Paul W.S. Anderson’s Resident Evil movies were successful. No matter how many or how much people hate them, the six films grossed $1.2 billion in total. Given this success, it was only natural that Capcom and its partners would reboot the film series. The resulting movie is Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which comes as the franchise celebrates its 25th anniversary.
Writer-director Johannes Roberts attempts to create an experience more faithful to the games. Whereas the previous films put the game characters in supporting roles, the new one puts them front and center. Welcome to Raccoon City also stays truer to its horror roots and the games’ overarching narrative. The movie adapts the first two games in the series, Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2.
Notice that I said “attempts” in the previous paragraph. While the film does tell portions of the aforementioned games, it abandons elements that made those stories entertaining. There are major characters missing in Welcome to Raccoon City, including Barry Burton, Rebecca Chambers, and Mr. X. The absence of Barry is particularly jarring, considering how beloved he is.
As far as the characters that are in the movie go, some fare better than others. Claire Redfield (Kaya Scodelario) serves as the protagonist. Her motivations for returning to Raccoon City are different, but she’s roughly how she is in the game. The big omission is her big sister relationship with Sherry Birkin (Holly De Barros), who has very little screen time. Chris Redfield (Robbie Amell) and Jill Valentine (Hannah John-Kamen) are mostly around to kill zombies, despite being the leads of the original game. Albert Wesker (Tom Hopper) is heavily downplayed so William Birkin (Neal McDonough) can serve as the main antagonist, though neither is present enough to make a lasting impression.
The portrayal of Leon S. Kennedy (Avan Jogia) as bumbling is bound to ruffle some feathers. His arc is clear from the get-go, as experienced members of the R.P.D. pick on the rookie—particularly Chief Irons (Donal Logue). Ironically, in Resident Evil 2, the other cops planned on throwing him a welcome party. Leon’s beard and long hair diverge from his traditional clean-cut look, but his hair is hardly the linchpin of his character, the same going for Claire’s ponytail.
Some efforts to capture the atmosphere of the games work. The movie’s Raccoon City is an oppressive environment that you wouldn’t want to live in. It takes place completely at night, save for the very end, and there’s a downpour of rain to start the narrative. Shots of the S.T.A.R.S. team navigating the forest by flashlight are similarly effective. But the mansion they find doesn’t feel as grand as it should, and it only has one puzzle to solve. Originally, I was more forgiving after watching the film’s trailer because I thought it was coming to Netflix in series form. The recreation of the 1996 game’s iconic first zombie belongs in a fan film.
The movie also focuses too much on zombies when the franchise is known for such a wide array of enemies. The giant snake and great white shark are only mentioned as jokes, and only one Licker appears. Also absent are the reptilian Hunters, giant spiders, and plant creatures. The design of the final monster is particularly disappointing, given how outlandish its video game counterpart is. All of this can be chalked up to budget restrictions.
It would have been nice to see an emphasis on conservation of ammo like in the games. The movie also lacks a good chase scene, and characters get saved at the last second numerous times; one of the scary things about the games was most of the time you were on your own. There is a memorable scene where Chris takes out a bunch of zombies in the dark, though it’s hard to believe he could do it without seeing.
Johannes Roberts obviously has an appreciation for the material. He even manages to incorporate the line “Jill sandwich” in a goofy yet non-embarrassing way. Unfortunately, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City isn’t faithful enough to please fans and not exciting enough to win over newcomers.
