Resident Evil Movie Review

“Resident Evil” is a new look at an existing slog of video games and movies. But it takes the known lore and uses it as a jumping off point. When a slacker ‘organ delivery’ guy gets overwhelmed with the breakout of ‘Infected’ monsters at Raccoon City, you know he is in for a hard night. He shoulda got a job delivering pizzas, right?

 

Bryan (played by Austin Abrams) is a discount version of a medical ‘organ delivery’ service. He is mostly hapless, hopeless and helpless. He stumbles and bumbles from one location with a medical bag of precious cargo. He has a girlfriend who needs him to step up and be there for her. But a new delivery has just come up.

 

If Bryan has snow tires and chains, he can delivery an extremely important item to Raccoon City General Hospital. Of course, his car can barely make it up a steep hill, but he lies and tells the nurse he will deliver it promptly. After all, this is so important that he can earn double the rate.

 

The mountains and blizzards are whipping his car into frenzy. He is losing cell coverage while talking to his girlfriend. He does not notice the odd woman crossing the road, at night, in a white-out snow storm. This out-of-place lady (played by Andrea Miltnerova) has a run-in with Bryan’s car. Mostly, he runs her over…

 

Suffering with guilt, he gets the bloody woman into his car. She is a zombie-like trance, but then wants to touch Bryan’s face. He loses control of the car a little bit. There is Sherriff patrol that comes up behind and stops him. The Office (played by Johnno Wilson) sees that Bryan needs some help with the lady.

 

The lady and Sherriff ride off to Raccoon City, so she can get to the hospital. There is an accident with the patrol car. The Officer is dead, and the lady is chasing Bryan around. Bryan grabs a gun, but he does not have much of an idea how to shoot it properly. He stops the murderous lady dead in her tracks, and spots a farmhouse and barn.

 

In the barn, Bryan gets confronted by a dog. But this turns out to be an ‘Infected’ variety. In the farmhouse, there are other deadly ‘Infected’ people. He grabs a shotgun and finds some shells. The lady that he ran over, and that he shot dead, well — she is now back. At least there is a full-sized truck that the farmer has. Bryan can get out of here.

 

Armed with the pistol and with the shotgun, Bryan is stopped by a locked gate. These locks out in the boonies must be extra-strength. He is not even able to shoot the lock open. Plus that won’t be the last time, either. Bryan has all of gun supplies, and his ‘organ delivery’ package. So, it must be a short walk over to Raccoon City, right?

 

But first he needs to go through the big, dark scary tunnel. If there is anything that Bryan is getting better at, it is screaming like a girl. In the darkness, there are all sorts of abandoned vehicles. The big thing that stopped the traffic is a huge RV. Inside the RV is new terrifying monster. Or is that just a little girl?

 

Bryan is able to get away and get out of the tunnel. There is some creepy ‘Thing’ over on the side in the forest. It does not look human, or even like an animal. But a car pulls up. It is a private security patrol from Raccoon City. It is not the police, but instead it is a group called the ‘Umbrella Corporation’.

 

The driver is hard-edge sharpshooter named Maxine (played by Kali Reis). The buttoned-down suit guy is Carl (played by Paul Walter Hauser). They both work for Umbrella, and they will take Bryan to the Raccoon City General Hospital. Nothing speeds along the ride like a little exposition. Paul explains what Umbrella Corporation was supposed to be doing, and how it got messed up.

 

Once in the City, Maxine tries to find a route that is not so ‘Infected’. There is the Hospital up ahead. But getting there is going to be tricky. Carl wants to take a different route, but Maxine gets out and says she will handle it. She uses all of her sharpshooter skills to put down all the ‘Infected’ blocking the way. But she never comes back.

 

Bryan sees that the car keys are gone, Maxine took them with her. But there is really big semi-automatic weapon in the back. Carl tells him to get it ready and get out there to find Maxine. Bryan scoffs and says he only knows about using these weapons from video games. But he gets out and goes on a quest.

 

Soon Carl and the car are overrun by a huge monster. Bryan takes his huge gun and finds a way to the hospital. Still there are many ‘Infected’ that are attempting to get Bryan. Soon, running down a cold winter street Bryan is dodging all sorts of ‘Infected’ raining down from the rooftops — like water balloons filled with disease.

 

The ‘Umbrella Corporation’ has a super special lab on the top floor of the Hospital. Bryan makes it into parking garage. He leaves a sweet voice mail for his girlfriend. But he is not prepared for the crazy quest that he needs to do to get to the top floor.

 

Bryan takes the stairs, and against the advice of a voice on the intercom, he also tries out the elevator. But what if there are ‘Infected’ monsters on the elevator? Will Bryan get the shaft? Bryan finds out the hard way that a little bit of stair climbing would be good — and not only for the cardio workout!

 

Bryan gets up to the top floor. He noticed earlier that the little monster girl in the RV had bitten him. Now he is showing signs of getting ‘Infected’. The scientists on the top floor are creating an antidote to something that is called the ‘t-virus’. Who created that virus? The ‘Umbrella Corporation’, of course!

 

The Lead Scientist (played by Zach Cherry) is glad that Bryan finally got the final part they needed to create the antidote. They are not pleased, however, that Bryan also appears to be getting ‘Infected’. Will it be a final showdown on the top floor of the Hospital? Will the t-virus get more out-of-control and take down the whole operation?

 

—————————————————————————————————————————————————-

 

“Resident Evil” is a very loose adaptation of the video games and prior movies. But that is the shining point that makes it so much brighter. It takes place in a dark and dangerous time during the initial outbreak. But it spins a wildly creative story off the vibe.

 

Zach Cregger looks upon all existing “Resident Evil” lore not as the locked-in requirement he must follow. It is a jumping-off point into the creepy world of the ‘t-virus’ monsters and the people who created them. He does it all with weird sense of despair and humor. You can be quaking in your boots, only to be rolling in the aisle in the next scene.

 

Austin Abrams, as Bryan, does a terrific job as he gets a major cardio workout. The disheveled delivery guy is in way over his head. He is beset by terrors and monsters that above his pay grade. He finds that using a gun in real life is a bit harder than in a video game. But when all else fails — he is always ready to scream like a girl.

 

The creature affects are extremely unsettling, and the amount of fake blood must have come in 50 gallon drums. For anyone who is squeamish, there are more than a few scenes that will test your gag reflex control. But then it will immediately turn into a gross but funny gag.

 

There a little hints of scenes or ideas from other movies. There is an overturned car and a body in the snow (“Fargo”). There is an ‘Infected’ creatures chase in a tunnel (“28 Days Later”). There a guy fighting with a gun, shoeless in a high rise (“Die Hard”). There is a diabolical and disgusting fleshy meld of men and creatures (“The Thing”). Perhaps, even a scene with bodies falling from buildings (“The Happening”).

 

Cregger is not stealing anything from these other movies, but uses all of these images to make a truly frightful (but amazingly funny) movie. It based on the original ideas of a highly-mutating virus, based on the video game and first movies. But what he is able to create here is an organic blend of horror, terror and humor. This is something that might not come around again too soon.

 

“Resident Evil” will get your heart pumping with some tense scenes, but it is just as likely get you to scream and laugh out loud. It is a deadly duo of fear and humor.