T5W#316-Top 5 Things I Know about Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City

Video Game Movie adaptations have been on the up and up the last couple of years.  Pokemon: Detective Pikachu, Sonic the Hedgehog and Mortal Kombat have all seen varying degrees of success and haven’t all outright sucked as many would expect (none of them are perfect but their miles better than what’s come before).  This fall, another Video Game Franchise will return to the big screen: Resident Evil.  This past Monday we got our first official look at Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City and the reception has been a bit more mixed than expected.  Well today I’m here to share what I know about the forthcoming return to Racoon City’s zombie infested streets and then some.  These are the Top 5 Things I know about Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. (Also two major reveals in two weeks, last weeks being Cowboy Bebop…will we have a third one for next weeks Top 5 Wednesday?)

#5-Goodbye Alice (Please don’t come back)

Last October I reviewed all six original Resident Evil movies…and pretty much hated all but maybe 1.5 of them (and most of them got some of the lowest scores in the history of this blog).  The Paul W.S. Anderson directed borefests strayed so far from the franchise that they only thing they had in common was the name.  On top of all that, Resident Evil’s wealth of interesting and legendary protagonists were shoved aside so Alice, played by Milla Jovovich, could slay Zombie hordes almost singlehandedly…which didn’t save her from having terrible character writing and a dull personality.  The movies were big and bombastic but often times boring and increasingly offensive to the Resident Evil name.  Well…that’s all done now.  Turns out “The Final Chapter” was just that, the end of that era of the Resident Evil films and Paul W.S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich wont be involved with any of the films going forward (I think even they were done after the fifth film and only did the sixth cause reasons).  Fingers crossed this reboot stays as far away from that dumpster fire of a saga as possible.

 
#4-Resident Evil 1+2 (Remake)-You Are (Allowed) a Redo

Welcome to Raccoon City might make you think the new Resident Evil will take place in the rainy, undead infested streets of the doomed titular town.  But there’s a little more to things than that.  The announcement of characters to be involved featured characters from the first two games in the Resident Evil Series.  Which means were getting a merger: part of the movie will see Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and Albert Wesker investigating the Spencer Mansion while Leon S. Kennedy and Chris’ Sister Claire will be fighting for survival in Raccoon City.  In Video Game cannon, the outbreak in Racoon City occurs in Resident Evil 2, a few weeks after the end of the first game.  Blending these two major stories together might be tricky but it’s also doable in a respective way.
 

#3-Cast and Characters

So we’ve got familiar Resident Evil names, but who’s playing them?  Leading the pack as Chris Redfield is Robbie Amell, cousin of Arrow’s Stephen Amell, who was the first Firestorm in TV’s The Flash.  Next we have Ant Man and the Wasps Hannah John-Kamen as Jill Valentine.  Tom Hopper, from The Umbrella Academy, plays Resident Evil’s ultimate big bad Albert Wesker who’s villainous origins we’ll likely see in the movie.  Last you have Kaya Scodelario from The Mazer Runner Trilogy as Claire Redfield and TV Star Avan Jogia as Leon S. Kennedy.  As far as castings go, this isn’t bad.  One can only hope they all handle these iconic roles better than the previous versions in the Anderson films.

 
#2-A Return to Horror

While Paul W.S. Anderson’s first Resident Evil film was probably the best of the bunch by a mile, the other films devolved into mindless action flicks with everyone getting super powers and T Virus enhanced strength to become some hybrid of nigh immortal super heroes.  Welcome to Raccoon City will strive to bring things wayyyyy back down from that.  The goal is to revisit the classic first two games and bring to the screen the sense of terror and despair players felt as they had to navigate corridors quietly and carefully while conserving ammo and hoping they could master headshots like a pro.  That’s not to so say we might not see an Umbrella Bio Weapon here and there.  But Welcome to Raccoon City should be a welcome return to the basics of what made Resident Evil great in the first place. 
 

#1-The First Look

So Monday we got the first look at the cast in costume in their separate parties wandering the hallways of two separate locations (presumably).  Chris, Claire and Leon are all rocking their character appropriate outfits: Chris’ full on tactical get up is straight out of the first game while Leon and Claire are rocking their looks from Resident Evil 2 Remake (which apparently this film is drawing a lot of inspiration from).  Jill’s look is what’s gotten a lot of mixed opinions from fans.  It looks like she’s mirroring Chris’ look and I know plenty are not happy that she’s not wearing her iconic S.T.A.R.S. uniform from the original game.  Hey they could’ve gone for broke and put her in the mission inappropriate tank top and miniskirt from 3…so I guess this is a good compromise.  We also glimpse a monster that I believe is from the first game, roaming the halls Mr. X and Lady Dimestrscu style.  Much like Cowboy Bebops First Look last week, the pics show promise, even if some aesthetics have been changed.  We’ll find out if it pays off when Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City hits theaters on November 24.