MOVIE REVIEW: RESIDENT EVIL : Welcome To Raccoon City

I purchased the ticket for the latest Resident Evil flick on a late night, so convinced I would be tuning into trash that that was the topic of the conversation shared with the waitress behind the concession stand.

Prejudices aside, I was pleasantly surprised that this RE reboot was a love letter to the games that could be found on a PSX greatest hits disc. From the settings to the music, everything is primarily spot on and set up to pay homage to the winning franchise. Sure the characters may not appear in their trademark styles, but they are all there from Chris Redfield to Jill Valentine (I see you Hannah John-Kamen portraying the best character on the arcade button masher “Marvel vs. Capcom 2” this side of a mutant-hating Sentinel).

Some of the nostalgia does stray away from it’s tongue-in-cheek nature and become annoying, with the screenwriters constantly shoving Blockbuster and Palm Pilot references in the audiences face, but these moments are fleeting and forgivable since “Welcome To Raccoon City” is a horror flick , and horror films have to maintain a balance between terror and comedy to be successful for all audiences in attendance , not just the fanboys.

Still, “Welcome To Raccoon City” features enough to keep those who pay attention to the franchise satisfied as well as enough to keep the casual moviegoer entertained. Goofy CGI zombies , and flying cows are just the tip of the iceberg while the score ripped straight out the games are enough to keep viewers on their toes while legit monsters from the games consoles after expanding from the PSX, run rampant over the screen from the memories of gamers all over the world. “Welcome To Raccoon City” , welcome to a celebration for a franchise that deserves a faithful adaptation, and finally finds that here after all these years.

Score : 4/5