Resident Evil (2002)
Just more proof that Hollywood can't make a good horror film anymore. The other Paul Anderson proves yet again that he's a pretty good visual stylist, and he also proves yet again that he'll never make a movie that's consistently good as opposed to occasionally inspired. It's very weirdly paced too; half the main characters are slaughtered (in an admittedly entertaining sequence) before the zombies even show up, and the last half-hour is essentially one long series of endings (if the one we have doesn't work, snip it off -- we've got twelve more!). And about that ending, anyway: Could it be that the film has been rendered so dispassionately because it's merely an excuse for Anderson and co. to make a sequel which will probably end up being the film they wanted to make in the first place? Way too tame on the gore meter as well, especially for a zombie flick, and it doesn't help that one critical sequence is lifted wholesale from Dawn of the Dead, which only reminded me that this woulda been WAY cooler if George Romero was at the helm. On the plus side, Milla Jovovich once again makes for a surprisingly effective action heroine. I can't bring myself to totally hate a movie that has Jovovich in a skimpy red dress kickboxing a zombie Doberman to death... but I can damn well dislike it a lot.
Grade: C
Just more proof that Hollywood can't make a good horror film anymore. The other Paul Anderson proves yet again that he's a pretty good visual stylist, and he also proves yet again that he'll never make a movie that's consistently good as opposed to occasionally inspired. It's very weirdly paced too; half the main characters are slaughtered (in an admittedly entertaining sequence) before the zombies even show up, and the last half-hour is essentially one long series of endings (if the one we have doesn't work, snip it off -- we've got twelve more!). And about that ending, anyway: Could it be that the film has been rendered so dispassionately because it's merely an excuse for Anderson and co. to make a sequel which will probably end up being the film they wanted to make in the first place? Way too tame on the gore meter as well, especially for a zombie flick, and it doesn't help that one critical sequence is lifted wholesale from Dawn of the Dead, which only reminded me that this woulda been WAY cooler if George Romero was at the helm. On the plus side, Milla Jovovich once again makes for a surprisingly effective action heroine. I can't bring myself to totally hate a movie that has Jovovich in a skimpy red dress kickboxing a zombie Doberman to death... but I can damn well dislike it a lot.
Grade: C
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