There's not much to say about me i'm afraid! (not good at reviewing me) x
There's not much to say about me i'm afraid! (not good at reviewing me) x
Member since:22.02.2006
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Introduction
Resident evil is a Science fiction horror film which was made in 2002 and was based on video games Resident evil 1 and resident evil 2. Unfortunately, I am not a huge fan of computer games and I had never heard of the games until recently. And I did not see the film when it first came out...I was too young! (Bless)
However, when the third one came out, I was old enough, so after seeing it at the cinema, being impressed and having someone explain the first two parts to me I rented the first two on DVD.
Story
The story is about a secret research company which is located about a mile underground and is owned by a firm called the ‘Umbrella Corporation’ the lab researches illegal things like genetics and viruses. The lab is given the name ‘the Hive’. Due to the secretive nature of the research, everyone who lives in the lab works in the lab and there is only one way in and one way out, this is not used, except for in emergency. Among the experiments being conducted is the one which the film is based on, the T virus. The start of the film shows this virus being exposed in the lab and the Hive shutting itself down to contain all of the occupants.
Milla Jovovich is the films main character; she has memory loss throughout the film which comes back to her in flashes to explain the storyline to the audience. She is taken by a team of armed officials who work for the Umbrella Corporation into the Hive. Whilst in there she discovers more and more about her past and the truth about the Umbrella Corporation through a serious of action filled events and the
discovery of the T virus. The object of the group’s mission is to discover what exactly happened in the Hive and why and emerge before the Hive is closed for good. The Hive is run by a virtual intelligent computer called the Red Queen, this is who/what sealed the Hive off and killed all of the staff, although this Red Queen is a computer she is characterised as a female human and one of the team’s missions is to disable her.
Zombies?
Yes, before I go too far into telling the story (you don’t want that if you haven’t seen it,) let me tell you, this is another Zombie film.
So why is that a problem?
American Zombie films are not sparse; I can safely say that if we are invaded by the undead I would know the following from the vast amount of Zombie films we are exposed to...
• Go for the head –shooting them or hurting them anywhere else will not be effective. • If you get bitten, you’re buggered • They are dead, they don’t talk and they can’t move very fast • The TV’s, radio etc have no signal • Guns are easy to find when looting?
Whenever a Zombie film comes out they are often very simple, same story lines, similar scenes of looting, grotesque violence, people getting bitten and changing into zombies etc etc etc aren’t we all bored of this? Apparently not, because they keep releasing them!
Is Resident Evil a typical Zombie film?
Although the concept is exactly the same, this film is above the other Zombie films, the directors and writers of these films generally put gore and violence in place of actual story and movie moments, however Resident Evil does have a story behind it. And although there is violence and gore it is not throughout, the film has genuine action and the gore is not over the top, making an unrealistic theme seem almost believable.
Believable?
The undead theme is cheesy and unbelievable in many people people’s views including mine, however Resident evil is set apart in this by not only a genuine story but also believable characters, the characters are intelligent and structured and although they have flaws, there are no dramatic character links which throw the viewer off of the point of the film. Although the concept of the world being taken over by the undead is not a likely one, Resident Evil shares with us, why this has happened, how it has happened and uses science to tell the story. The film is not over the top, the first film is set in the lab so the ‘zombie takeover’. The story is slightly futuristic and farfetched and uses a lot of technology which I think can be hard to get your head around, however the concept becomes more real once you can accept it and enjoy the film.
Action
The action in the first Resident Evil isn’t as full on as it could be, and the main action scenes are by the beautiful Milla Jovovich who discovers that she has spent most of adult life securing the Hive and can bust some seriously harsh moves. Jovovich is not as much a hero in the film as she is the film itself, and the action that she creates is not only brilliantly choreographed but it is also genuinely exciting to watch.
Level of Horror?
I find things scarier when I believe they could happen in real life. For me a film is a true horror if after I’ve watched it I dread going to the toilet. Unfortunately Resident Evil doesn’t offer the bum clenching moments to me like my favourite horrors. I can see how the gore and the suspense which the film creates can be scary however and therefore I can see how a different audience may find it a decent horror.
Acting
The acting in this film is good, because the story is structured I feel like the characters play their parts in the best way in which they can. The acting did leave the story open for me the first time I watched it, until the full plot of the story was revealed I was not aware of how the story would end and where each character would lead to. The only thing I feel to mention with regards to the acting is that in this particular film there is no romance, no deep sadness in the film and nothing in which I feel the actors can thoroughly exploit to make their acting even better. The actors, believe it or not, do not have a huge amount of lines to perform, everything said in the film is commanding, there is no small talk. I think this makes the film slightly harder to get into. It must be said that this particular film is the first of three Resident Evil and believe me the film is extended in everything in both of the further films.
Effects and Sound
The film offers nothing amazing with regards to special effects, 98% of the film is set underground in a research lab and therefore I do not think there is room for anything miraculous. The sets are very typical to how you would imagine a top secret science lab to be, locking doors, coded rooms, metal corridors and a maze of rooms. The sets do give a sense of feeling enclosed which of course is perfect to the film as it is set underground. The music for the film is perfect, there is not a great amount of music and when there is it is very twangy and rocky, which I think is perfectly suitable for the sci-fi film that it is.
DVD effects
I love watching the making of films which is (lucky for me) included in the DVD features. ‘The making of’ includes make up and set design and zombie tests which is all worth a watch and also includes a slipknot video which is the theme song to this film
Overall
Overall this film is definitely worth a watch if you haven’t seen it. I would say that it only appeals to age ranges from about 18 – 25 which is actually a small group. However if you’re in that group give it a watch. The film has no real flaws and the storyline sets it apart from all other similar films. Although I do have slightly conflicting opinions on this film, I definitely make it the best Zombie film out.
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Production Year: 2004 - Horror - Director: Alexander Witt - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Thomas Kretschmann, Jared Harris, Sandrine Holt, Milla Jovovich, Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr
Production Year: 2005 - Horror - Director: Wes Craven - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson, Shannon Elizabeth, Jesse Eisenberg, Portia De Rossi, Michael Rosenbaum
Given thatResident Evilis a Paul Anderson movie based on a computer game which was itself ... more
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 e...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
A secret experiment... a deadly virus... a fatal mistake. Based on the wildly popular ... more
video game series, Resident Evil is an action-packed thriller starring Milla Jovovich as Alice (The Fifth Element), Michelle Rodriguez, as Rain (The Fast And The Furi...
Given thatResident Evilis a Paul Anderson movie based on a computer game which was itself ... more
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 e...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
![Resident Evil [DVD] [2002]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/78524924.jpg "Resident Evil [DVD] [2002]")
Apr 5th, 2009
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