When that evil is unleashed, a group of survivors must work together to uncover the truth behind Umbrella and make it through the night. A film by Johannes Roberts, starring Kaya Scodelario, Hannah John-Kamen, Robbie Amell, Tom Hopper, Avan Jogia, Donal Logue, Neal McDonough, Lily Gao, Chad Rook, Marina Mazepa, Nathan Dales, Josh Cruddas, Pat Thornton, Holly de Barros, Janet Porter, Lily Gail Reid, Daxton Grey Gujral, Dylan Taylor, Sammy Azero, Jenny Young, Stephannie Hawkins, Nathaniel McParland, Pamela MacDonald, Heloise Catherine Pead Galvin, Sophia Ann Pead Galvin, Kalie Hunter, Andrea Ciacci, Kelly Reich, Robert Chaumont, Matthew MacCallum, and Jason Lee Bell.
RESIDENT EVIL
WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY
Johannes Roberts
(2021)
This is a film adaptation of Capcom’s BIO HAZARD (バイオハザード) game series for the PlayStation console, first released in 1996. It’s a game in which players control a character to explore areas, solve puzzles, and fight to survive. However, when Capcom prepared to release the game in the United States, they ran into trademark issues. A game with a similar name had already been registered, and there was also a heavy metal band using the exact same name. This forced the company to come up with a new title, eventually settling on RESIDENT EVIL.
The game’s storyline begins on 24 July 1998, following a series of bizarre murders at a mansion on the outskirts of Raccoon City. The local police department’s special S.T.A.R.S. unit dispatches their Bravo Team to investigate, but they mysteriously lose contact. Consequently, the Alpha Team is sent in to track them down and uncover the truth behind what really happened.
This film version, serving as a reboot of the RESIDENT EVIL franchise, kicks off with Claire Redfield (Lily Gail Reid) and her older brother, Chris (Daxton Grey Gujral), living at an orphanage run by Dr. William Birkin (Neal McDonough).
Young Claire befriends Lisa Trevor (Marina Mazepa), a disfigured girl secretly hiding beneath the orphanage. Chris dismisses the girl as merely a figment of Claire’s imagination, eventually convincing her it’s true since no one else has ever seen Lisa. In reality, however, Lisa is a human test subject for pharmaceutical experiments conducted by Dr. William on behalf of the Umbrella Corporation, which secretly owns the orphanage. He intends to use Claire as his next subject, but she manages to escape the city before he can.
Years later, Claire (Kaya Scodelario) hitches a ride on a truck to return to Raccoon City. Along the way, the truck strikes a woman wandering in the middle of the road, seemingly killing her. While Claire argues with the driver (Pat Thornton) over the accident, the woman suddenly reanimates and vanishes into the night, leaving behind only a pool of blood on the asphalt which the truck driver’s dog then licks up.
Raccoon City, the former home of pharmaceutical giant Umbrella Corporation, is now a dying town following the company’s relocation. All that remains are a handful of staff members and citizens too poor to flee. Among the newcomers is Leon S. Kennedy (Avan Jogia), a rookie police officer reassigned to the local precinct as a penalty for accidentally shooting a fellow cop. He soon gets his first glimpse of the horror to come when he notices blood seeping from a local diner owner’s eyes.
The real reason Claire journeys back to this town is to warn her brother, Chris (Robbie Amell), currently a Raccoon City cop. Her return is prompted by a disturbing videotape she received from Ben (Josh Cruddas), an internet friend based in the area. In the footage, Ben exposes a catastrophic outbreak from a few days prior, an incident the Umbrella Corporation is desperately trying to cover up. Since receiving the tape, Claire has been unable to contact him.
Following the mysterious disappearance of the Bravo Team, Police Chief Brian Irons (Donal Logue) dispatches the Alpha Team to investigate the Spencer Mansion, the grand estate of the Umbrella Corporation’s founder. The elite squad includes Chris, alongside Jill Valentine (Hannah John-Kamen), Richard Aiken (Chad Rook), Vickers (Nathan Dales), and Albert Wesker (Tom Hopper).
Witness the beginning of Evil
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A film by Johannes Roberts, starring Kaya Scodelario, Hannah John-Kamen, Robbie Amell, Tom Hopper, Avan Jogia, Donal Logue, Neal McDonough, Lily Gao, Chad Rook, Marina Mazepa, Nathan Dales, Josh Cruddas, Pat Thornton, Holly de Barros, Janet Porter, Lily Gail Reid, Daxton Grey Gujral, Dylan Taylor, Sammy Azero, Jenny Young, Stephannie Hawkins, Nathaniel McParland, Pamela MacDonald, Heloise Catherine Pead Galvin, Sophia Ann Pead Galvin, Kalie Hunter, Andrea Ciacci, Kelly Reich, Robert Chaumont, Matthew MacCallum, and Jason Lee Bell.
Written and directed by English filmmaker Johannes Roberts, RESIDENT EVIL: Welcome to Raccoon City is an action-horror film that follows a group of survivors navigating a mysterious viral outbreak. The story is based on Capcom’s iconic Resident Evil video game franchise, drawing primarily from the first two games in the series, released in 1996 and 1998 for the original PlayStation.
Personally, I really enjoyed this film, and I don’t quite understand the harsh backlash from critics. It stands out as a genuinely faithful adaptation that perfectly captures the eerie atmosphere and the essence of the original Resident Evil games. It’s a welcome change from Paul W.S. Anderson’s version which relied heavily on Milla Jovovich’s star power and eventually devolved into a superhuman-versus-monsters action spectacle.
I absolutely loved the nod to the Moonlight Sonata piano puzzle, but I can’t believe they left out the zombie dog smashing through the glass! That is arguably the most shocking jump scare in the game, and I still remember the sheer terror of it to this day. The creature designs were fantastic. The iconic elements like William Birkin mutating from the G-Virus and the grotesque and long-tongued Licker were executed brilliantly. I also liked this iteration of Leon Kennedy; while his appearance might not match his video game counterpart, his goofy, slightly clueless charm really makes this character memorable.
However, the lighting during the action scenes is a clear weak point. During the zombie horde encounter, the screen is so pitch-black that the audience is left staring at nothing but muzzle flashes, making it nearly impossible to comprehend what is actually happening. I know that the film can’t achieve the distinct, nail-biting tension of the video games. It can’t replicate that constant dread of a sudden “Game Over,” the paranoia of wondering if a zombie is lurking behind a door or in a blind spot, or the mounting stress of switching to a knife to save your limited bullets as you frantically search for an ink ribbon to save your game.
RESIDENT EVIL: Welcome to Raccoon City premiered at Le Grand Rex in Paris on 19 November 2021. The film was theatrically released in the United States on 24 November.
