Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City

[REX]

So whos gonna whatch it today on its premiere? I really like to know the opinons of the people from here.

 

[Bran]

So whos gonna whatch it today on its premiere? I really like to know the opinons of the people from here.

I'll be watching it this evening.

 

[SpaceOwlHoot]

I'm considering it if I find the time.

 

[Gun Powder B]

Based on early reviews, I'm noticing that people who've never played the games don't like it but series vets are giving fairly positive marks, despite flaws.

Basically, the diametric opposite of the Anderson films.

May go out to the theater and watch it later today.

 

[Conanrico]

There’s a huge contradiction with this movie. It looks like it tries to stay very close to the game with the locations but at the same time it has the worst possible cast. I wonder what the thinking was behind it. There’s a lot of wokeness and diversity rules these days. If the studio/producers/filmmakers are trying to check all those marks then I don’t think they’re trying to make a movie for the players or the fans. Iconic and beloved characters are what they are. And changing them is disrespectful to the source material and the fanbase. (I.e. raceswap superman? Really?? Lol) They could’ve gone with the voiceactors from the games. Nicole Tompkins, Jeff Shine, Neil Newbon, William Hope, Nick Apostolides and Stephanie Panisello are all exceptionally talented and good looking. Maybe this movie was supposed to be very cheap, some of the shots I’ve seen in the trailer definitely look super cheap. I regret their decision but I will still watch it although my expectations are set very low. I am a lifelong fan of resident evil since day 1 and the awful Anderson movies didn’t ruin that for me, so this one can be a dumpster fire. I’ll watch it and maybe it’ll be entertaining.
If there’s a sequel of this movie and Lady Dimitrescu is changed into Gender fluid shemale Themitrescu with her three obese eunuch sons then… our society is ****ed

 

[Gun Powder B]

I mean geez does everything have to devolve into culture war garbage? Good grief.

 

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

I really enjoyed this film.

 

[Bran]

Just watched it. Gonna watch it again probably just to further absorb it. There was plenty wrong with it from a structural standpoint. The individual scenes in the second half felt rushed. First half was good, and the first 30 minutes were amazing. Had an amazing setup. Very dystopian. Very Carpenter. They more or less show you the movie in the first trailer.

Hardcore fans are gonna be ****ed I think. A lot got cut. A lot of stuff changed that didn't need to. But overall, I didn't mind it. Mostly just disappointed in how many of the monster scenes were rushed through. Couple scenes were tense. Couple good jump scares actually done effectively.

 

[Gun Powder B]

Saw it. It was....not terribly bad. There was some genuine good jump scares. Even though it has plenty of decent RE themes, names, and references from the games, the atmosphere was a bit weak but that's about expected from a movie made in 2021 (Even though the film takes place in 1998 it's definitely a modern film), all the characters are basically one dimensional (Again, expected in todays climate), but there was some funny one liners.

My opinion is opposite of @Bran in regards that I found the first 30 minutes to be a bore fest but then it started picking up and the action scenes were not too bad and the fact that I will probably not watch it again because I do not feel that there is really much more to "take in", as the movie is not complex and everything is presented to you on a monotone platter and is not really thought provoking.

I was not offended by the film even as a hardcore fan of the series but it's certainly nothing to fall in love with either.

 

[Bran]

And to get back to earlier complaints... other than a few iconic rooms, nothing really stood out as "accurate locations". Pretty much what you see from the trailers.

I did find it hilarious, they reused an element from Umbrella Conspiracy and the Romero script, in that there is a PDA that has maps and such on it. I'm thinking it was more a reused element from the Romero draft than anything else.

 

[Plokoon111]

I thought the mansion rooms looked very inspired to the game. Its going to be hard to recreate everything exactly. I wish they would of had more Stars members. You could have had some cool death scenes or more monsters to introduce. Which leads me to say they should have focused one 0 and 1. Two games crams too much, and it moves to quick. I did enjoy the film with its flaws and rushed last act.

 

[Ark2000]

I did find it hilarious, they reused an element from Umbrella Conspiracy and the Romero script, in that there is a PDA that has maps and such on it. I'm thinking it was more a reused element from the Romero draft than anything else.

Yeah, i thought that too! I hope Roberts will say something about it in interviews or anywhere else, i think it's cool little easter egg for some of the fans who read those.

As for the movie, i liked it more for just being a solid horror film with decent action scenes, rather than RE adaptation. I'll definitely watch it again, and i can see myself liking it at least little more over time for same reasons. I agree with people who said that first half is very good setup and at times very John Carpenter-like, and it does have this B-movie feel which i know Roberts was going for, but at the same time i can understand why many people would complain about pacing and the look and feel of it. And i thought the score by Mark Korven was surprisingly very good. I can't defend some issues that the scripts has and some character decisions, which i know will annoy lot of people, but if there are any bigger complaints i have about it, well one would be the CGI which really is not that good and i wish they used more practical effects, but then again, you never know would the movie got The Thing (2011) treatment by the studio even if they did used more practical effects. Other complain would be the running time, and i might be one of the only few who feels this way, but i wouldn't mind if the movie was longer, maybe full two hours long, and with some more scenes explaining the story and characters, and at least one or two more creatures i always wanted to see onscreen, like Hunters, Chimeras, or Crimson Heads.

Right now, when it comes to RE adaptations, produced or unproduced, Romero's script is my favorite, followed by this film, McElroy's script, and Anderson's 2002 film. I would recommend it to RE fans and anyone else who loves horror and zombie films, but i would warn them to go into it with low expectations.

 

[Gun Powder B]

I am of the opinion that Romero's script would have been best if only they didn't screw up Chris Redfield. It may not have been a stellar masterpiece but it probably would have been the best because I don't think it's possible to make a great film adaptation right now. You can focus on little things like length, CGI, and set pieces but I don't think my opinion would have been much different even if they corrected a few specific things: The overall tone of the film would have been consistent regardless of tiny details. There's simply no originality and vision in the movie making world at this point in time, everything is just....bland?

Perhaps in a decade or two we'll get a good adaptation but not now, it's just not a good time to get your hopes up for the entertainment industry in general, just have to wait for the pendulum to swing back (it always does).

 

[Hardware]

I just came back from the theater (in my neck of the woods it has been released today, November the 25th). I don't really know how to judge this movie. It's neither good nor bad. I agree with most of what @Bran said. The story structure is a mess and the movie wastes waaay too much time setting up story elements that didn't need to be there. Some moments are quite cringey (the truck exploding in front of the RPD and the trucker walking in). Lisa Trevor was puzzling at best. From the look of some locations (like the cellblock or what they tried to pass for NEST), it's pretty evident they didn't have a lot of money. Actually, most of the padding seems to be there to make up for the lack of budget. I am pretty sure they could've balanced the RE1 and RE2 stories better hadn't they wasted so much time in the beginning: the main beats of both games' plots can fit a 2+ hours movie.
I am not going to comment on the performances or the dialogues because I had to see it dubbed - I'll have to watch it again when it hits the home-video market to get a better idea. Most of the cast couldn't be more wrong in the looks department: the only one who is believable in his role is Robbie Amell as Chris, even though Kaya Scodelario works as the ballsy leading lady. The girl they got to play Sherry couldn't have been more anonymous - it's almost as if they cast the first little girl they found down the street.
That said, the director might not be that good at writing but certainly knows how to shoot a horror movie, and some moments really took me by surprise: the Spencer mansion bits (the little we see) really look straight out of RE1make. Also, most of the CG looks OK on the big screen - because, unlike the online trailers, everything is darker. The cinematography is rather uneven: it's a mesh of different approaches to lighting, some not as good as others. That said, I really like how much most shots scream "anamorphic lenses" aloud - they really fetishized their lens kits.
At the end of the day, it's hard to look at it as something other than a glorified fan movie...even though I cannot escape wondering how much the last-minute reshoots and re-edits influenced the final product. Maybe someday we'll find out.

 

[Hardware]

I did find it hilarious, they reused an element from Umbrella Conspiracy and the Romero script, in that there is a PDA that has maps and such on it. I'm thinking it was more a reused element from the Romero draft than anything else.

Yeah, the minute Wesker was handed the handheld device I couldn't avoid thinking about Trent doing the same with Jill in the SD Perry novel...and that one bit with Wesker playing the piano to access the secret room did remind me of Romero's script. I also liked that, just as in Romero's version, Wesker is in it just for the money - which is what I always thought to be his motive in the original game.

 

[Ark2000]

At the end of the day, it's hard to look at it as something other than a glorified fan movie...even though I cannot escape wondering how much the last-minute reshoots and re-edits influenced the final product. Maybe someday we'll find out.

I couldn't tell or notice any sings of re-shoots, but the second half did seem that it went by bit too fast, i'll have to see the movie again to try and guess what could have been changed in post. I haven't checked to make sure yet, but from what others have said, there are some shots in trailers and some locations in behind the scenes photos which are not in the film, i just heard how Mr X was supposed to be or actually was in the film but didn't made it into the final cut, and going from some info we got before, it seems like this probably was longer film originally. I know some rumors leaked out (as they always do) after test screenings, but i don't think there was much differences. It reminds me on how some other recent films, like Rambo: Last Blood and Halloween Kills, were basically fully finished only to get cut down at last minute after test screenings. I hope that if it exists, extended cut of this film will be released very soon, because like i said, it needed to be little longer in some parts. I would hate to see history repeat itself and for same thing to happen with this one like what happened to 2002 film. That one was also originally longer and was cut down before release for couple reasons (pacing, rating), and Anderson promised to release extended uncut version, but it never happened.

 

[Gun Powder B]

and going from some info we got before, it seems like this probably was longer film originally.

This logic applies to literally all films. They are almost always many hours long until they are cut into theatrical length. You've seen all these director's cuts and stuff right? That's just the things they kind of regretted removing in the first place restored.

 

[Ark2000]

I know, i always found stuff like workprints and director's cuts of films interesting, sometimes those really are better than what was released. But what i meant in this case was that maybe originally we were supposed to get longer film, and i don't mean Roberts' first cut but his possible director's cut, only for it to be cut down maybe not by his decision but by studio's. That's why i rather wouldn't blame him for any pacing or plot holes issues until we get to find out more about film's behind the scenes story.

 

[Hardware]

I couldn't tell or notice any sings of re-shoots, but the second half did seem that it went by bit too fast, i'll have to see the movie again to try and guess what could have been changed in post. I haven't checked to make sure yet, but from what others have said, there are some shots in trailers and some locations in behind the scenes photos which are not in the film.

The movie definitely went through re-shoots at the eleventh hour - about a month or so AFTER it was announced they only had to add VFX. it was in the trades...and it really feels like a movie that has been hastily reshaped in my opinion: too many loose ends. Signs of reshoots are usually VERY hard to spot unless some HUGE mistake has been made (as in THE PREDATOR). Yeah, there's stuff in the trailers we didn't see in the movie - the most glaring one is Lisa "stretching out".

 

[Hardware]

As a side note, I do like how they decided to show Raccoon City as a dying town. And, yeah, it does try to get a John Carpenter-ish vibe: even the font for the title cards is straight out of "Escape from New York". The RPD part kind of feels like an attempt at doing "Assault on Precinct 13" with zombies - except it doesn't quite work. It's a very mixed bag at the very least. I don't hate it but I don't love it either.