OK, so I've realized most of the horribly-negative reviews are from non-fans of the series.
NEWS FLASH, if you are not familiar with the series, nor do you know about the events in Resident Evil you will not understand many things in the film. And I see some people complaining about how the CGI was bad, or how the voice dubbing was bad. If they did some research, they would know CAPCOM made the movie with a relatively low budget, the budget for Resident Evil 5 was much higher, hence the graphics look a lot better on there than what you would find in here.
This film is not meant to be a masterpiece, nor is it meant to be enjoyed by everyone. If it had, Capcom would have spent a lot more time with it, the budget would have been much higher, and more improvements would have been made (the film was announced in October 2007, and released 1 year later). So as you see, there was not much Capcom could make out of with what they were given.
This film was meant to be catered to the Resident Evil fans. It's purpose was to explain the events of what happened after the game Resident Evil 4 (taken place in 2004). It was a "to whom it would concern" kind of film.
Anyway, here's my quick review as a fan...(SPOILERS) As a Resident Evil fan I may say the film did fulfill its original intention of explaining the events after Resident Evil 4, but still had several different flaws. For one, some of the characters were enjoyable to watch on screen, but others came off as flat and two-dimensional. Leon, in particular, bothered me by his very monotonous tone and his emotionless expressions. He never smirked, nor smiled, nor showed anger, in several parts when it was presumed it would be in nature to do so. He portrayed very little human emotion, and I felt like Capcom was trying to hard to portray him as the "smooth badass" but he came off as unrealistic and wooden.
There were also a very unnecessary love pairing that had ruined the film for me. The characters Leon and Angela, while they never had portrayed any remote attraction or affectionate interest in each other throughout the beginning and middle of the film (unless you count long, silent, awkward starings at each other in several parts of the film as signals of "affection"), they presumably end up together, and share a kiss underwater, all in the matter of several hours. If this were real life, no two people in professional positions would be sucking face in only a couple hours.
There were also several other relatively smaller flaws, but it would be a waste of typing to type it all on here.
As for pros, the storyline was very good. It might confuse some people in several parts, but tied all together it was quite plausible and creative. Because I think the storyline of a movie is the most important aspect of it, this reason alone is the major reason why I gave the vote I gave for this movie.
As for the other aspects, several other characters were displayed very well. Claire, in particular, who unfortunately got less screen time toward the end of the film, was voiced by the actress who had always voiced Claire in Resident Evil; Alyson Court. She had always been the character Claire that many of us die-hard fans have come to know and love, and knew her character better than anyone else. Thus, she did an awesome job as portraying Claire.
Overall, this film had several flaws, some worse than others, but together it wasn't terrible. Not the best film I've seen, but I liked it in general, enjoyed it, and I believe it was far from the worst film ever. Especially since this film isn't meant to be enjoyed by everyone.
My rating: 6/10
NEWS FLASH, if you are not familiar with the series, nor do you know about the events in Resident Evil you will not understand many things in the film. And I see some people complaining about how the CGI was bad, or how the voice dubbing was bad. If they did some research, they would know CAPCOM made the movie with a relatively low budget, the budget for Resident Evil 5 was much higher, hence the graphics look a lot better on there than what you would find in here.
This film is not meant to be a masterpiece, nor is it meant to be enjoyed by everyone. If it had, Capcom would have spent a lot more time with it, the budget would have been much higher, and more improvements would have been made (the film was announced in October 2007, and released 1 year later). So as you see, there was not much Capcom could make out of with what they were given.
This film was meant to be catered to the Resident Evil fans. It's purpose was to explain the events of what happened after the game Resident Evil 4 (taken place in 2004). It was a "to whom it would concern" kind of film.
Anyway, here's my quick review as a fan...(SPOILERS) As a Resident Evil fan I may say the film did fulfill its original intention of explaining the events after Resident Evil 4, but still had several different flaws. For one, some of the characters were enjoyable to watch on screen, but others came off as flat and two-dimensional. Leon, in particular, bothered me by his very monotonous tone and his emotionless expressions. He never smirked, nor smiled, nor showed anger, in several parts when it was presumed it would be in nature to do so. He portrayed very little human emotion, and I felt like Capcom was trying to hard to portray him as the "smooth badass" but he came off as unrealistic and wooden.
There were also a very unnecessary love pairing that had ruined the film for me. The characters Leon and Angela, while they never had portrayed any remote attraction or affectionate interest in each other throughout the beginning and middle of the film (unless you count long, silent, awkward starings at each other in several parts of the film as signals of "affection"), they presumably end up together, and share a kiss underwater, all in the matter of several hours. If this were real life, no two people in professional positions would be sucking face in only a couple hours.
There were also several other relatively smaller flaws, but it would be a waste of typing to type it all on here.
As for pros, the storyline was very good. It might confuse some people in several parts, but tied all together it was quite plausible and creative. Because I think the storyline of a movie is the most important aspect of it, this reason alone is the major reason why I gave the vote I gave for this movie.
As for the other aspects, several other characters were displayed very well. Claire, in particular, who unfortunately got less screen time toward the end of the film, was voiced by the actress who had always voiced Claire in Resident Evil; Alyson Court. She had always been the character Claire that many of us die-hard fans have come to know and love, and knew her character better than anyone else. Thus, she did an awesome job as portraying Claire.
Overall, this film had several flaws, some worse than others, but together it wasn't terrible. Not the best film I've seen, but I liked it in general, enjoyed it, and I believe it was far from the worst film ever. Especially since this film isn't meant to be enjoyed by everyone.
My rating: 6/10