Tomb Raiders box office aside, computer game movies have had it tough. Double Dragon? Dross. Street Fighter? Dreck. Super Mario Bros.? Drossy dreck. Still, when Paul Anderson, a man equally adept at horror and videogames, signed on to direct Capcoms zombie-fest classic, Resident Evil, a slam-dunk seemed assured. Emphasis on seemed.
On the surface this is Resident Evil: The Game writ large, complete with a hoary race-against-time plot, puzzles that wouldnt tax the average two year-old, atrocious dialogue, Gameboy-level CG, creatures galore (hail the zombie dogs!) and extravagantly bad acting. Trouble is, its not a terribly good movie, with incoherent plotting and action scenes, and not one iota of the games spooky atmosphere (nor plot).
It also, predictably, suffers from the lack of interactivity. Theres nothing as frustrating as watching characters whove obviously never seen a zombie movie waste bullets by shooting the mothers in the chest, when you know to aim for the cranium.
If the zombies were up to scratch, much could be forgiven. However, a few feeble homages to George A. Romero aside, Anderson is clearly unwilling to follow in the gurus bloody footsteps, relying on suggestion, not schlock.
Not only is the result less gory than its progenitor, but the zombies here resemble something Tom Savini could knock up in a lunch break.
Its no surprise when Anderson resorts to desperate measures to snag the teenage boys who are Resident Evils lifeblood. Suffice it to say, this involves Jovovichs effective heroine, very little clothing, even less dignity, and a beaver shot gratuitous enough to make Sharon Stone blush. Now you dont see that in the games.
