Just Leave and Don’t Look Back
Introduction
Recently I watched Arcane, a Netflix television series centred around the League of Legends universe, and I was astonished by the delicate decisions made to craft the show. The series was proof that video games can be adapted into other mediums with a similar level of success.
Before this the release of this flick, the Resident Evil franchise had gone through several films before this one. Each one with their own different levels of success, with its CGI in-lore films and mini-series set between the games to whatever on earth Paul W.S Anderson was directing with the live-action stuff.
Despite the massive work that Capcom has gone through over the years to convert their beloved franchise for cinematic viewership, they failed to capture that same claustrophobic sensation depicted in the games. Then comes Johannes Roberts, a director with a below-average film rating, pitching the idea to recreate an accurate retelling of the first two games for a new audience.
That is how we got 2021’s Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City, a cesspool of memes and easter eggs tacked together to make this failed abortion of an action-horror film.
Plot and setting
Welcome to Raccoon City incorporates the plot of the first two games and squishes them into a blender for an effect that sounds just as bad on paper as it does in practice. While independently, the games are the perfect slow-paced thrill rides. As a single film, they come across as a haphazardly stitched mess at best.
The film opens with a unique introduction, showing our protagonists, the Redfield siblings, as children living in an Umbrella funded orphanage. The orphanage bares some similarities to the one found in Resident Evil 2‘s remake. However, Roberts takes a different approach from the get-go as we see a young Claire(portrayed by Kaya Scodelario) trying to interact with a very mutated Lisa Trevor, forming a sort of bond with the monster. While the introduction was different from what I expected, it was not unwelcomed.
Years later, Claire returns to Raccoon City to get her brother out of dodge after hearing rumours that Umbrella has poisoned the city’s entire water supply. However, being more muscles than brains, Chris(portrayed by Robbie Amell) dismisses her pleas and joins up with the rest of his squad to investigate the disappearance of two officers, which leads to the events of the mansion incident from the original game. Meanwhile, Claire Redfield teams up with Leon S Kennedy to bunker down in the police station as the city transforms into a necropolis overnight.
There are many things wrong with this format as Roberts struggles to craft a coherent plot. The film spends too much of its time building up to the events leading to the games, using mainly references to convey its narrative. One scene, in particular, comes across as just goofy, as a mutated old woman writes “Itchy Tasty” on Chris’ window before charging straight through it to attack Claire, a reference to a note found in a caretaker’s bedroom from the original game.
The second half is marginally better than the first, with key events happening way too haphazardly before the narratives of the two games collide like a car crash. Ideas taken from other games like Resident Evil: Code Veronica make an appearance, but these can be taken as merely references and not something substantial like sequel baiting.
It is a known factor that the Resident Evil games are notoriously short but contain several well-crafted moments within their gameplay to keep the player invested. Yet, it feels like the film is actively making an effort to diminish the relevance of these scenes through bad directing and pacing.
One example comes from the appearance of the “first zombie”, a chilling sequence taken from the first Resident Evil, where you come across this man devouring the flesh of his latest victim as he slowly tilts his head towards you. The film manages to pull off this scene to a similar effect but has already been spoiled through the several encounters that happened prior, losing the impact.
While bashing this film into submission does feel de-stressing, it does come across as harsh to talk about only the bad without mentioning some of the film’s positive attributes. Thankfully, Resident Evil Welcome to Racoon City does tick some boxes.
Looking at the original police station and mansion halls brought to life for live-action was an incredible sight. If capturing the essence of nostalgia was their objective, they sort of succeeded.
This film also recreates one of my favourite scenes from the Resident Evil 2 remake, where a truck driver gets distracted and accidentally runs over a woman, who happens to be a zombie. In this adaption, he has Claire and his dog riding shotgun. While the remake does hold a special place in my heart, I enjoyed the film’s reimagining of it, teasing what is yet to come.
The soundtrack was decent as well, managing to imitate the opening theme from the Outbreak spin-off series, a couple of games I do recommend playing, by the way.
Characters and Performances
Roberts mentioned that he wanted actors that captured the soul of the characters and not their appearance, so what kind of drug was he on when he scripted Leon, Jill and Wesker’s personalities.
Let us start with Tom Hopper’s Albert Wesker, the captain of Raccoon City’s elite police unit, STARS. Wesker’s presence in the games is intimidating, playing the role of a larger-than-life supervillain with goals of global domination. Then comes Roberts with the meat cleaver to chop off the man’s balls, transforming him (along with Leon) into a chump.
In the games, he is a cold-blooded killer who is only out for himself, manipulating characters around like pawns to reach his end game. However, Hopper’s version of the villain comes across as a petty and uncertain gun for hire than a conniving evil genius. It looks even worse, seeing him in a relationship with Jill Valentine.
Speaking about Jill Valentine, the character is practically unrecognisable. While the STARS officers seem to have a bit more freedom than the rest of the force regarding their uniforms, John-Kamen’s outfit feels like it came from a car boot sale. What? No one could find a light blue T-shirt and a barret?
Jill spends most of her time dishing out memes and references in the cringiest of ways. During the movie’s first half, one could consider her to be on par with Barry Burton on stand up.
The movie then presents us with a character who is all bark and no bite, never allowing her a chance to shine. The film even adds even more insult to injury by having Wesker handle the only puzzle from the game, which only she can do.
Finally, we have Leon S Kennedy played by Avan Jogia. In the games, Leon is the ideal cop who makes the best out of every situation he is in and eventually becomes a government agent and bodyguard to the president of the United States. He is that guy who wakes up and does his job no matter what it is, even if it involves a zombie apocalypse. Welcome to Raccoon City manages to devolve Leon’s character to what can be summarised as a little bitch.
There is nothing wrong with Avan Jogia acting at all, to the point if you could believe his portrayal if you never played the games. Leon here is a lazy good-for-nothing who tries to grow a pair as the film progresses. He spends the first half of the film sleeping on the job, and the second half has him confused, screaming for his dear life. This personality assassination is a far cry from the character depicted in the games, who is known for being extremely reliable.
Conclusion
As a fan of the Resident Evil franchise, I cannot recommend this film to anyone without feeling guilty about it. The narrative is bloated with twenty-year-old memes and references to the games, while the characters feel like cheap knockoffs. While not as bad as the final few films from Paul W.S Anderson, Welcome to Raccoon City does not deserve your time.
If you want to watch a better video game adaptation, why not try out Detective Pikachu or Sonic the Hedgehog. If you are still desiring some Resident Evil content, I recommend checking out the first two from Paul W.S Anderson. While they are not narrative Shakespeare, they are still fun to pass the time. Do you want to see your favourite characters in a single movie, check our Resident Evil: Degeneration, a CGI movie made by Capcom back in 2008. Just please, don’t watch this movie!
