Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is a new and reimagined interpretation of the characters we were introduced to in 1996. It is also a reboot of the ill-conceived Paul W. S. Anderson films starring Mila Jovovich.
Set in the 90s Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City follows several notable characters from the history of the series. We are introduced to Claire Redfield (Kaya Scodelario), Chris Redfield (Robbie Amell), Jill Valentine (Hannah John-Kamen), Albert Wesker (Tom Hopper) and Leon S. Kennedy (Avan Jogia).
The film is set during one eventful evening in Raccoon City and follows all these characters as they try to survive this one night. Director Johannes Roberts takes an interesting angle with the film by combining elements of the plots from the first two games. This is achieved to varying degrees of success and I will discuss the gory details now.
Welcome to Raccoon City
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is a lot of fun. The film is at its most impressive when they are dealing with the plot elements taken from the first game. There is a sense of claustrophobia, stress and genuine horror. Following Chris, Jill and Wesker as they travel through the Spencer Mansion is easily my favourite part. There are some great scares involving the usage of lighting that genuinely made me jump. Watching the horror unfold around them is convincing and engaging.
On the other side of town (in more ways than one) is the storyline following rookie cop Leon and prodigal sister Claire. Their storyline is all about finding Chris. Their storyline sadly suffers from the most departures from the source material and that’s a real shame. The main reason is everyone knows Resident Evil 2 has so many iconic moments within it and I was scratching my head trying to remember if any were there. As well as that Leon came across as the comedic relief of the film and never felt truly effective. Thankfully Claire was there on hand so that he didn’t falter too much.
What is the real monster?
The monsters of Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City are a mixed bag of experiments. The practical ones are creepy as hell. Unfortunately, the CGI beasties are less impressive. I would dare say the 90s games did better work with them.
Ultimately Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is a cheeky bit of fun. It has a cast that I want to see in potential sequels and as another critic pointed out to me: This is the best Resident Evil film ever released.
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