The movie actually takes place one month prior to the Playstation Game Resident Evil and ends at some point within Resident Evil 2 and 3. How? I will explain later in the review. The only think I disliked about the movie was the mansion set used in the movie itself. It looked nothing like the Mansion used in PSOne Resident Evil. The interior of the mansion followed the style of PSOne Resident Evil, but many hardcore gamers will immediately point out that the Mansion is completely different on the outside. Every thing else follows close the game format and can possibly be tied into the game.

Many people will immediately identify Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriquez in the movie. Other actors are no names, but one actor named Eric Mabius is one to keep a eye on. The movie is centered around a huge underground laboratory under Raccoon City called the Hive which is owned and operated by the Umbrella Corporation. A virus is unleashed by a insider within the Hive and you know what comes next...Zombies Galore! If you remember the games, Umbrella is known for one thing, cover ups and they attempt to cover up this mess by completely sealing the Hive off with everyone trapped inside. A special ops team is dispatched to clean up the mess by making sure if this leaks to the public, Umbrella will not be blamed. Milla is dragged into the mess not knowing that she also works for Umbrella. When the team fails to accomplish thier mission, their new mission is to get out of the Hive ALIVE! Get ready for some excellent nail biting suspense and action as they attempt to get out of the Hive.

It has been announced that a Resident Evil 2 is in the works already and will star Milla Jovovich and Eric Mabius who will play the "Nemesis". Resident Evil ends somewhere within PS1 Resident Evil 2 and 3. You have to remember that in the PS1 Resident 3, PS1 Resident Evil 2 took place when Jill Valentine was injurned and poisened by the Nemesis. Two other characters from the game will be showing up in Resident Evil 2. Gina Phillips will be cast as Claire Redfield and Natasha Henstridge will be cast as Jill Valentine. This is going to be interesting to see them together on the screen when they never really met in the Playstation Game Series Resident Evil. We know that Claire was in Raccoon City looking for her brother Chris and Jill Valentine was attempting to get out of Raccoon City Alive. I sure can't wait to see how Paul Anderson will bring this movie together in Resident Evil 2. If you are a fan of Resident Evil, I know you can't wait too!


Top notch horror   March 16, 2002
 22 out of 30 found this review helpful

I am an avid player of the Resident Evil games. I went into the theatre with low expectations, expecting yet another horrible video game-to movie translation. The moment the film starts though, you can tell it is nothing like the anything that has come before it.

Plot:
It takes less than a minute for all heck to break loose as the virus is released upon "The hive"(an underground facility where the film takes place). The poor workers are trapped and we witness an intense and very sad series of scenes. Cut to above the complex where we meet out star, a beautiful young woman who can't remember who or where she is. In come the S.T.A.R.S members(the good guys) to save the day. They are here to see what went wrong at the Hive. All of this happens in only minutes...just hinting at how fast-paced this film is going to be. We meet many people, majority very likeable as they go deep into the Hive. The beauty of the film really comes out here. The film started so quickly and left so many things un-explained that we feel exactly like the lead. Everything is a mystery and every second of the film is part of the mystery unfolding.

What I think:
Now I won't give anymore away....the film does any amazing job of setting everything up, and slowly building up until the really scary stuff starts. Some of the acting at the start is a little off, but later the acting is great. You really start to care about the people, and when people die the way the characters react really gets to you. To top it off, this film has some of the best writing I've seen in a long time. I'm a writer so I'm usually very picky, but I was very happy with this films ability to surprise the audience. I see every horror movie, so I can always say what will happen next. In Resident Evil though, I had no idea what would happen. From opening scene to the completly amazing ending, I was susprirsed. There is even one specific scene that is so surprising, even after it happens you are still in dis-belief. By the time the film was over, everyone in our audience looked exhausted. I know I was. And if that still isn't enough, the movie fits perfectly in with the video games. Must you play the games to understand? No. People I saw it with have never played the games, but they still understood everything. However, if you have played the games, you will definitly appreciate the movie even more, if that's possible.


Flesh-eating ghouls --   July 23, 2005
 19 out of 26 found this review helpful

-- One more time.

It's pretty good of its kind. You know, the UnDead walk the earth (stumble, mostly), driven only by the urge to chomp on anyone not yet of their kind. Genus: scary monster movie, Species: undead zombie, Distinguishing features: Milla Jovovich.

'Resident Evil' does a pretty fair job. This time, the cause is is a virus cooked up in secret labs by The Evil Corporation, tapping into more modern kinds of fears and kinds of bad guys. (Give the movie a little time, and your idea of who's bad might change.) The action is strong, continuous, and well paced, with one more surprise in every scene, right up to the end. That ending, of course, sets up the inevitable sequel.

Since they followed the recipe for a good monster/action flick, not a lot could go wrong. Milla's babe appeal spiced up the mix in a few places, especially near the end, but could have been used more. The movie dishes out big servings of action, served with a side of gore. In the end, though, the result lacks flavor. I enjoyed watching it, but it never really rises above its genre.

//wiredweird


Great action, drop-dead gorgeous lead actress...   March 18, 2002
 16 out of 17 found this review helpful

This movie is based on a video game that I have never played, so I can't comment on how the movie's plot follows the game. When the movie starts, there is a really cool aspect to it. A naked woman has just regained consciousness in her shower and can't remember anything. The next few minutes are packed with action, and a team of military personnel take them to the Hive (an underground research lab). Slowly each of them get filled in on the details of the mission. What that mission is, you'll have to watch the movie (or e-mail me) for.

The movie goes along great. The plot starts to materialize and things seem all right when all of a sudden the movie got derailed. Right about the point where the first living dead is discovered is when the film started to take a downturn. From then on it starts to resemble one of John Carpenter's films (particularly Ghosts of Mars. They even have the requisite train scene at the end. If you haven't seen this. Don't.) I was disappointed by this.

What I can say is that the lead actress Milla Jovovich gave it a good performance (as far as action flicks go), on top of being HOT. Sure, being the femme fetale and kicking butt is cliche nowadays. But you should see her in action.

LEAP rating (each out of 5):
L (Language) - 3 (no unnecessary cursing)
E (Erotica) - 3 (2 scenes with close to full body nudity, but tastefully done)
A (Action) - 4 (living dead dogs were scarier than the living dead people, but their asses still needed to be kicked)
P (Plot) - 3 (plot elements were well explained, no big surprises)