Reviews: Resident Evil (2002) Movie Review
Subgenres: Zombies, Apocalypse, Confined, Hunter, Virus
Our take on Resident Evil (2002) explores its plot, scares, and horror highlights to help fans decide if it deserves a place on their watchlist.
Resident Evil (2002) is a sci-fi horror action movie that is the first installment in the Resident Evil film series. The movie had a budget of $35 million and grossed over $102 million worldwide and borrowed elements for the film from the video games Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2. Resident Evil has six films released making it the highest grossing film series that is based on video games. The series went on to having several sequels, Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), and Resident Evil: Retribution (2012). Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2017) will be the final movie in the Resident Evil series. Director and writer Paul W.S. Anderson (Death Race (2008), AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004), Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)) excelled at executing this entertaining and engaging movie. The film contains s**ual content with nudity, violence, bad language, tension, thrills, very intense frightening scenes, suspense and a sitting on the edge of your seat experience.
Resident Evil follows Alice (Milla Jovovich - The Fifth Element (1997), Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004), Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010)) and a band of Umbrella Corporation commandos. Amnesiac heroine Alice and her team tries to contain the T-virus at an underground facility before there is an outbreak. The genetic research facility is a secret facility that is called Hive, lies underneath Raccoon City and is owned by the Umbrella Corporation. The T-virus contaminates the Hive after someone stole it which resulted in Red Queen who is an artificial intelligence to seal the facility and kill everyone contains in it. Alice soon after wakes in a mansion but cannot recall anything. After a lot of events, Alice and a few others heads to Hive and succeed in disabling the Red Queen, which resulted in the power failing and unlocking the doors. The group did not realize that they will have to face the zombified staff and mutated animals. Shortly after fighting off the zombies, Alice began regaining some of her memories that she unexpectedly used martial arts and quick reflexes to save her life. There is so much more sitting on the edge of your seat entertainment in this movie that I did not mention. The entire movie should be seen with your undivided attention because there are endless action scenes and details that rely on each other.
I have seen this movie several times since 2002 and still enjoy every bit of it although I know the outcome and what will happen throughout the film. The actors did a phenomenal job with their roles and reflexes and battles. The special effects and sets were excellent as well as the cinematography, sound, makeup and camera angles. I could not get enough of this movie and have seen all the movies in its series and love this one the most. The pace of the film could have been dim down a bit, but I must say, the pace of the movie was fast but thrilling at the same time. I gave this film a nine because it is not perfect but what movie is. The movie had a lot of goofs (over 10), plot holes, and a few other mistakes but it does not take away from how entertaining the movie is. SEE IT!
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Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- Resident Evil Rating Scores
- Our Score: 9/10
- Overall Score: 6.12/10
- IMDB: 6.6/10
- MetaCritic: 3.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 3.6/10
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