T5W#424-Top 5 Resident Evil Movies

While I usually save the more horror centric Top 5’s for October, I’ve been foaming at the mouth to somehow acquire an Xbox Series X/S so I can finally play Resident Evil 4 Remake.  Not only have I heard and seen nothing but fantastic things but the inevitable Remake of the RE4 DLC, Separate Ways, starring the sexiest Resident Evil Anti-Heroine, Ada Wong, just dropped and holy crap it looks so freaking awesome.  So yeah, we’re back to do another Resident Evil themed Top 5 list to celebrate that occasion but what to cover?  Well having recently looked at Resident Evil: Death Island, I realize I’ve looked at just about every Resident Evil movie, Anime and Live Action, here at the Anime Corner.  Sure they all vary in quality but with 11 movies to sift through, choosing 5 for a list shouldn’t be a problem (for a Best and Worst list actually but I’ll save Worst for another time).  So let’s dive back into the biohazard horror thrills of RE with the Top 5 Resident Evil Movies.  And no, Death Island isn’t on this list and you can check out my review right here to find out why: http://gundamanimeblog.blogspot.com/2023/08/resident-evil-death-island.html 

 
#5-Resident Evil: Extinction

While this is the true moment where the Live Action RE movies jumped off the rails and started going full speed downhill, Extinction is probably the second best of the original set.  It has some of the more creative centerpiece action sequences like the Infected Crow attack on Claire Redfield’s convoy and the showdown in the ruins of Vegas.  The movie also gets bonus points for having Russell Mulcahey in the Director’s Chair.  The end of the world setting might not be what everyone wants to see from Resident Evil but the director of Highlander sure knows how to make it look epic.

 
#4-Resident Evil: Vendetta

The CG Anime Resident Evil’s aren’t immune to the pratfalls of their Live Action siblings but they have been (mostly) better received.  Vendetta isn’t the first time we’ve seen series leads Chris Redfield and Leon S. Kennedy cross paths but I have to say that they might be slightly better served here than in Resident Evil 6 thanks to some over the top action that, while a far cry from true survival horror, is still fun as Hell.  Vendetta also continues to further the animation levels in each of these films and it looks great.  And while she is mostly relegated to the role of “damsel in distress” it’s good to see Rebecca Chambers make her CG Anime debut.

 
#3-Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City

The first film to follow after the heavily divisive Paul W.S. Anderson/Milla Jovovich saga, Welcome to Raccoon City tries to do right by fans of the games by going back to the beginning and trying to adhere closer to the style and lore of the games.  In trying to combine the plots of the first two games, this flick does succeed in creating an atmosphere of dread and terror and several locations and sequences are lovingly recreated.  Sometimes the shift to survival horror works too well, slowing down the movies pacing and not all of the characters are treated in the best way (looking at you Jill and Birkin).  Still, it’s a step in the right direction for Live Action Resident Evil films.
 

#2-Resident Evil

Released in 2002 and directed by the man who gave us 1995’s Mortal Kombat, Resident Evil is one of the all around better Live Action Video Game adaptations.  It might lack any familiar characters but still feels closest in tone to the survival horror franchise with an elite squad finding themselves overwhelmed and outnumbered against the undead and other horrors in the bowels of an underground scientific facility.  It’s trying to do its own thing and in effect mostly works fast paced and scary action horror flick with neat action and solid performances from leading ladies Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez.  The biggest detriment to this movie is that it’s not stand alone and kicked off a franchise that had less and less to do with RE the more it went on.  Best to just watch this one and forget the others ever happened.
 

#1-Resident Evil: Damnation

Damnation is a perfect example of how to take what works about a long running video game franchise and giving it the proper feature film treatment.  The animation is more polished and produces some genuinely terrifying moments when Leon’s being stalked in the streets and the moral dilemmas presented by the supporting cast make you care about the people in this city overrun by bioweapons  and corrupt politicians.  Leon also gets to act more like his usual action hero self as opposed to his literally stiff performance in Degeneration, which helps when his seductive lady love Ada Wong is around.  All in all, this feels like a proper sequel to Resident Evil 4 and a textbook example of how to make a proper Resident Evil movie: with chills, scares, people to care about and the occasional over the top zombie slaying action scene (and having a sexy knife fight between Ada and President Svetlana Belikova doesn’t hurt either).