Computergames which are based on popular movies or television-series disappoints
heavily most of the time. The other way around seems not soo bad. Or not? After
Final Fantasy (2001) and Tombraider
(2001) the survival horror of Resident Evil (2002)
is being filmed.
It is well-known that the accompanying games are being exploited awfully. The same counts for Final Fantasy and Tombraider by the way. Final Fantasy (first release 1987) contains by far the most continuing parts. Almost every 18 months there's a new release. Tombraider will receive a graphical injection by the beginning of 2003 but shall probably never be groundbreaking as it once was. And Resident Evil continues to perfect the interface by each release, but in general the game stays the same.
A film version of successful games is therefore hardly any surprise. It's just a part of the big exploitation programme. No problem if the result is an artistic piece of filming. Unfortunately this is seldom the case.
Final
Fantasy was a boring movie which had nothing to do with the game-serie. Sure,
beautiful made and a treat for the eye, but the story and the connected depth
and dialogs were simply terrible. Tombraider was also not brilliant. Although
that movie was more than worth while due to the presence of the fantastic Angelina
Jolie. And Resident Evil?
Resident Evil contains all characteristic of a B-movie. Just consider it. People shooting endlessly, dialogs are rare, zombies are walking freely, a computer-animated monster causes some distraction, a pretty amount of dead men, memory loss, an super intelligent computer, and more of this. Don't get me wrong, not every movie has to be original, but a movie that represents the Resident Evil game-serie has to be exciting at least. And exciting the movie never gets. Apart from the moment the security system activites deadly laser beams. Unfortunately that level cannot be retained.
A painful conclusion. Especially for the main character Milla Jovovich who clearly does everything in her power to make something out of it. She is a nice girl, but fails in her efforts to bear the movie. Only if she had a tinge of Angelina Jolie's class.
Let's leave it by this. In stead buy the last release of Resident Evil for the Gamecube. Undoubtedly you will enjoy this much more.
- October 2002 -
Milla
Jovovich .... Alice
Michelle Rodriguez .... Rain Ocampo
Eric Mabius .... Matt Addison
James Purefoy .... Spencer Parks
Martin Crewes .... Chad Kaplan
Directed by: Paul W.S. Anderson