A film that has been the victim of a poor release window and zombie fatigue when clearly it is the superior film out of the entire Resident Evil franchise.
This has gone under my radar for sometime until it surfaced again, and I was almost persuaded off from watching it due to the bad reviews. I watched it anyway and I am glad I did!
The majority of the RE films are an action-filled special effects bonanza of bad dialogue, cringe moments and often than not, lacking any horror. They have their appeal for some fans, but for the most part, you know what you are getting.
With this film? I had expected much the same, and oh boy was I wrong. This is a far more grounded film filled with 90's nostalgia and a love-letter for the first two games from the franchise. Had this been the very first Resident Evil film to don our screens in 2002, well; I think the reception would be much kinder.
From the sound design, special effects to the acting (which was mostly good), this has easily become my favourite film of the entire franchise, which lets be honest, is mostly filled with crap. Yet in no way was this even remotely resembling the quality of the other films.
What really sold it for me was the cinematography. As a student of film, I can appreciate every shot undertaken in this film, which was beautifully shot and rendered in superb lighting. I noticed many shots were taken/inspired from the first two games. From how the camera moved, to the angle to the placement of the actors, recreated with the nostalgia of that era onto film.
The whole film had that 'vibe' to it that kept me intrigued. The story was nothing amazing, after all, it's Resident Evil, what do you expect? But it was a far superior narrative to what we were fed before from this franchise; this could easily have (and should) be a reboot of the franchise, but we certainly won't get that, or probably need it.
RE:WtRC is a victim of release fatigue from a franchise that spawned far too many rubbish films. This is a seriously under appreciated film that for the most part, can really only be enjoyed in full by the fans of the first two games, which makes a lot of sense to me considering that the first two were my favourite, while the later less-horror filled outings became more action orientated and lacked the clever design of the first two.
What surprised me most about RE:WtRC was the amount of horror scenes in it that actually gave some pretty good jump scares. It really did feel like true classic Resident Evil horror.
I'm glad I gave this one a watch; it's a niche film and films like this will always have more detractors than fans, but if you are like me and appreciate a well-shot film with good pacing, and are a fan of the earlier RE games, (as well as being a 90's kid), then you will hopefully appreciate this film for what it is.
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