Resident
Semi-evil
by Morgan Shelton
Previews
did no justice to this movie. Resident Evil left its audience laughing
not screaming, disgusted not scared. This horror flick,
based on a video game of the same name, is a traditional zombie
movie with a modern technology-is-evil twist. If it were not for
the eerie feeling that such an incident could actually occur, I
would have no respect for this film.
I was confused for the first 15 minutes until the main character,
Alice, played by Milla Jovovich, asked the questions that I was
pondering. This made me wonder why the characters were as clueless
as the audience as we munched on popcorn. Through question and answer
sessions we learn the plot and Alices history.
The movie is centered around Umbrella Corporation, a company that
makes household products consumed by 90 percent of homes . But it
also has a hidden agenda: the development of an underground city,
The Hive, generated by an automated computer system. Scientists
in this complex have created a virus and antibiotic, and the plot
sets into motion when one of the virus coils is accidentally dropped.
The disease is released, workers are killed, and investigators,
including Alice, are sent to investigate.
As she remembers her past, in flashbacks, certain gaps in the plot
close up. What is never made clear, however, is the nature of the
mutated monster in the complex. Why it is only revealed halfway
through the movie when it serves such a large purpose at the end?
It is as though director and writer Paul Anderson realized that
the over-dramatized zombies might not have the same effect on a
21st century audience as it did during the 70s. His solution:
Add some big scary thing to grab attention as the zombies lose it.
But it wasnt all bad. A memorable moment is when the investigators
enter a hallway of the underground city. They get locked inside
and sliced and diced by a laser defense system.
So if you want to see a non-scary movie that has some corny concepts,
a decent plot, and will make you laugh, break out the piggy bank.
Take a study break and see it when it comes to the Apollo. This
movie is an addition to the pile of wanna-be horror films and makes
us wonder, yet again, when we will ever see a real screamer.
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