Resident Evil (2002)

Someone steals the T-virus that can mutate living tissue and animate dead tissue from The Hive a secret research facility owned and operated by the gigantic Umbrella Corporation.  On the way out the thief smashes a vial of the virus to infect the facility and cover his escape.  The Red Queen, a powerful super computer with an AI, kills all of the people working in The Hive and seals it off so that the virus cannot escape into the world.  The Umbrella Corporation then sends in a small paramilitary team to find out what happened.  Along the way they find Alice and Spence, who have amnesia due to The Hives outer defenses, and Matt, a cop, all of whom they take with them into the Hive.  Once inside they have to get past the Red Queen's defenses and end up knocking her offline for a short time, during which all of the doors of The Hive open, releasing the hoard of T-virus animated zombies that the Red Queen had been keeping trapped as well as several mutated lab animals.  Alice and company then have to try to survive the hungry hoards as they fight to escape the facility with their lives, discovering who was behind the treachery that started all the problems along the way.

There are many things that make this a great movie.  First, the acting is great and the characters that live long enough are shown to have quite a bit of personality.  The writing is superb for a movie based on a video game.  The special effects and fantastic and include both practical and CGI elements that blend well with one another.  It's fast paced and full of action, keeping you entertained through the whole movie.

This movie is one of my favorites.  It doesn't have the same flavor as most classic zombie flicks, but it's still very fun to watch.  It’s got a lot of great scenes and is one of the movies I can watch over and over again.

3 ½ out of 4

Reviewed by Scott Schwarzwalder

© Copyright 2009 John Shatzer