So, way back in 2002, the first Resident Evil movie hit theaters, starring Mila Jovovich as Alice, the protagonist fighting a zombie plague and the evil Umbrella Corporation that is responsible for unleashing it on humanity. The series included 6 films, from 2002 through 2016. The movies have always been panned by critics, but have made a pretty hefty $1.2 billion worldwide.
However, in 2021, we have a new installment that reboots the series in a way that is supposed to be much more in line with the video game series which was the basis for the movie franchise. So, let’s take a look at the new Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City and see what we think.
What’s it About?
The new Resident Evil film shows us the town of Raccoon City, which has been largely owned and operated by the Umbrella Corporation, a massive global pharmaceutical company. But, as the movie opens, Umbrella has pulled up stakes from the town and moved their company elsewhere, leaving only the poorest inhabitants behind, along with a few police officers. Why have they left town? Cheaper labor overseas? Let’s say it seems like the reason is more based on a viral outbreak that is only just impacting the town.
In a flashback, we meet Claire and Chris Redfield, two young siblings living in an orphanage in Raccoon City. The orphanage is about as creepy as you might expect, and Claire clearly had some experiences there that led her to run away, leaving her older brother Chris behind. But, Claire is now headed back to Raccoon city, because she believes she can finally get evidence of some of the horrible experiments that Umbrella is conducting there.
The Redfields
Claire has learned to handle herself in the years since fleeing Raccoon City, although we don’t discover exactly how. Chris has joined the Raccoon City Police Department, after being raised by the doctor in charge of the orphanage. When Claire arrives, filled with more conspiracy theories and a video tape of a resident making lots of claims about Umbrella (yes a video tape, as the story is set in 1998), Chris really just wants to send her packing. But, there is suddenly an alarm blaring in the city and he heads off to the police station, telling her to lock his door when she leaves town.
Zombies!
The zombie virus is just emerging as Claire arrives in town. We get our first glimpse when the truck she has hitched a ride on hits a pedestrian who despite obviously being critically injured, gets up and walks away. Later Chris’ neighbor breaks into his house to attack Claire and the zombie apocalypse is on!
Meanwhile, back at the police station, Chris and his fellow officers are sent off to the mansion of the founder of the Umbrella Corporation, to locate 2 missing officers who were sent up there to investigate a disturbance. The remaining rookie patrol officer and the chief are all that’s left.
When the semi-truck that brought Claire to down crashes in front of the station and a clearly zombie-infected driver walks into the station on fire, the chief knows the game is up and looks to get out of town. But, Umbrella has all the exits locked down as they plan to destroy the entire town and he is forced back to the station. Claire shows up at the station and she joins the rookie and Chief as they escape to Claire’s old orphanage, which has a tunnel that will lead them to the Umbrella facility and hopefully a way out of town.
The Mansion
We learn that one officer in Chris’ unit is secretly working for a rival company to Umbrella, and he is set on finding information in their installation about their research, which he can sell to the other company. The Zombie hordes have apparently just been waiting in the mansion to break loose, which they do once Chris and his crew arrive. They discover both their missing officers dead and a lot of infected ready to take them down as well.
There is mayhem, violence, and lots of zombies getting shot in the head before Claire and the rookie meet up with Chris and one surviving officer (Jill). They also face off against the doctor who ran the orphanage and was also Umbrella’s chief researcher. He was shot by the officer who planned to betray them but managed to inject himself with the virus, with predictably horrifying results.
They learn that there is a way out on an underground train and the four of them (along with the daughter of Umbrella’s chief researcher and the head of the orphanage) manage to find the train and try to get the heck out of Dodge before the town is destroyed or they are overrun with zombies.
We get one last showdown with the terrifyingly mutated doctor and then the crew makes it out alive, just before the entire city falls into a crater.
Watch it or Not?
OK, so this movie isn’t going to win any awards or garner rave reviews from critics. It’s not a ‘good’ movie in that sense. But, I found it kind of fun. As video game adaptations go, it wasn’t bad. It has some fun scares and plenty of zombie action. So, if you were a fan of the original Resident Evil games or just like scary zombie movies, it might be worth a shot.
