Right now horror is having a fantastic couple of months with Obsession becoming a mainstream hit film and Buddy being a fun film. This trend is one that really does actually continue on with the film that i'm going to be talking to you all about today as really by all rights this film should have been really bad as every other live action film adaption of the game has been at best OK and at it's worst just downright bad and yet here we have one that not only feels like the games brought to life but is also a really good movie in it's own right and so then join me as I give you my SPOILER FILLED review of the film that really had no right being as good as it is with the film in question being called simply just "Resident Evil" enjoy.
The plot is film is a medical courier called Ben has to deliver something to Raccoon City General Hospital whilst also fighting of hoards of monsters and just trying to survive the night. Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual plot that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. Whilst yes it could well be argued that this films plot is simple as it's just one man trying to get something to a hospital this is something that does work in the films favor as it allows the characters to be charming ad it allows the world of the film to breathe. Yes this is a film that very well could have helped with having a more stronger plot but it wasn't one that was needed in this film as the simple set up of the film is more then enough to make it work in the first place and heck one could argue that this film not having that much of a strong plot does make it feel like the games as the first game doesn't have a strong plot as that's just two characters exploring a house and yet much like with that game the fact that this film does have simple plot does work in this films favor however tho there is no denying the fact that this films plot doesn't feel like the plot for a feature film rather it feels like the plot of a Resident Evil short film as there are no stakes in this film for a large portion of the film and when the film does introduce the stakes into the plot it's to little to late this is something that would have worked if this was a short film but or a feature length film the stakes did need to not only be higher but also be set up earlier on in the film with this films plot also being really rather entertaining and as well as being really rather engaging as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
Starring in this film is Austin Abrams as Bryan , Zach Cherry as Carl , Kali Reis as Maxine and Paul Walter Hauser as Paul. Also staring in this film is Will Merrick as Dave , Andrea Miltnerová as A Pedestrian , Karel Dobrý as A Farmer , Zoé Bellas as Birdie , Chris Lew Kum Hoi as Stanley , Griffin Newman as Wade , Sara Paxton as the voice of Michelle , Emily Piggford as Dr. Maria Stokes , Johnno Wilson as Wilson and Doctor Who star Jo Martin as Andrea Vasquez.
Now then interms of what I personally thought / felt about the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual acting that's actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. This is something that should come as no surprise to anyone as this films co-writer, co-producer and director Zach Cregger really does know how to get a good performance out of his actors a skill which he again shows in this film as all of this films actors even those that are playing characters with no names or have very limited screen time do still manage to turn in a good performance in this film and while alot of this is due to the fact that the film does have some really good actors in it alot of it is also due to the fact that Zach Cregger does know how to get a good performance out of his actors. With this films best actor being Austin Abrams as Bryan as he is in pretty much every single scene in this film and he knocks it out of the ark every single time with him being perfectly cast in this film as he does get the chance to show if just what it is that he could do as an actor in both a comedic sense and a dramatic as well as obviously what he can do as a horror actor with him making what could have been seen as being a really unlikable character come across as being a likable person who is just trying to do his job with his own natural charm and and charisma really shining through in this film. With the acting that's in this very film really being helped by the fact that this films script is just so good that all this films actors have to do is just say the line as they are written and a good performance will come out of them naturally which is something that really does help to raise the overall quality of the acting that's in this very film.
The characters in this film are a very mixed bag as there is only one character that does stand and that's Bryan with the rest of them not really getting a chance to shine. This is something that does in it's own way make sense as Bryan is meant to be the main character of the film but in saying this tho the rest of the films characters should have been give more to do in the film rather then just show up or a few minuets and then never be seen or heard from again as all this does is make it harder for us the audience to truly connect with them as we don't get to spend alot of time with them and yet we get to spend alot of time with Bryan as the character does appear in quite literally every single scene of the film and while that's great for putting across his character and getting us to like him it does nothing for the rest of the films characters who do come across as being forgettable as a result of it. This approach to telling the story is ne that worked Weapons as that film was essentially told in chapters but here due to the fact that the film is telling it's story in a more traditional way therefor there should have been more time given to these other character as while Bryn is a really good and fun character to be around having him be the sole focus of the film and be the one that appears in alot of the film does rob the film of giving us more different characters, however on the plus side tho by taking this approach it does give Austin Abrams a true chance to shine in this film and it is something that he does take full advantage of as he does make Bryan be this really likable person that you do want to know more about and while the characters life prior to the events of this film weren't that great we do get to see how the things that he said at the start of the film effect him later on in the film.
SPOILERS START HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Whilst this film does just borrow a few names from the games this is perhaps the most like a survival horror game that these live action Resident Evil films have ever been. As we do get to see Bryan not only find a gun in a house but also struggle to find ammo for the gun and have to find ways to save on the bullets that he has all of these are things that were missing from all of the other Resident Evil live action films as a lot of them either focused to much on action or just weren't that good in the first place and yet with this film we do get to see all of those things and they are things that the fans of the game might like as they are done do well in this film and while yes none of the games characters appear in this film this is something that does help the film as now you don't have to spend time in introducing to a none gaming audience who these game characters are. Heck this film does poke alot of fun at video games like the fact that when ever you shoot a lock on a door in a video game the lock always comes loose and yet here in this film it's played as a running joke that that doesn't happen with Bryan even yelling that he loves video games when something that can do in a game happens in the film none of these are meant to be seen as being an insult to he games rather they are meant to be a fun little reference to games in general yet even tho there are nods to cliches in video games there is nothing when it comes to nods and wink to the Resident Evil games and while this is something that doesn't really effect the none game fan such as myself it is something that could make the die hard fans of the games angry but in saying this tho this is a film that is clearly meant to be doing it's own thing and just so happens to be set within the world of the games but the fact that the makers of this film did manage to get the survival horror game aspect of this film down perfectly is something that does help to make this film stand out as no other Resident Evil has done that as alot of them did forget that these games are first and foremost a survival horror game and that does mean collecting and saving things like ammo something which we do have get to see Bryan do in this film.
To be frank this films cinematographer Dariusz Wolski has done such an incredible job on this film with the film looking very visually stunning time. This is something that even those that don't like this film have to surely admit with there being alot of scenes in this film that are just stunning to look at with the best of example of this being the scene where Bryan first gets out of his car to check on the girl that he just hit as the lights from the back of his car light the whole scene with them hitting the snowy back in a way that does make them look very pretty to look at and heck the film even has alot of one long shots that would have been hard to pull of in a film with out snow but when you add snow into it it becomes harder as now you have to hide the crews footprints and yet those shots still look good. It's clear as day that the makers of this film put alot of thought and effort into making this film look as good as it could have done as every single frame of this film looks so stunning to look at as there is alot of care put into the film when by all rights that wasn't needed as the film would have made a ton of money in the first place and yet the fact that the makers of this film did go that extra mile just show us the audience that they wanted to create a film that was a really good and judging by alot of the reviews for the film and the fact that tis film has already made back not only it's production budget but also it's marketing budget does say that they did exactly that as people are not only going to see this film but there also getting there friends and family members to go and see it with the film being a visual treat for the eyes to look at as there are alot of visually stunning shots in this film so much so that it wouldn't be surprising if alot of them shows up on the One Perfect Shot account in a few months time.
Unlike the Paul W.S Anderson Resident Evil films which weren't meant to be funny but ended being so bad that you laughed at them in the first place. This film does have alot of jokes in it and while it is debatable on if those jokes worked or not as that is something that will always change from viewer to viewer they were jokes that to me did work as they felt true to this films characters whilst not undercutting the scene they are in or any of the films horror elements like for example we have a scene where Bryan and Paul argue over who should go and get the keys from Paul's dead friend Maxine which is something that does feel true to both of there characters as they would do something like that with Bryan reluctantly agreeing to go and get them only to get more annoyed when Paul keeps on blasting the cars horn at him every few seconds. Believe it or not there was going to be more jokes in this film but Zach Cregger actually removed alot of them when during testing he found that audiences loved the film more when there wasn't that many jokes something which he later thought was a good call as it made the film all the more better and while this might sound like i'm a fan of his as I do like this film and I do love Weapons but he was right in this case as having to many jokes would have made the films more horror scenes seem less scary as there would have been a character cracking a joke every five minuets and therefor only saving the jokes to scenes where there really isn't anything scarry happening is something that does allow for us the audience to have that moment to just breathe and catch our breaths before the next horror scene begins, while it could be argued that the film would have worked just as well if not better if it was a straight up horror film having those moments where the characters can make a joke is still something that does make this film alot of fun to watch not only for the mainstream audience that this film is trying to get but also for some horror fans that this film does end up winning over.
Now then this film has / had an exact grand total running time of exactly one hour an twenty five minuets and fifty seven seconds. This is something that might possibly make it one of the more shorter live action Resident Evil films altho there is a good chance that that might not be the case but either way this is a still a really solid running time for this film to gave as this is a film that really doesn't need to be that long due to how simple that it's main plot is and to be fair to this film there are no scenes in this film that do feel like filler as they do come across as moving the plot of the film forward in a way that does make sense and even those that are just there to build up tension do so in a way that makes them feel needed for the film with the film having the right amount of plot there to really cover that amount of running time in the first. With this film not really using its running time all that wisely due to the fact that this film really doesn't take the time to fully develop its plot which granted would have been hard to do given how simple the plot of the film is but its not impossible as we don't even get to find out what caused the outbreak in this film as all we find out is that it was was caused by Paul doing something in the Umbrella labs and that's it and while fair enough other films haven't really explained how a zombie virus started either it would have helped this film stand out all the more if they did take the time to explain some of that with the makers of this film being more focused on giving us alot of jokes then they were in giving us a well thought out an well developed plot. This is also something that does effect the films character as while only Bryan gets character development as he does learn that actually he does want to have kids with Michelle that never really effected his actions both prior and after he comes to that realization which does make it feel like the makers of this film thought it up five minuets before they shot it and heck it's only Bryan that gets character development as none of the films other characters both named or not get character development in this film with the makers of this film being more focused on making sure that we know that Bryan is the main character of the film then they did in giving the films characters some character development but I really will admit that this film really does have some really good pacing to it tho.
So now then as this is a horror film that really does mean that I have to actually talk about the actual scares that are actually featured / presented to us in this very film well then in all honesty I in all honesty personally thought / felt that the actual scares that are actually featured / presented to us in this very film was in all honesty really good. With the film making alot of use of practical effects or it's scares which was a refreshing thing to see with there bein not that many CGI effects used to create the films scares with the scares themselves being very well done as the the film does spend alot of time in making you think where the scare is going to be coming from and nine times out of ten it's the one place that you forgot about and while yes all of this films scares are mainly jumps scares there being very few body horror scares the jump scares work very well and the body horror scares are just as effective in there own way. With the best scare in the whole entire being when Bryan searches a house for something and he comes across a girl who's mother has been absorbed into this creature with the girl herself starting to mutate and Bryan does eventually get her out of the bathroom she was hiding in her face splits apart with tentacles coming out of it and she starts to attack Bryan that right there is such a good scare as it's one that you don't think is going to happen as you think that something is going to happen with her foot as that was what was shown to be mutating and therefor when it turns out it's her face that's going to attack Bryan it is something that does catch you off guard and is a very effective scare because of it with the rest of the films scares being just as good as well in my freaking opinions anyways / at least.
SPOILERS END HERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Overall look if you haven't done already go and see this film on the biggest screen possible and even if you have done go and see it again as this film is just that good as it does prove that if you get the basics down then you can make a good live action Resident Evil movie in my freaking opinion anyways / at least. Now then i've talked about all of the good and as well as all of the bad things that are in this very film in this very review and as such that really does mean that this very film really does earn itself a grand old core of exactly a 7.5 out of 10 from me.
Now then as for where I personally got al of the images that I personally used in this very review well then boys and girls and as well as ladies and gentlemen I personally got all of the images that I personally used in this very review from Tenor , IMP Awards . Com and Google Images. With my personally preferred website to use to get images from this film being Google Images simply because Google Images actually has images from this film really are up and on Google Images and plus pretty much much all of the images that I personally found on Google Images were all really very fairly high quality and as well as being as really very fairly high definition as well and so then horror fans we end this review as we always do with really our one and true goddess Elvira wishing us all some really very unpleasant dreams.
No comments:
Post a Comment