Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City

[S.T.A.R.S.4892]

I'm definitely going to see the film, but I am not going into it expecting a 100% faithful adaptation. I'm happy that the awful Anderson universe is finished, but ever since that massive slap in the face, I'm cautious about any RE film that is not CGI (because those always deliver, for me, at least).

 

[Bran]

Trailer tomorrow.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1445773340912885760

 

[Hardware]

Well, again, Lisa looks pretty good (she'll never look like in the game, or, more properly, what you can grasp of her - that kind of design would never work on a human being without a lot of CG - we're talking about painting huge chunks of her face in green or blue and then removing them). That dog though...hell, whatever: people complained about the dogs in Anderson's movies despite them looking pretty good to me...

 

[PinkHerb]

OMG finally

 

[Hardware]

Well, it's here. It doesn't really change my expectations...the Spencer mansion hall is clearly done on a green screen (they even added some extra blur at the edges of the frame, like it was shot with a very lousy lens from the 60s at full-open, to soften the mattes), but other parts of it look like a real place - I seem to remember they actually shot parts of it in a real colonial mansion. The CG creatures, including G-William, are what they are...they don't look worse than in Anderson's movies (especially the last three ones)...I reckon a RE movie cannot look much better than this anyway: one could get actors that look more like the characters, but, when you have to make a gory horror movie with lots of different creatures, nobody is going to give you an Avengers-level budget (even though those Hollywood blockbuster have uneven VFX too, so...).

As for the story...it probably makes sense for Claire to be in RC for a different reason than finding her brother and BEFORE the infection spreads: her side of the story in RE2 was always a bit lacking when you really think about it. She was turned into Chris' sister to have a link with RE1, but otherwise, her main goal was escaping with Sherry. She seems tougher than Leon and people are going to cry about it, but girlpower works and he's still a rookie after all.

 

[Bran]

I'm just not convinced. At the very least they probably only plan to use this trailer to sell the movie... and they failed with one trailer... I'm just not convinced that anyone was excited to work on this movie.

 

[Hardware]

There's another one

 

[Ikawaru]

Aesthetics are pretty on the money, which is good, but everything else? MEH, I can already picture it being a 2 hour laser tag fest with all the content they're trying to cram in there.

 

[Ark2000]

Well, i've seen worse trailers. To be honest, i can deal with story changes i've seen so far and some obvious issues and annoying things any modern movie is likely to have, and only things i didn't liked about this is bad CGI (i mean really, i know the budget is limited but try spending it on practical effects then or don't try to go so big if you don't have the right tools), and the song choice in first trailer was also bad. That second trailer on the other hand i liked better. If they only released that one, i would probably still have more of a hope for the film.

 

[Bran]

There's another one

Okay, that one was much better.

 

[Rain611]

Okay, that one was much better.

Agreed, 100%

 

[Jonipoon]

Yep. That looks terrible.

Although the second trailer has better editing, it doesn’t take away the low-budget feel this has... I’ve seen fan films with better lightning than this, and I can’t for my life imagine that the average moviegoer will look at this and say ”Yeah, that looks interesting”. The trailer actually does a very bad job at explaining what’s going on - if you don’t know anything about Resident Evil, this trailer will leave you feeling very confused... so much for trying to reach out to a wider audience, lol.

Also, even though it was kind of expected to see Claire as the protagonist (Kaya is arguably the biggest and most recognizable star among the cast), making Claire the main focus for a Resident Evil origin film is still a terrible idea from a story perspective. Maybe they should’ve made Chris the main character instead, you know the guy who actually went to the mansion? Or if they wanted a female lead so badly, why not Jill?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - cramming the stories of RE1 and 2 into one movie is a recipe for disaster. They are so very different in terms of tension and build-up, and you have no returning characters. They even had to make Chris stay in Raccoon City instead of going to Europe just so he could meet up with Claire and make some sort of ”consistency” between the mansion and city part.

 

[Bran]

Yep. That looks terrible.

Although the second trailer has better editing, it doesn’t take away the low-budget feel this has... I’ve seen fan films with better lightning than this, and I can’t for my life imagine that the average moviegoer will look at this and say ”Yeah, that looks interesting”. The trailer actually does a very bad job at explaining what’s going on - if you don’t know anything about Resident Evil, this trailer will leave you feeling very confused... so much for trying to reach out to a wider audience, lol.

Also, even though it was kind of expected to see Claire as the protagonist (Kaya is arguably the biggest and most recognizable star among the cast), making Claire the main focus for a Resident Evil origin film is still a terrible idea from a story perspective. Maybe they should’ve made Chris the main character instead, you know the guy who actually went to the mansion? Or if they wanted a female lead so badly, why not Jill?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again - cramming the stories of RE1 and 2 into one movie is a recipe for disaster. They are so very different in terms of tension and build-up, and you have no returning characters. They even had to make Chris stay in Raccoon City instead of going to Europe just so he could meet up with Claire and make some sort of ”consistency” between the mansion and city part.

Well, the good news is, it's looking less likely it will do well profit-wise. Gives the fans a chance to show Hollywood they can do better.

 

[Turo602]

Hollywood just has to stop with these video game movies full stop.

 

[Hardware]

Hollywood just has to stop with these video game movies full stop.

Quite funnily, this is not a Hollywood movie: the lead production company (Constantin Films) is German and the other companies involved are Canadian and British. Sony Pictures is the only one that can be considered "Hollywood" (especially since it was born after Sony bought Columbia-Tristar and rebranded it), but, in truth, it's an International entity.

 

[Hardware]

I gotta say, almost a day later (in my timezone), I cannot find a reason to not watch this one upon release: it's clearly low-budget (it sort of reminds me of the Hellboy reboot) but at least it tries to be like the games. Plus, I don't think it can be any worse than Anderson's stuff.

Well, the good news is, it's looking less likely it will do well profit-wise. Gives the fans a chance to show Hollywood they can do better.

Well, I wouldn't bet on it: a lot of people on the Internet are getting pretty hyped (we're talking 50-50 here: the other half thinks it sucks), and let's not forget all of Anderson's movies did good business. Movies don't have to be good to turn in a profit: they only have to lure people to buy the tickets and RE as a brand is still a big draw. The low budget also means it doesn't even need to be a smash hit and I've already seen the 1st trailer dubbed in multiple languages, meaning it has already been sold to multiple territories. Personally, I think the only thing that can actually harm it is that "only in theaters" release.

 

[KManX89]

I gotta say, almost a day later (in my timezone), I cannot find a reason to not watch this one upon release: it's clearly low-budget (it sort of reminds me of the Hellboy reboot) but at least it tries to be like the games. Plus, I don't think it can be any worse than Anderson's stuff.


Well, I wouldn't bet on it: a lot of people on the Internet are getting pretty hyped (we're talking 50-50 here: the other half thinks it sucks), and let's not forget all of Anderson's movies did good business. Movies don't have to be good to turn in a profit: they only have to lure people to buy the tickets and RE as a brand is still a big draw. The low budget also means it doesn't even need to be a smash hit and I've already seen the 1st trailer dubbed in multiple languages, meaning it has already been sold to multiple territories. Personally, I think the only thing that can actually harm it is that "only in theaters" release.

TSS and Reminiscence beg to differ (it made $2 mil in its entire OW, which is unheard of even for pandemic numbers). Same day digital releases have been terrible for WB’s business this year. Why pay money and risk getting COVID when you can watch it for free at home at no risk to your health? Matrix Resurrections is gonna get absolutely dwarfed by Spider-Man: No Way Home at the box office for the same reason. One’s free to watch at home, the other isn’t. So... yeah.

As for the trailer, I have mixed thoughts. It does capture the look and vibe of the games (the RPD looks ripped straight out of REmake 2), but there’s some schlocky CW-looking stuff I just can’t wrap my head around. It looks straight out of a straight-to-TV movie in some areas. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see in November, but I’m keeping my expectations in check.

 

[Hardware]

TSS and Reminiscence beg to differ (it made $2 mil in its entire OW, which is unheard of even for pandemic numbers). Same day digital releases have been terrible for WB’s business this year. Why pay money and risk getting COVID when you can watch it for free at home at no risk to your health? Matrix Resurrections is gonna get absolutely dwarfed by Spider-Man: No Way Home at the box office for the same reason. One’s free to watch at home, the other isn’t. So... yeah.

As for the trailer, I have mixed thoughts. It does capture the look and vibe of the games, but there’s some schlocky CW-looking stuff I just can’t wrap my head around. It looks straight out of a straight-to-TV movie in some areas. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see in November, but I’m keeping my expectations in check.

How is your statement different than mine?

 

[Mr.R]

Looks like a train wreck, yeah. Story will be all over the place.

However...it's interesting the direction they gave to Claire, instead of just being "Chris sister". And to be honest, I'm kinda digging Kaya in the role. She really looks the part (probably the only one who does) and able to hold her own. So...I think I'm gonna watch for her?

Sucks that Jill didn't get much attention. She's barely in the trailers and it looks like her role is "support".

Also, weird they didn't showed Wesker much...

Also 2, Irons isn't giving me villain vibes in the trailer. Maybe they changed his role somewhow?

 

[KManX89]

How is your statement different than mine?

How is a theatrical exclusive release gonna hurt its numbers?

But I just watched the international trailer and it looks a lot better, don’t know why they didn’t just go with that one. I still don’t have HUGE hopes for this.