents against hordes of ravenous zombies, occasionally teaming the S.T.A.R. agents with other characters. It's made a lot of great games, but could it move into just as great a movie? One thing they did was split the focus up among more characters of different backgrounds - you've got the S.T.A.R. team, you've got the amnesiac Alice - whose nature is kept a mystery until near the movie's end) - as a main point-of-view character, there are the Umbrella (the name of the corporation that owns the underground facility) people and you've got another major character coming into it from outside the main 'groups'. (This trend of character diversifaction has continued with the "Resident Evil: Apocalypse" sequel, and some of the more recent entries to the game line) It takes longer to build into where the zombie carnage really starts flying, which is fitting for the first entry of a movie series. It introduces the elements at a pace that's equally good for longtime fans of the games and books as well as for viewers who've never even heard of the concept. All in all, the transition was more successful than I thought it could be - this is a great, hi-octane horror-action movie which succeeds in establishing good characters and a great 'edge-of-catacylsm' air. The ending flows directly into "Apocalypse"; and a third "Resident Evil" movie is coming in Fall 2007.
Great beginning to what's shaping up to be a great, and long-running, horror saga.
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