Resident Evil.

March 19, 2002

Resident Evil. Last night I went to see Resident Evil and I have mixed feelings. It was entertaining, but the some stylistic choices were a bit off.

I have two major complaints and the first is the music. They worked too hard trying to create some great techno beats. I think the musicians were pulling a 2.0 GPA from the Dust Brother School of Electronica. The music rarely fit the scene very well. Also, it was used gratuitously. They only time there was any silence (well, ambient noise since there was zero silence in this film) was in the few seconds before something jumped out or a hand moved, which brings me to my next point.

The game is constantly surprising you with new things jumping out and scaring you throughout the game, which is expected. The movie does the same, which is not ok. To pack the same number of surprises in 2 hours of viewing vs. 10-20 hours of gameplay is, once again, gratuitous. When you overload on surprises you get the audience looking for the next big shocker and after the first couple it is no longer scary.

My other complaints aren't specific to this movie but to the suspense genre in general, so I'll spare you.

I did think this was one of the better translations of a videogame, if not the best. Mortal Kombat may have been popular, but it was not any good. Tomb Raider was a waste, and Final Fantasy was cool looking but supposedly boring. It's only a matter of time before videogames take the place of movies in the eye of popular culture, which is something I would love. Games are more communal and then the film industry wouldn't be as concerned with a bottom line. I digress though, because this is an entry unto itself.

My final point is related to something John Waters said. In this interview he said that hollywood movies would show explicit sex within 10 years. Well, in Resident Evil we get a money shot of a shaved Milla Jovovich. It's not direct, but it's obvious and (dun, duh dun!) gratuitous. If I were a betting man I'd put my money on John Waters' statement.

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