WELCOME TO RACCOON CITY

I remember very well the time when the first Resident Evil from Paul Anderson (Paul W. S. Anderson) hit the big screens. The headlines of the gaming and near-game press then were full of puns in the spirit of “Zombies are quiet here,” and the reviews themselves were mostly full of enthusiasm. I also succumbed to the charm of this film and since then I have not missed a single part, trying to watch them on the day of the premiere. However, with each film, I became more and more disappointed. The first part remained for me (and not only for me) the best in the franchise, the highest quality and most interesting embodiment of this game universe on the silver screen. Exactly until I saw Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City.

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All horror movies at once
The plot of “Resident Evil: Raccoon City” (welcome “Welcome” in the domestic translation of the name for some reason was discarded) is based on several games in the series at once: it is assembled from the events shown in Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2 and remakes of these parts. It turned out to be a kind of mosaic: here is a scene from the first part, when all of a sudden a large-sized object (literally) crashes into its scenery, as it was in the second.

Perhaps the most embarrassing thing about this compilation is that the events of Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2 take place on the same day (or rather, night) – September 30, 1998. While one group of characters goes to clean up Spencer’s mansion, the other group stays at the Raccoon City Police Station. However, you quickly get used to such a chronology. It even gives the story dynamism, because the plot regularly switches to some characters, then to others – you definitely won’t get bored.

Movie Review Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
The story nevertheless begins not from that ill-fated September, but much earlier: from the childhood of the two main characters – Claire and Chris Redfield. According to the film, the brother and sister grew up in an orphanage (the same one that was shown to us in the Resident Evil 2 remake). At that moment, of course, I rolled my eyes, but then quickly returned them to their original position: why, in fact, not? The childhood of these heroes has never been particularly covered, well, shelter and shelter, such a backstory also has the right to exist.

Thanks to the starting location, Welcome to Raccoon City immediately feels like a horror game. Gloomy, oppressive corridors, a lonely nurse in a red jacket, a pink toy hare. Is this really Raccoon City and not Silent Hill? But when the action shifts to 1998, the setting begins to better match the town that is about to be destroyed.

Movie Review Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
fanservice carousel
“Resident Evil: Raccoon City” is crammed full of references to the original games, so it will be difficult for a fan of the series not to poke a finger at the screen with the phrase I understood that reference. Sometimes intentionally flirting with the fans started to frankly blush, but, you know, it was such a pleasant embarrassment.

For example, a whole scene was built around the phrase Itchy, tasty from the first “Resident”: a zombie wrote this text on glass with blood. Once it was just a meme excerpt from a diary, but now it turned out to be such a painting. In our version of the translation, however, “itches” was omitted, leaving only “yummy”. By the way, about her – from the “Jill Sandwich” they also made a separate scene, and it was absolutely impossible not to burst out laughing at this moment.

Movie Review Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Yes, fanservice. Yes, the viewer from the outside will not understand at all what is so funny about it. But I was damn pleased to find out all this. Especially considering that I didn’t expect anything from the film at all – I haven’t been expecting anything good from the adaptations of Resident Evil for a long time!

Here the heroes play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata so that the wall moves off and reveals a secret path. Here is a zombie slowly turning its head. Here’s Chris lighting his way with a lighter. Here is a dude playing “Snake” on an old phone, and in the game he is killed by a giant snake … Wait, it didn’t kill him, but Richard. Oh, what a reference! But nothing, there was another good moment with the snake! The only thing that upset me was the absence of some kind of tyrant (Mr. X or Nemesis, for example). In general, the monsters in the film are scarce – zombies, crows, Dobermans, just one liquor; I don’t want to spoil the rest, but, believe me, there are not enough enemies.

Movie Review Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
The film is set in the nineties, and the spirit of the times is perfectly conveyed with the help of appropriate music. So, Claire is driving with a trucker to the song The Cardigans – My Favorite Game (I will consider this a recognition of the director, or, at worst, a musical supervisor). And the scene in the police station under Crush from Jennifer Paige (Jennifer Paige) is generally the perfect combo. I’m sure for those who grew up at that time, the soundtrack of the new “Resident Evil” will be like a balm for the soul. The rest of the selection of pop songs may seem strange: after all, “Resident Evil” is not “Guardians of the Galaxy” for you.