Under the Umbrella

A look at the “Resident Evil” Film Franchise.

By Jason Pluscec (aka J-Man)

Introduction.

I own over 700 horror films on DVD. These are not burned mind you, but actual DVDs. I have loved horror films since I was 11 years old and my favorites were always the big franchises! Friday the 13^th, A Nightmare on Elm St, Child’s Play, Phantasm, Halloween, Hellraiser, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and even smaller ones like, Basket Case, Scream, Return of the Living Dead, Romero’s Dead Series, Evil Dead and so on, are all favorites of mine. Recently audiences seem to be going away from these franchises and looking to single horror movies, or remakes of those franchises. But actual franchises don’t exist much in horror except for the “Saw” series and the “Resident Evil” series. Both of which I really like. And even though its not original like Saw (Saw isn’t based on a comic book or something) I still like Resident Evil. It’s a series that gets better and better with every movie. However, some people are not liking the series and getting very upset over the fact that it doesn’t follow the video game that it’s based on. I’m writing this to give my take on it.

Mee-la Yo-vo-vitch (aka Milla Jovovich).

Return to the Blue Lagoon. Off topic you say? Not if you know your history. Milla was actually the star of that and I think it was her first starring role (she was in Two Moon Junction also). Anyway, the first Blue Lagoon was a nice movie about 2 lovers trapped on a island and the sequel is basically the same damn thing, except that Milla Jovovich is in it. I was watching a talk show that she was on talking about the role. I guess she was a model at the time or whatever, and I always thought super models were pretty ugly and too skinny. But I changed my mind when I saw Milla on that talk show! I thought she was just the greatest. I followed her career since then, with Married With Children, Dazed and Confused, Parker Lewis Cant Lose (one episode only) and I always thought she was really attractive, but when Fifth Element came out I was pretty surprised and actually found she had some acting skills. I know it’s a whatever role, but her character was so great in that movie and I think it has a lot to do with her. After I saw The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc, I was totally blown away. I think she should’ve been nominated for an Oscar for that role. I think she is a good actress that is still looking pretty damn good (remember, she’s had a baby!) So basically she is the total package for me. And I am glad that she is the star of this franchise.

Now that I bored you with Milla-fan crap, I can get to my point. She is one of the few actors that have stayed on with a franchise. Lets review: Michael Keaton – 2 Batmans, Christian Bale – 3 Batmans (I doubt he will return for a 4^th), Tobe – 3 Spidermans, and that’s just a few. Right now there are 4 RE (Resident Evil) movies and a 5^th is sure to come. Milla is still a big star, and keeps busy. She also starred in “Stone” with DeNiro and Norton this year. And after RE3, she made “The Fourth Kind”, so it’s not like she needs that series to continue her career. Sure she is married to producer/director Paul W.S. Anderson, but she can do what she wants. He didn’t direct them all! Regardless, she has stuck with the series and that’s how you build a franchise. Plus if you notice, Resident Evil is one of the few franchises that focuses on a female hero. Freddy, Jason, Mike Myers etc are all men and bad guys! Even Saw is really about the villains, and not the survivors. Something like the Evil Dead series is based on Ash, so that’s cool, but you don’t really find too many horror franchises focusing on FEMALE HEROES!.

Off my game.

Now before I continue, I have to admit that I NEVER played ANY of the games at all, I really want to though, mostly because of the movies. But if you wanna stop reading this, then you have that right. I will try to make a point with this article having not played the games.

First off, have you seen the Wizard of Oz? Ok. Have you read the book? Did you know it was a book? Did you know there were several books? Did you know they made a non-musical sequel based on the next 2 books continuing the story? If you answered “no” to these questions is your opinion of the classic film no longer valid?

I would argue that if you HAVE read all the books then your opinion is definitely more informed and probably more valid than someone who hasn’t read the books, but we can all agree that the movie is great – even though it’s different than the book! There were NO RUBY SLIPPERS in the book! Her shoes were silver! Those slippers are so iconic, yet they were silver in the book. Also, Oz was a real place there, not some dream-world. Sorry if I ruined someone’s childhood fantasy there, but you get my point. There were major changes to the storyline, but the movie is still a classic.

In any case, the major point here is that you don’t need to know everything about a particular property to make an educated assessment of one part of it. I LOVE He-man (in all forms, toys, comics, cartoons) and the live action film wasn’t accurate, but I still loved it cause it was a cool movie with He-man in it! I could go on and on but you get the idea.

All Pac-Man does is eat.

Pac-man goes around eating dots and you have to eat all the dots before the ghosts kill you. In Donkey Kong you have to reach DK at the top of the screen by passing different obstacles that he throws at you. Games used to be simple. Now you require a blu-ray disc in order to play them. I remember DK having a great story line – because there was a “cut” scene (they weren’t called that back then) but it shows you what happens in between game play. After you pass the “barrels” stage DK grabs the girl and runs away. Before the game starts you see him grab the girl and run up the building etc. So these scenes continue the flow of the game. Now cut scenes are like mini movies that are sometimes 30 mins long! You gotta have time on your hands to play games now a days. Which brings me to the Resident Evil games. I have not played them, but I hear the storyline is really good. Now I am all for a storyline, but when did games become mini movies where I have to navigate characters through long, overdrawn storylines. I want to play a game, not watch a game. So changing the storyline from the game to the movie doesn’t affect anything for me, since I don’t much care about seeing a visual interpretation of the game in real life.

Spiderman is a comic, so when they make a movie I want to see that comic come to life. But video games are mini movies that have come to life – in a CGI way at least, so why do I now need to see a movie bring a game come to life, when the game is already there. If you like Mortal Kombat, then you know the movie was great because it added more story because the game was just a 2D fighter. But Resident Evil is a huge game with a great storyline, so why do you need to see that in a film when you already own it as a game. It’s like making Pixar’s film “The Incredibles” into a live action film. It’s already a CGI movie, so what’s the point! I would prefer a new storyline with the movie that non-gamers can enjoy! But then again the movies themselves have a lot of game stuff in them anyways!

More than meets the eye.

I understand that gamers want the game to be adapted in live-action because they love the stories. Well I guess those who hate the RE films also hate: Transformers 1 & 2, GI.Joe, Street Fighter (with JCVD), Mortal Kombat Annihilation, The Nolan Batman films, Spiderman 3, Green Hornet, Star Trek 2009, Iron Man 2, Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, Starsky and Hutch, Wanted, Kick-Ass, Sherlock Holmes, Lord of the Rings, Clash of the Titans, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (remake), A Nightmare on Elm St. (remake), Halloween (remake), Superman Returns, all the X-men films and so on – because ALL of those are not anything like the source material. In some cases, like Transformers, they are not only UNLIKE the source material, but actually pissed on it (literally in Transformers). So pardon me if I don’t feel bad for you guys who didn’t get a “game accurate” RE film. Join the club. At least the RE movies are good. As I said, He-man wasn’t accurate, but at least it was a fun movie. Transformers, Superman Returns, etc, those movies destroyed childhoods, so at least you don’t have to experience that!

Monsters galore.

The monsters in the RE films are right out of the game. I have found some pictures to tell the story for me.

So basically as you can see, Jill Valentine, Chris/Claire Redfield, Nemesis, the dogs, the executioner and all the other monsters are right out of the games. So I am not getting this hatred? Oh, it took too long for those characters to get introduced, well maybe – but at least they did show up. And you know why – because the fans wanted it! When’s the last time fans actually got the studio to give them what they wanted. The fans kept bugging for more game accurate stuff, so they got it! The last fight in Resident Evil Afterlife is right out of the game. If you watch the features of the Blu-ray they show you the fight in the game along with the movie and it’s exact! They even changed the dogs to match the new game – in the new game the dogs split in half exposing teeth inside themselves. When are the fans gonna get what they want from Transformers. Or did the fans of Transformers want Bumblebee pissing on people, Optimus Prime tripping over bird fountains and Megatron getting defeated by Shia Labeouf?

The final point is that you are getting a GOOD movie from a GOOD game. Not a crap movie from a good game. I mean the characters look good, and the monsters look like the game. Transformers is just awful and no one looks OR acts like they are supposed to, so technically even though the characters are in the movie, we are not getting them in an accurate form.

AT least the film makers respect the material they are making the film from and the films are doing well too. So I just don’t get this hatred on the series. Just sit back and enjoy yourself for once!

J-Man.