Film series based on video game franchises haven’t done too well, but Resident Evil movies are an exception. The six-part saga starring Mila Jovovich ran for over a decade and was highly popular with viewers, with every installment performing exceptionally well at the box office.
The series is set to be rebooted with Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City, so it’s worth looking into how the first film series fared. Since the Resident Evil games are revered as being top in quality, the best way to assess the movies is to see where they were arguably better than the games and where they missed the mark.
Better: The Movies Stick To One Story Arc
The Resident Evil games have never had just one story to follow, with almost every new entry featuring a different scenario. In the movies, the storylines revolved around Alice, meaning the main arc was about whatever happened to her character.
While the plot did change in some ways over the years, Alice has always been front and center. Due to this, there’s a coherence to the plotline as viewers don’t need to familiarize themselves with an entirely different framework as they need to with the games.
Miss The Mark: Supporting Characters Are Far Weaker Than The Games
The characters in the games always have certain dynamics that make each one of them important to the main protagonists. On the other hand, the supporting characters in the movies felt largely interchangeable, and it didn’t help matters that these characters weren’t consistently shown across the series.
More than anything, the movies appeared to bank on fans being aware of game characters like Chris Redfield and Leon Kennedy, among others, rather than carve out their characters from scratch. Due to this, they didn’t have much going for them.
Better: Presentation & Design
Despite the games now entering ninth-generation consoles, their graphics are still a notch below other titles. Moreover, the Resident Evil games don’t really set up an environment in a way that wow the player at first glance.
While the movies aren’t the greatest in this regard either, they’re still pretty impressive in providing an idea of the world that Alice lives in. Every location sets the mood, whether it's an eerie tone or an action sequence that's about to begin.
Miss The Mark: Dialogue Is Too Cheesy
There are many times when the movies try too hard with their one-liners, resulting in cheesy dialogue. Even with a story that looks into the ethics of corrupting the human condition, the movies don’t have memorable quotes on the subject.
In its place, dialogue relies on characters commenting on things such as the enemies they’re about to face or the odds of them surviving. On the whole, the franchise misses the mark on complex storytelling, and viewers are encouraged to behold the action instead.
Better: The Simplistic Backdrop
It’s no secret that the Resident Evil movie series is purely meant for entertainment purposes rather than telling a layered story. The franchise embraces by presenting a simple backdrop that doesn’t require anyone to decipher the nuances.
This means they can appeal to a wide audience, especially since enthusiasts of this genre are looking for great action sequences first and foremost.
Miss The Mark: Overreliance On Camera Cuts
Watching a Resident Evil feature isn’t the most seamless experience, what with the direction of these movies being over the place. Mainly, it’s the fact that there are so many camera cuts that watching action sequences can sometimes be a chore.
Franchises that do this better are John Wick and Jason Bourne, where the action is easier to consume, while the Resident Evil franchise favors awkward angles that focus on character expressions in one shot, only to then jump to a wide-angle for no reason.
Better: Thematic Elements
To the films’ credit, they do go a long way in establishing the theme that the action will be deriving from. The best example for this would be Resident Evil: Extinction, in which the characters were in the desert and the setting came across like a post-apocalyptic world that they had to survive.
Along the same lines, Resident Evil: Apocalypse felt like a movie in which where the main intent was to escape due. Due to this style, it’s easy to differentiate one movie from the next.
Miss The Mark: The Movies Lack The Horror Aspect
It’s not that the movies didn’t have scary scenes to watch out for, but these sequences took a step back to allow for the action to be the main focus. The first two installments are scarier than the others, as the series progressed to become purely action-oriented.
This was a criticism the game series had also received, as Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6 were accused of having shed all the horror elements. However, the games have since returned to their horror roots and feel multifaceted in nature while the movies’ fear factor diminished greatly by the end.
Better: Combat Is More Rewarding To Follow
There’s no doubt that the action is what saved the series from mediocrity, as every movie had several scenes that went over the top but were a delight to watch. The combat is much more engrossing compared to the games, as the movies didn’t bring any restrictions for its characters.
This was taken to larger scales the longer the franchise went, to the point where Alice and her allies took on droves of enemies whom they defeated in creative ways. The games have largely kept players limited without allowing them to go all-out, making the movies a lot more empowering.
Miss The Mark: They Have A B-Movie Feel
The combination of the cheesy dialogue and lack of story depth has the side effect of making the Resident Evil franchise akin to B movies. As most B movies go, Resident Evil installments have a good reception from fans but are less praised by critics.
Although the Resident Evil movies have embraced their status as pure entertainment, they don’t have the genuine quality of the games. The video game series is noted as being among the top franchises in both sales and critical success, having introduced many gameplay elements that revolutionized the industry.