Resident Evil 2002 Film Review

Hey, this is Steve Blum and you are listening

to the GeekCast Radio Network. Hello and welcome

to another episode of The Cinema Geeks. I am

one of your Cinema Geeks Optimus Solo and joining

me for today's record is Lady's First Hard Candy

Mini. What up? Not too much. Movie revolt. Dan,

how's it going? Good, good. How's it going? Not

too bad over here. And, Frizzlycent, how are

you, Matt? I make a joke now about how I'm least

lady because I'm last. I think I did that last

record. I don't know. I don't remember that one.

I do. New material. Alright, so we are back at

it and today we're going to be going back into

the world of our video game film series. So we've

been covering all of the live action feature

films based on video games and we are making

our way again into the early 2000s with Resident

Evil today. It's the 2002 film directed by Paul

W .S. Anderson. Starring Mila Jovovich Michelle

Rodriguez and a few other guys that I don't know

Recognize the names from but I'm sure somebody

could tell me what shows they're in and of course

Resident Evil is based off of the game of the

same name and how we usually like to start these

Records as by getting everybody's history with

the actual video games of these films are based

off of Like I said last time, from here on out,

most of the time I'm not going to know anything

about the video game. So I'm really relying on

at least hopefully one or two of you guys to

fill me in. But let's start with Matt this time.

Matt, what is your history with the Resident

Evil video game series? Oh, man. Just playing

it or everything. Anything about Resident Evil

before you watched this movie for this record?

So my first experience with Resident Evil, I

believe, was Resident Evil 2 on the PS1. So I

was absolutely against horror movies. I don't

like horror as a genre on anything movies. I

mean, I'm not against it. I don't think it should

be taken out of the pop culture. You guys go

ahead and enjoy what you want. I'm not interested.

But I had a friend. Yeah. I had a friend. who

loved it. And he's probably why I don't like

it, because he was like watching horror movies

when we were like six, and I was like, you need

to see this Freddy Krueger. And that's not a

good age to be watching those. My uncle made

me watch The Leprechaun when I was six. Maybe

that's why I'm a little fucked up. You know,

you and I took two different paths doing the

same things at the same ages. And so I remember

going to his house and he rented Resident Evil

2. If I remember correctly Resident Evil 2, it

might have been one. But I remember the options

being that the game was on two discs and one

you played the male character and the other one

you played the female character and it was a

slightly different story depending on which one

you chose. And I remember that being a thing

because I remember him being like, let's play

the guy and I'm like, let's play the girl. And

I don't know if I think one disc didn't work.

Like maybe we tried the guy like an hour and

it froze and we had to switch the girl. Something

like that. I remember that being disappointment.

between one of us so that's my earliest memory

and then uh like christmas a couple years later

i went to buy it whatever one was on the n64

which was probably two but not called two because

it was the first resident evil to ever be on

the nintendo system because they did weird things

with the nintendo 64 and the numbering and everything

um and i bought it for christmas and my dad got

upset he's like video game shouldn't cost 50

dollars and he made me return it um that was

a thing and then zoom forward to I don't know

like 10 years ago I played Resident Evil 4 for

the Gamecube and it's amazing like that game

is great that said I only played it um I want

to say couch co -op but it wasn't co -op it was

just I played it and six other dudes around me

told me what to do and yelled and screamed. It

was great. It's a great party game in that respect.

And then Resident Evil 5, which I'm told is the

worst Resident Evil or the least Resident Evilly,

because it's more of an action game, less of

a scary game, I have with my best friend played

that all the way through at least once, maybe

two or three times. Nice so a lot of experience

with the Resident Evil games Amanda I know you

have experience with the Resident Evil film which

we'll get to in a little bit But did you actually

play the games when you were growing up? No,

I was a watcher in this and My cousins had it

for the 64. I'm pretty sure because it was they

also were playing like gold nine stuff at the

same time and I Remember like, you know, like

scenes of it and like the feel of it with the

creatures, and I think they were like, just Raccoon

City, it wasn't like they were in the same kind

of setup as the movie was. But it freaked me

the fuck out, so. I was just content with watching

and cowering in the bunk beds while the boys

went at it. That's actually my experience too.

I'd had one friend that was into these games

and it seemed like every time I would go over

to his house that's what he would be playing

when I got there. So then I would be forced to

kind of like watch for 20 -30 minutes until he

got to a stopping point or a save point before

we would do something I'd be interested in. But

all I could tell is that he was just running

around and it just seemed like he was killing...

zombies or these freaky creatures like like they

were never ended like you were just killing no

you could like run out of ammo on stuff like

you could be fucked but I mean they never stop

coming it's like one of those games where they

continuously reproduce and reproduce so if you

stand in the same spot they're never gonna not

come at you or something like that is from what

I remember so I just it wasn't my type of game

so I kind of watched from a distance and then

waited for us to do something else Dan did you

ever play any of the Resident Evil games? I have

a limited experience with the games. Growing

up, my friend's older brother had them for the

PlayStation 1, and I would occasionally play

them. But I was way too impatient. I just wanted

to demo down the zombies, and I would die instantly.

And then I had Dreamcast, and I think it was

Code Veronica. And I don't remember much of it

except for the opening sequence, which was this

five -minute... Six minute long cutscene with

this crazy like action sequence involving a helicopter

shooting out a building which I think actually

that end up happening in the second movie but

But yeah, so I had a very liminal experience.

I just weren't games that I was very good at

because I just didn't have the Attitude to do

them. I was just like no, I just want to shoot

things and you can't do that with Resident Evil

Alright, so what we normally like to do here

at the beginning of our review here is kind of

Review the film based on if it's a good representation

of the video game itself or not and Matt It sounds

like you have the most experience actually playing

this set of games. So let's start with you on

this as well How well do you think the 2002 Resident

Evil feature film? actually Depicted or represented

the games that you remember so totally i think

they're like pretty spot on like like it's kind

of got a mixture of of horror and like like you

know and action like it's not just a straight

hey we're running in terror for our lives and

it's not just a straight action shooter movie

they like it blended that so totally spot on

um i do know even from my little knowledge they

have changed a number of things um like small

things here and there but i think the biggest

difference is the main character like so there've

been what six numbered resident evils and then

probably that many or more not numbered right

like because you got resident evil one through

six and then you got your code veronica as your

your like project nemesis or whatever um and

among all of those i don't think the characters

from the movie or the main character of the movie

is in any of the games No, I think I read somewhere

that they they did not use any characters from

the games as far as their names or their like

likenesses I like I feel like there might be

one or two characters that are like their number

of characters hinted at from the games, but none

of them Are directly pulled so like there's that

but like Raccoon City is a major set point for

a number of the games and Obviously Umbrella

Corp seems like the same Umbrella Corp, same

evil organization that runs like half of the

world between the games. So I think as far as

being a representation of the game, it's not

a direct taking of the game into a movie, but

it's probably one of the closest just general

representation of something in the movie universe

or the game universe. Yeah, and from what research

I was able to do, and what sites I could read

up on a little bit, seems like that was an intentional

decision by Paul W .S. Anderson. To give a little

bit of background of the movie, I guess, first,

there was two different scripts and two different

plans for this movie. The first one was penned

by George A. Romero, who did Night of the Living

Dead, I believe, back in the 60s. And apparently

his was much more game -based. Like it had the

characters, like I believe one of the characters'

names is Jill Valentine, which people that play

the game would recognize that. And I believe

it had even more than that. I think it had like

half a dozen of the characters from the games

in there, and it was very much supposed to be

a movie version of the game. And I guess that...

did not get greeted with a positive response

from the powers that be. So that's why we had

eventually, you know, years later where Paul

W. S. Anderson takes over and basically a statement

from him that he did not want to include any

tie ins with the video game series. Yeah, why

would you want to do that? His quote is underperforming

movie tie ins are too common and Resident Evil

of all games deserved a good celluloid representation.

That doesn't make sense, right? I read that statement

like four times trying to figure out what that

meant. It's like, I wanted to have a good video

game movie so I decided not to include any video

games in my video game movie. Yeah, it seems

like he's trying to go as far away from including

actual tie -ins to the video game, but then somehow

still make a movie that has the feel and the

look of the said video game. But it does strike

me as weird with a video game series like that

that does have specific named characters that

you play either in one game or in multiple games.

Why you wouldn't include one of those as your

main star seems a bit odd to me, but... You said

it does, as far as the tone and the atmosphere

for you, depict the game in an accurate manner.

Dan or Amanda, what do you guys think of? the

depiction of the movie as far as what you remember

from watching the video game. I feel like it

does have a definite video game feel, especially

like the opening scene. I think that it really

sets the stage for like umbrella and like the

corporation that you're going to be dealing with

and, you know, kind of sets up the tone. And

I think that's definitely something, you know,

straight out of a video game. That's that's something

that you would see in a video game. You're getting

your plot, you're getting your story and your

set up so you can gear up and, you know. get

into it you know what i mean so i think that

the feel of it definitely had a video game type

feel and i think this definitely was heavy on

like the jump scares and like the thriller and

like the gore and stuff which definitely is a

big part of the video game too and for him saying

that they're that he didn't necessarily want

any movie tie -ins there it's You can't mistake

that there is actual movie tie -ins there, like

we talked about with names of the places like

Raccoon City. There's different objects or artifacts

throughout the film that do pay homage to one

game or the other, so the tie -ins are there

if you're looking for them and if you're a big

fan of the video game series. Dan, what do you

think as far as what you remember from the game?

As you watched the film, did it feel like it

was taking you back to the time when you were

playing and watching the game, or was it something

completely different? I guess I always felt when

I was playing or watching people play the game

it felt more like scarier like it is, you know,

I I never maybe because I was younger but and

I'm watching this now I never felt never felt

like, you know scary at all never really got

that atmosphere it in a way felt more like it

fell on the action side rather than the horror

side Yeah, there were like attempts to be you

know to have those horror elements and it was

there, but I guess the blending of it, it felt

like it fell more on the end of an action film

for me here. And just because I just remember

playing the game and being like paranoid that

maybe just the experience of being in control

of not knowing what's going on in the corner.

But I thought the overall peripheral things like

they're mentioning like the umbrella corporation

to. Like those things do seem to be more in line

and especially when like watching this and knowing

the movies that come after It's far more in line

with the actual games and like the sequels which

go way way way on their own And don't kind of

they become nothing like the the actual video

game. So Compared to those it's much better.

But overall just it didn't really have the same

feeling for me Okay. Anybody else as far as comments

on its representation of the game or things that

you noticed within the movie that you remembered

from the game or things that struck you as odd

or anything like that? I think the SWAT team...

gear and all that stuff, I think that was also

something that really pulled me into video game

mode when I was watching this. And I don't remember

the characters having squad team type tactical

gear, but I think that seeing stuff like that

and their little schematics that they would pull

up and the data and the maps and things, it definitely

pulled me into the video game world. Anybody

else? If it means anything, the characters from

the game start appearing in pretty much the next

movie on. And funny fact, the next movie written

by Paul W .S. Anderson, but not directed by him

somehow, the numbers to build characters, Jill

Valentine, from the games. So I guess he kind

of got over that after the first one. Then he

decided that it was no big deal apparently. You

need to start adding those characters, you know.

Gotta add Claire Redfield, gotta add Wesker,

gotta add Jill Valentine. Interesting. Ada Wong.

I do feel like this was just the way they used

the map and stuff like that that didn't feel

very much like a video game the way it would...

go on the screen, and it almost felt like it

was taking you down to the level of the game

and just the way it was formatted. So that did

feel very much in line with the actual game itself.

Yeah. I would agree with that as well. So let's

transition then into just the film itself, and

what our experience was watching this in anticipation

for this record, regardless of if it works or

doesn't work for you as a video game representation.

What did you think of the film overall? We'll

start with Amanda, because I believe, Amanda,

you've probably seen this film more times than

anybody else. I think you said that you're probably

in the realm of... somewhere between five and

seven times that you've probably seen this film

since it came out in 2002. So what was your reaction

this time through as you watch this? And do you

like the film? Don't like the film? Give us your

thoughts. I definitely like the film. I think

the first time I watched it, it was super intense.

I was fucking terrified. And that's what kept

pulling me back in was it really does a lot of

stuff that I like in movies. I mean, gunfights,

scary shit. I love like. the jumpscare scare

tactic I fall for that every freaking time and

you know the gore the um just like the zombie

factor too and the creatures and stuff I think

that it had a lot of stuff that it liked so I've

revisited a lot and it has some of the most memorable

memorable like scenes that I think stick with

me like those freaking dogs their skin all torn

off and that hallway scene with the lasers. And

there's a lot of terrifying stuff in here. Like

even in that lockdown sequence, the first, you

know, when we're in the hive and you see the

actual lockdown happen, there's a lot of crazy,

awesome stuff happening in there. And it's super

scary to think about being in that situation.

And it's super scary when it's all done and people

are going back in. to see now what has happened.

And I think that if you just like video games,

I think that you have a potential to like this

movie, whether you have a tie to Resident Evil

or not. Maybe not if you're like men and don't

like horror movies, but... Think that it definitely

has like we talked about the video game feel

so you can get drawn in with that in that crowd

But as a movie I had fun with it I mean that

there's definitely some cheese some of the graphics

are in the CG is super fucking awful But that's

probably looking at it now. I don't I think it

was much scarier back then But well, I just I

really enjoyed it. I think even when it came

out one of the biggest reactions from a critical

standpoint was that the special effects and the

visuals were not up to par even for 2002. So

I think you are in line with saying that it didn't

necessarily look good at times from a visual

standpoint. Matt, what did you feel about the

film? What was your initial take? As I think

we've all said enough times, it's not my genre

I go for. It's not bad. like it's not a terrible

movie um like I was I was uh you know it's a

it's another video game adaptation so I had you

know some hesitancy there and it was a horror

action movie so I had some hesitancy hesitancy

there but it wasn't like I was sitting there

cringing or being very upset I mean Most of my

complaints are nitpicky, not major massive complaints.

So that's my initial take on this. What about

you, Dan? Initial positive or negative take when

you first watched it? I'm really mixed on it,

to be honest. There are things, there are pieces

that I think are interesting and work well. Like

Amanda mentioned, the zombie dog zoo looked pretty

kick -ass. But for me, in the way, it's really

weird watching this. Having seen going back to

this after seeing the sequels and it's almost

hard watching it Just because it is so vastly

different to what it comes later on like it becomes

this like pseudo like superhero movie by the

whatever the last one was like it's really crazy

and With clones and it's insane and this was

really much more down to earth in a way Like

yeah, there's no I mean down there a zombie movie,

but still So it's just weird to seem like Exactly,

which was like yeah, it was basically cube meets,

you know dawn of the dead But I guess like I

guess what kind of always took me out of it I

felt like a movie that was like had so much somewhat

of an identity crisis it's really hard to kind

of mix the action horror elements into one and

I make it so that the action doesn't kind of

circumvent the horror from getting established.

And I felt that kind of happened in times where

there were opportunities for it to kind of become

scary or kind of have that terror aspect of it.

But then it kind of shifted into action movie

mode. And it just it's hard for me to kind of

get in that mindset I would for a horror film

when you kind of turn into an action movie in

pieces. So and you definitely feel like. how

much the matrix has impacted movies going back

to this video game retrospective not just with

this but with a lot and some of the sequences

but um like like matt said i don't think it's

a terrible movie i think we've seen like it there

are like the craftsmanship is there it just it

just like some of the choices here and there

like if if ws anderson was a better director

i think this would have been a a better film

it just needed i think um Like someone who was

able to match those tones a little bit better

But you know, there were some fun things like

the lasers the laser tunnel thing is pretty kick

-ass That's a lot of fun to watch and I like

but yeah, I don't know. That's pretty much fine

I like mixed mixed mixed, you know overall I

compared the stepdad from arrow got cut the fuck

up in a super cool way That's who that guy was

I kept forgetting But I think that it would...

kind of take you out of it when the action would

hit and you know the gunfire and they're just

like keep shooting and shooting and shooting

and nothing is really happening and then it would

make some funny comment or something or there'd

be some like weird flashback but I like the the

thriller aspect of it too you it's kind of like

that who done it kind of thing like you really

don't know all the details you're trying to piece

it together could be anything and I thought that

element was kind of cool but that's just one

more thing that they threw in there you know

what I mean like there was a lot of stuff going

on and I I think that there was, like Dan said,

some times that they could have really capitalized

on the scary stuff, and they took it to a different

level. Like with the experiments with the DNA

and stuff, they really didn't need to kick it

up to that. They didn't need that cheesy -looking

rabbit bunny that they shot up with the T -virus.

They could have just kept it with all these.

you know like zombies down there you know what

I mean like that would have been fine you didn't

need all these weird things and cages down there

like you didn't need to step it up another lash

like the t -virus is already pretty fucking bad

and these people and becoming zombies and shit

and I think that it um it was like shit now the

actions really gonna start but then half the

crew got killed in one fucking little scene and

They could have dragged it out a lot more at

the zombie killings with the you know The whole

crew instead of cutting their team in half right

away with a little hallway scene and then throwing

in this stupid Experiment that they really didn't

need so if they would have just capitalized on

you know picking these guys off a little bit

more slowly maybe and Veered away from from that

other aspect. I think it would have been a little

bit more solid there are Sorry, go ahead. Oh,

I was gonna say, I've already listened to one

review about this. I listened to it like two

months ago, maybe. And actually, that was like

the big complaint was like, why give us a massive

cast of characters and then immediately just

kill off half or more of them three minutes later?

It's like, why bother giving us so many? Why

not, you know, do something with them? It's just

like, here's a bunch of people. Oh, now they're

gone. Right. And I think they could have killed

off a couple of the ones that we hadn't really

got to know yet too much, but I think it was

a mistake killing off the head of the group there

right away, because he was actually turning into

somewhat of an interesting character, and you're

going to see the relationship between him and

his troops, slash these prisoners, slash these

people that don't have their memory back. And

I wasn't ready for him to be killed quite at

that point. I think I could have... He could

have lasted a little bit longer and it might

have added to some of the character depth to

some of them maybe But also how those lasers

work because they like cut through his clothes

and cut his clothes up But they don't destroy

the bag full of explosives or whatever that are

sitting right next to him, even though it's a

massive web of things like Stop thinking too

hard. Oh, sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Um, Dan you were

gonna say something I was gonna say like it is

a movie like there are so many like random Things

going on with it though, right because you have

the zombie aspect of it You have like this kind

of technology computer gone mad or possibly is

it really there to save us aspect of it you have

the team dynamic and You know the individual

who ends up turning evil or at the end So they're

there's like a lot going on and I think maybe

that's kind of the problem with it it does feel

like a hodgepodge of like other influences on

other films. And, you know, it doesn't necessarily

feel like it, you know, has its own identity.

Even, you know, even being a video game movie,

still, it seems like it's just kind of picking

in pieces here and there from everything else

and just trying to make it into its own thing,

minus like a few key scenes. You know, Zombie

Dogs is kind of, you know, what, you know, the

thing it has going for it. I think that and I

think because it's trying to do so many different

things, I'll give my thoughts in general in a

second here, but because it's doing so many different

things, it almost comes off as if it's like the

flipping of a light switch every time we go from

one thing to another, like some of the tonal

changes or, you know, the even the plot. twist

or whatever. It just seems like all of a sudden

the light switch was flipped and now we're going

to go that direction or now we're going to go

back that direction, which makes it harder for

you to kind of stay with the mode or the mood,

I guess, of the film. But if I'm just looking

at this film as kind of just give my general

thoughts here, if I'm staying in this series

that we've been doing and just looking at all

the video game films that we've covered so far,

for me, this is the best one we've seen. because

it just feels more, even though it does have

some of those kind of jarring switches in tone,

it felt like there wasn't moments that were just

making me outwardly angry about the film, even

though I might not have... picked up on some

of the horror vibes or all of a sudden it's going

from horror to action, et cetera, et cetera,

I still was able to follow the film for the most

part and it didn't have moments like we had with

Tomb Raider where it's just like the character

motivations make absolutely no sense for the

almost entirety of that film. Whereas at least

here I can kind of understand the predicament

they're in and then what they're doing it and

what the motivation is to try to Get out or or

for the machine trying to keep them in etc So

I kind of get that for the first like 20 to 30

minutes I almost got a feel like it was that

like the director was trying to make a video

game Related version of like predator or alien

or something like that Like it had that type

of feel to me like we're in this situation and

unfamiliar territory Something's happened. We

got to try to figure it out and now we have some

type of you know alien or in this case a zombie

type of people or things coming after us and

we got to find a way out. Like it's not done

as well as Predator or Alien is done, but to

me it's like the video game version of that seemed

like he was going for. So I was kind of in for

that because I'm not like a horror horror fan,

but I am a fan of these types of this kind of

sub -genre of horror, I guess if you want to

put it that way. So I enjoyed the film overall

more than I ever expected to. If you were to

tell me through the first however many six or

seven films we've done so far that Resident Evil

was going to be the one I had the most fun with,

I would not have believed you. But so far, as

far as an actual movie, I think this is the best

we've gotten. So that's kind of my initial thoughts.

Amanda? Any specific notes that you want to get

into as you were jutting down things as you watched

it? Besides, Michelle Rodriguez at her fucking

best here. Let's put that out there. Doing her

thing. I dug it. That was her then. She was killing

it. Her then. Has she really changed her character

then? She doesn't have any characters now. She's

still Letty in Fast and Furious, but she's still

different. This was her back in the day. Girl

fight. She was at her best is like equivalent

to what? She's Tommy was so at his second best

I Mean I did have fun with this if you want to

nitpick it apart There's a ton of things that

you know, we could focus on but I really would

have enjoyed it a little bit more probably a

lot more if they would have just been like Yo,

these precautions have taken, you know effect

These doors are gonna be locked if we're not

out of here in an hour. We got these zombie people

down here trying to figure out what happened

and Find our way out. We didn't need all this

extra Experiments and changing with the DNA and

he's consumed something and now he's gonna get

bigger and different It's a bunny rabbit. You

injected him that was horrible of you now. Look

what happened Speaking of you brought nitpicks

and so I just got to get some of them off my

chest here so we can move on and not pick apart

too much I guess but when you have just come

out of your like coma or your state of unconsciousness

and you have no memory and a group of like these

squat guys are taking you into this area how

comfortable are you just following them in like

your pajamas with no guns and Literally not asking

many questions. She's disoriented, but you guys

are clearly going into somewhere. That's dangerous,

and I'm just walking Barefoot and nothing in

my hand I'm just gonna be like I'm gonna stay

here and wait for you guys or give me something

because I'm not just gonna walk into these weird

areas Unprepared and unarmed so that was weird

to me that they were just completely okay with

that Only they had to throw the thing in like

it was my sister Like that was another thing

that they threw in there. Yeah. And then if we've

been put against this hell replica, this machine

that's going to be trying to... At this point,

we don't know. We assume it's killed everybody

and it's malfunctioned and it's our enemy. And

it's clearly watching you through all these other

cameras. Why is nobody destroying the cameras

that are watching them? as they walk through

this building, walk through these hallways and

rooms and stuff like that, that's the only way

that this machine can see what's happening, so

why would you not destroy the security cameras

on your way through? That was bugging me. But

those are probably my two biggest nitpicks outside

of the fact that I guess the main crux there

with the twist from the one character turning

from a part of the group to being this evil,

I started it all because I'm greedy and want

to make a bunch of money type guy. I don't understand.

I get if that's what his initial personality

was and that's what his motivations were. But

from the time he's got knocked out and he's lost

all his memory and now you've gone through all

these trials with this group of people and you've

kind of formed these bonds and you've been in

survival mode. So if you all of a sudden get

your memory back that, oh, yeah, originally this

is what my goal was, I don't buy the fact that

you immediately jump back right into that same

personality. He didn't really form a bond with

them. He didn't give a fuck about those people.

Yeah, but it just seems odd that you're going

to be going through all this and then all of

a sudden be like, oh wait, I remember. I'm supposed

to be the guy that's taking this and making money

off of it. So I'm going to do that. I'm going

to be that guy again. I didn't buy that as far

as the twist goes. So that was probably my biggest

fault with the film is it just, to me, is not

a natural way of how you would act. What about

you guys? What are some of the other parts, either

good or bad, that you wanted to pick out if we're

looking into the movie in a little bit more in

-depth matter, Dan? It does load on a lot of

exposition throughout the movie. It spends a

lot of time for a plot that's, I guess, not all

that complicated. You do get a lot of backstory,

almost unnecessarily at times. So that was kind

of one of my drawbacks, but you know, I think

it's kind of it's it's worse than Besides the

awful bunny monster CGI It's probably just like

being cliche which is you know Compared to what

came before not that bad of a sin to have you

know, it was like, you know The characters weren't

great, but I did think I did like Mila Joe Joe

village I do think she has personality and Despite

maybe what the script gave her, I think she does

have a presence to her that many of the other

actors didn't. And I agree with you, Kev. Like

the leader of the army that killed way too early,

I thought that was kind of sad because he was

one of the better characters there seemed to

be. I think that's kind of the other aspect of

it that would have made it a little bit stronger

if some of the characters were... were better

rounded or at least more interesting. Mostly

the male characters, they all seemed really dull

and lacked any form of charisma. I'm like, I'm

like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,

I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,

I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,

I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,

I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,

I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,

I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,

I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,

I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm like,

I'm like, I'm like, I'm like, I'm are keen enough

or experienced enough or know their craft enough

to kind of make you care about the different

people or at least tell you what each one of

their personalities is and kind of give you some

insight to that so like it's not just hey random

guy on the side just got killed that I don't

know what his name was or what his motivations

were so I think that's probably one of the biggest

weaknesses of this film is it doesn't really

get you into any of those characters outside

of like you said a couple seemingly the female

characters. Matt, anything on your end that you

wanted to bring up as far as things you liked

or didn't like as far as the details go? I already

mentioned the fact that the lasers didn't cut

the bag. That was the one thing that would stop

the computer, and it was the computer doing the

lasers. That was really the one thing that bothered

me, honestly. As far as I can remember, that

stuck with me more than a week later after watching

it. That was the one that really bugged me. I

think... Like, at least to me, when the guy does

the heel turn at the end, I think there might

have been a moment of like, oh, she's going to

know, and my memory came back first, but he doesn't

know that her memory actually came back first.

And so I need to nip this now before she punches

me in the back of the head. Yeah, I could kind

of buy that, I guess, if that's the angle they

were going for. It still seemed a little bit

weird of a... motivation, but I can see where

you're going with on that. I think my favorite

scene in the whole film, or my favorite moment,

is when she does the jump kick to the dog. I

mean, if you don't have fun with that, I don't

know what you're looking for in a video game

film. But as far as some notes and some trivia,

I guess, she actually did all of her stunts except

for One of the pipe jumps in the sewers otherwise

she did every single one of her stunts and all

the bruises and cuts that you see on her throughout

the movie are all real none of its makeup So

that's actually stuff that happened to her as

she was going through the the set and apparently

she's dangerous to be around because She hurt

at least two to three cast members including

punching the director in the face at one point

accidentally Well that doesn't matter, they get

married. They do get married, yes, but apparently

she uppercuts her back hands or something and

gave him a black eye during the filming, so I'd

give her credit for doing a lot of the stuff

herself there. Another note here, originally

the movie was going to be called Resident Evil

Ground Zero, but they pulled that after 9 -11

because they didn't want the connotations of

that to be out in the... People's minds and they

actually had trained dancers to be the zombies

Because they figured an actual professional dancer

would be more in tune with their body and make

it move in a more natural way But then they also

gave the dancers the direction of just move however

you think a zombie would move so That's why you

get zombies moving in all different ways throughout

the film some look completely like they don't

have control of their arms, and some are going

different ways. But then I guess they also underestimated

how many people they would need, and they didn't

have enough dancers for the number of zombies

they needed, so they had everybody that was available

basically stood in as extra zombies, including

stunt coordinators, the producers, and some of

the big wigs just jumped in to be part of the

cast because they needed more bodies for zombies.

I think even they said... Go ahead. So if all

these zombies are dancers, I can only assume

there's a video of them someplace Dancing the

thriller or something like that that happened

on the screen I would assume like that's something

they would have to do other another musical I

guess interesting thing is that the composers

of the film included Marilyn Manson I think there

was three of them that helped do the music and

one of them was Marilyn Manson Because they wanted

to have a little bit more of a edgy metal like

feel to it, I guess. I don't know what the reasoning

was, but I actually liked the score for it. I

thought the sound effects and the music fit the

type of movie that it was going for, so I think

it worked for the most part. If you don't recognize

Paul W .S. Anderson, I just feel the need to

bring it up since we've talked about him before.

He's also the director that did Mortal Kombat

that we talked about. He did the Alien vs. Predator

film, Death Race. Event Horizon and most recently

Pompeii so he's just got a star, you know a catalog

to be jealous of He is the person that you a

bowl wishes he was Apparently they also reuse

some of the set pieces from enemy at the gates

Which was filmed just a year earlier in Germany

and some of the same places that they shot some

of this film So I guess they reuse some of the

sets for that the official body count for the

film is 88 88 people killed and apparently there

is supposed to be a whole bunch of tie -ins to

Alice in Wonderland if you are wanting to really

rewatch the film and look for it, apparently

they are all over the place. As far as Alice

being the main character's name, the Red Queen

being the main antagonist at one point, and apparently

there's a Alice in Wonderland paperweight somewhere

in the film, and I guess it goes on and on as

far as the different connections there, so. The

crazy bunny, you know. Yes, exactly. Bunnies

and all kinds of stuff. Apparently, you can look

on the internet and find all the different connections

and look for them if you want to go down that

fan theory or whoever originally came up with

that. Amanda, what else do you want to say about

Resident Evil? Give us your final thoughts. Anything

that you haven't been able to say yet and what

kind of score are you going to give our latest

video game film? That's a hard one. I really

didn't think about what kind of score I would

give this ahead of time. Man, that's a difficult

one. I think I've discussed everything that I

want to get out of it. But I think it's definitely

one of the most fun in the series that have come

out. I think they do get more and more ridiculous,

all these stupid fucking clones. How many times

are you going to bring people back that are dead

because you had 800 clones of them? I think Mila

Jovovich definitely fits the Fits the bill here.

I think she does a really good job And of course,

you know that she had to be doing something if

they kept it around for 20 of these fucking movies

I mean there are so I think as far as a grade

goes I Think I'm gonna give it I'll give it a

seven All right, seven out of ten for hard candy

mania on Resident Evil Matt. Let you go next

I think she keeps around because her husband

does them all Which is weird to think about the

first one she was like 26 when they did it or

24 when they did it and this most recent when

she's 40 Because they've been doing them since

like 2002. Um Yeah, I think like that's you know,

15 years roughly true that so um Yeah, I mean,

I don't know. It's it. It's not terrible it but

also it's not memorable Honestly, I think if

you ask me in a month from now, like, hey, remember

from Resident Evil? I'll be like, well, there's

this one time there's this laser room and a guy

jumps and the laser jumps with him. And that's

gonna be about it. That's like the complete opposite

for me. I remember everything about this movie.

You've also seen it a half dozen times. Yeah,

but there's things, there's movies that I've

watched a hundred times that I'm like, oh man,

it's not as memorable as this is. And there's

a lot of things that stick out and I don't...

Don't know how you can walk away from this and

not be at least disturbed enough to remember

some of this shit I'm gonna remember that there

was a bad computer the laser room and the jump

kick to the bucket and I think that's Probably

all I'd remember from it, you know in a couple

years from now when it's not so fresh in my memory

I didn't give the actual critical reaction to

the film though on Rotten Tomatoes. It did get

a 33 % from the critics and a 68 % from the fans.

Roger Ebert had it on his most hated films list

and that came out in 2005. But on the flip side

of that, James Cameron apparently calls this

his biggest guilty pleasure film. So, across

the board with the critical reaction. Dan, do

you know how it did at the box office? Any guesses?

Considering they made like 8 ,000 of these I've

been assuming at least decently. Well, I don't

know maybe like overall like 90 ,000 or not 90

,000 juice 90 million maybe not quite it had

a 33 million dollar budget and it made 40 domestically

and Made a hundred and something if you take

worldwide really did it did make its budget back.

It's currently rated as the 16th best or highest

grossing video game film, so 16th on that list,

but it is the lowest of all of the franchise

films. Every film in the franchise has made more

money than the one before it, so the original

Resident Evil made 40, the next one made 42,

then the next one 50, 51, and then the latest,

the last one that came out made 60. So each film

has actually made more money than the one before

it somehow even though you guys like you've said

It seems like it gets crazier and crazier must

be a fan base that continues to build people

are just getting stupider and stupid Dan what

other final thoughts did you have and what score

would you give this one? Like I said, it's crazy

seeing like where this franchise started and

where it is now because it's so morphed into

something different and I do I guess, like, I

think this is probably better made than the sequels

that come after it, but I somewhat enjoy the

sequels a little bit more. Some of them. I think

the next one, which kind of gets above ground

in the city, is probably my favorite one of the

franchise. And then the one in the desert. And

then it gets kind of crazy when it's like, like

the last one was just really, really bad. The

fucking birds are like infected and stuff. I

don't know. Don't remember I just remember it

was like all it kind of went back and it was

all on our ground again But it was it gets to

the point where like the world's basically over.

So you're like, why does this even matter anymore?

Everyone's a zombie. So like why do I but whatever?

So this is it's fine. It's like I said, there's

it's nothing like egregious overly like besides

a few like CGI things over here over there here

and there she's Besides that nothing is really

like awful like plainly awful there's things

that are that are I think could have been done

better or You know just some common errors, but

it's not like I was You know pulling my hair

out with how bad it is which will get to you

shortly when we talk about future films But not

this. And even looking back at past films, I

don't know if I would say it's the best one we've

gotten so far. I still think I like Mortal Kombat

slightly more, but that may be more nostalgia

than anything that's making me think that. But

for an overall score, I think I would give it

a six out of ten. And I'm going to be right there

in the same. Ballpark that you guys are at I'm

looking right at the six range six and a half

somewhere in that range Maybe even up to a seven

if I was feeling real generous But I just think

it works better as a film than some of these

other ones that we've talked about do I also

have this in Mortal Kombat towards the top I

think this is way better than Tomb Raider, which

I did not expect I expected to like Tomb Raider

more than Resident Evil and Yeah, so I mean overall

I was I was happy with my experience because

I did not have high expectations and I enjoyed

the whole film I'd probably be interested in

watching. I haven't seen any of the sequels,

but I'd probably be interested in at least watching

one of them. I don't know how long I would stick

with the franchise, but I think it was a decent

film for what we've been going through in this

video game franchise series. And, Dan, you kind

of alluded to what's coming up next. We're about

to go into a different path here. I guess stay

somewhat in the horror genre, but going in a

little bit completely. a little bit different

sub -genre of the horror films, and we're going

to be getting into House of the Dead, and then

a couple other scary and spooky films I think

are right around the corner that I have no idea

what they're about, but from what you're saying,

it's not something that we're going to be looking

forward to? Yeah, remember I said W .S. Anderson

is the person U .A. Bull wishes he was? Well,

we're going to be getting into his movie. It's

UA bowl time coming up, so be scared. Yeah, feel

bad for us because it's gonna be a journey. If

this was getting a generally positive review

from us, I don't know if we get any more films

the rest of the way that I'm gonna like or if

it's just gonna be crashed and burning the rest

of the way as we kind of plummet down to the

depths of video game hell. I remember liking

House of the Dead when I saw it, but I think

I was like 12, 13 maybe. We'll have to see what

happens when you re -watch it. So that's going

to be it for this week's episode. We hope you

guys have been following the video game film

franchise series. If you haven't, go back and

listen to those and let us know what you think

so far. We've done quite a few films going all

the way back into the late 80s there, or the

early 90s with Super Mario Bros. and all the

way up through Resident Evil. So let us know

what you've been thinking about the different

films and what's been your favorite one up to

this point. If you want to comment on the episode,

go to GeekCastRadio .com, just find the episode

post there and you can comment there. If you

want to directly interact with us, there's also

a great way to do that, and that is by tweeting

to us, and all you need to do is put in our handle.

Amanda, your Twitter handle is? HardCandyMandy,

I's no Y's. Mine is at OptimusSolo, Dan, yours

is? I'm at Movie Revolts. Matt, yours is? I'm

at Fridley Sat. Or you can tweet to the show

in general, and that is at CinemaGeekCast. Also,

feel free to go to iTunes and leave us a review

there, or interact with us any other way that

you want to. So that does it for us for this

week. Be sure to tune in next week for another

chance to listen to the CinemaGeek.