Summary
The Resident Evil franchise returns to its survival horror roots in a film that’s filled with atmospheric chills and knowing callbacks in equal measure.
The Resident Evil films have been many things, and this reviewer will freely admit to turning off all critical reasoning when writing about them. Yet by the time Resident Evil: The Final Chapter was released in 2017, the often massive scale of the action films had well and truly run out of steam.
Which is why RESIDENT EVIL: WELCOME TO RACOON CITY exists. Director Johannes Roberts, known primarily for pitting humans against sharks in the 47 Meters Down series, does something we haven’t seen in a Resident Evil film for quite some time. He rips it back to its horror roots.
From the opening scenes set in Raccoon City Orphanage, we meet a young Claire Redfield and her brother Chris. There Claire meets Lisa Trevor, a child subjected to the experiments of Umbrella Corporation’s Dr. William Birkin (Neal McDonough). Years later, the adult Claire (Kaya Scodelario) returns to town amidst some strange occurrences and an impending evacuation.
Harking back to its survival horror video game origins, primarily 1998’s Resident Evil 2, much of the action takes place in and around the Raccoon City Police Department (or RPD) and the remote Spencer Mansion. As the STARS Alpha team, ostensibly led by Chris (Robbie Amell) – and consisting of Jill Valentine (Hannah John-Kamen), Richard Aiken (Chad Rook), Brad Vickers (Nathan Dales), and Albert Wesker (Tom Hopper) – look for their fallen comrades, rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy (Avan Jogia) and hair-trigger chief Brian Irons (Donal Logue) hold down the RPD.
On some level, this film is a series of references and callbacks to various games. From zombie dogs to throwaway lines about Jill sandwiches, much of this is designed to elicit squeals of delight and screams of terror in equal measure. Yet it’s never anything less than an intense siege film in the vein of Assault on Precinct 13. So, while much of it ultimately sets up potential future films – and the rapid cutting back and forth between locations may give you whiplash – it cracks along at a pace and serves up some gory throwback action.
Utilising Maxime Alexandre’s skilled photography to create something that’s atmospheric and always visually interesting – not to mention genuinely creepy too. Set in 1998, pagers and a Palm Pilot are part of the plot-driven set-design. The music of Journey and 4 Non Blondes are used for comedic effect. Yet Roberts and Alexandre still take the time to let fog linger on the mansion’s lights, or frame the characters in gorgeous stained glass windows, before seeing them devoured by a hideously mutated monster. It’s all backed by a literal ticking clock, adding an extra level of tension.
Even with all the fanservice, existing devotees of the games and films may still feel like there’s some pieces missing. The visual fidelity aside, some of the casting may not match the well-established in-game characters. Still, the obligatory mid-credits sequences points to the future of the franchise, it’s only a matter of time before someone’s coming at Leon with a chainsaw. No raccoons were harmed in the production.
2021 | USA, Germany, UK | DIRECTOR: Johannes Roberts | WRITER: Johannes Roberts | CAST: Kaya Scodelario, Hannah John-Kamen, Robbie Amell, Tom Hopper, Avan Jogia, Donal Logue, Neal McDonough | DISTRIBUTOR: Sony Pictures Releasing (AUS) | RUNNING TIME: 107 minutes | RELEASE DATE: 9 December 2021 (AUS)
