After the Paul W. S. Anderson adaptations of Resident Evil became a regular cause of disappointed groans from fans of the original survival horror, the promise of a true-to-the-games on-screen RE experience seemed too good to be true. Cautiously optimistic, following a series of promising screenshots from set pieces, showcasing the gloomy interiors of the Spencer Mansion, desecrated Police HQ, and ruined Raccoon City, Welcome to Raccoon City seemed to finally bring to cinema what Anderson’s action-heavy sci-fi franchise failed to do: faithfully and respectfully draw from the source material. Directed by Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down, The Strangers: Prey at Night), is Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City worth risking another T-Virus outbreak for?
Jill Valentine: What would the worst way to die be?
Jill Valentine’s very “subtle” reference to Yawn (the giant snake boss from ‘Resident Evil’) and Neptune (‘Resident Evil 2’).
Albert Wesker: What?
Jill Valentine: To be swallowed whole by a snake, or eaten alive by a great white shark?
In 1996, Capcom introduced the world to the survival horror of Resident Evil, exploring the eerie halls of the Spencer Mansion with its dark secrets, mutated monsters and undead inhabitants, fixed camera angles, and hilariously meme-able dialogue. The success of this entry, with its corny B-movie design and clunky tank controls led to the creation of a series that continues today to be a herald of the survival horror genre, alongside the likes of Silent Hill, where item management and limited supplies are as much a part of the tension as the zombies themselves. This was followed by 1998’s Resident Evil 2 and 1999’s Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, which brought the exploits of Umbrella to full-force during a T-Virus outbreak that consumed the nearby Raccoon City, serving as the big inspirations behind Roberts’ movie.
Following the giant pharmaceutical company Umbrella’s decision to move away from the small Midwestern metropolis of Raccoon City, anti-Umbrella conspiracist Claire Redfield arrives to find her brother, Chris, with incriminating evidence against them. But while the town itself falls apart due to extreme poverty and abandonment, it becomes clear Umbrella have left a few nasty surprises lurking under the city itself, affecting the residents of this city and making them notably more evil.
Leon Kennedy: Hey, sir, I know I’m new here, and I don’t really know what’s going on. but so, where are you going? Who’s in charge now?
Chief Irons: You are.
Leon Kennedy: No, no, no. No. Im a rookie, right?
Chief Irons: Yeah, well, congratulations, rookie, on the promotion. I’m sure your father would be incredibly proud that his pathetic specimen of a son is rising so quickly through the ranks.
Claiming to be a fan of the original Resident Evil games, Johannes Roberts attempted to bring the original locales and characters of the survival horror – notably pulling from the 2019 Resident Evil 2 reboot in particular – to the big screen. And it has to be said that there are certainly some faithful recreations of Raccoon City’s iconic locations, with some familiar story beats and character appearances. Stills from the film prior to its release had fans feeling a sense of optimism, if cautiously so, and while the set designs are certainly the highlight, there is also a notable use of practical effects, particularly on the undead Raccoon City inhabitants.
Sadly, that’s about as far as praise for Welcome to Raccoon City can go, though. While it’s true the storylines of Resident Evil‘s 1–3 take place at a similar timeframe – the events of 2 and 3 occurring concurrently – it is clear that Roberts has tried to condense them into a film under two hours long, feeling like a rough abridged fan film where it would have served better as a series of dedicated Resident Evil adaptations instead. The Spencer Mansion, a large part of the promotional material and primary location of the entire first game, only makes a very brief, fan-service appearance and little more, while characters throughout serve little purpose than to push the plot forward. True, the original characters were clunky and flat, but that’s because the games were attempting to bring a sense of B-movie horror writing to its design during an early era of narrative driven 3D gaming: perhaps not making this the best character material to try to capture so directly.
That said, where characters do deviate from the originals, it is noticeable, especially for fans – and surely Welcome to Raccoon City is predominantly aimed at fans of the games? Albert Wesker, for instance, changes from the cold and calculating, if mysterious S.T.A.R.S team leader turned-traitor with delusional ambitions of his own, to a young and muscular, somewhat stereotypical once-trusted-team-mate-turned-traitor, reduced to following orders from a mysterious benefactor like yet another uninteresting throw-away goon. Likewise, Jill Valentine, far from being the “master of unlocking” this time round, spends much of her time doing little to resemble her original character at all, besides sharing her name, while Leon Kennedy – the rookie cop – is characterised as useless, frequently caught napping at inappropriate times. At best, these characters are more inline with what you might expect from a poorly written fan film that attempts to add a little more creative freedom to the character writing, though on top of deviating too far from the original characters to be recognisable, they come across as wooden stereotypes. It’s hard to tell if this is entirely due to poor writing, or if the acting is at fault here too, but it is fair to say the script doesn’t exactly give its cast much to go by either way.
Leon Kennedy: You’re probably wondering what a guy like me is doing as a cop, right?
Claire Redfield: Kind of.
Leon Kennedy: Yeah. Me too.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City does at the very least attempt to feel at least a little more like an atmospheric horror movie than the action heavy blockbuster Anderson-Jovovich films before it, but sadly it doesn’t deliver on its scares, nor does it capture the vital “survival” part of the Resident Evil experience the games are known for. From the promotional material, there was an impression given that the film was originally intended to appeal to die-hard fans of the games, and while there is evidence of this in its set design, sadly there is little that will keep them from picking it apart or negatively comparing it to the source material. Casual fans or general horror movie fans, meanwhile, might be more critical of its thinly written horror thrills, poor character writing and mediocre acting, while its reliance on recognisable locations and characters from the franchise, even when scenes from the games are somewhat faithfully lifted, end up feeling more like a fan-service cash in than a true Resident Evil movie. While Roberts attempts to welcome us back to Raccoon City, sadly this is one you’re better avoiding, not unlike a T-Virus outbreak.
