Film Reviews

Resident Evil

• Rating:
• Director: Paul Anderson.
• Starring: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius, James Purefoy, Martin Crewes, Colin Salmon.
• Details: US / 100 mins / (15PG).

Based on the hugely popular video game of the same name, Resident Evil is technological-driven action thriller about a killer virus, created by the Umbrella Corporation, which threatens to wipe out mankind and turn all human life into walking zombies. Out to halt this outbreak is Alice (Jovovich) and her team of battle-hardened commandos. Although it opens quite promisingly - the early scenes are amongst the best in the whole film - Resident Evil quickly descends into the traditional guns 'n' gore slasher fare. Unlike say Blade 2 or Dog Soldiers, self effacing humour is not at a premium here - everyone is too busy screaming to be heard over the pumping technoandfrasl;rock soundtrack, and the movie appears to be little more than a cut price version of Aliens. Give it a miss, unless you really like this sort of thing, as Resident Evil takes itself far too seriously to be really effective.

Review by Garreth Murphy