Alyssa Alley

The director claimed this movie would be "faithful" to the games, and yet somehow it ended up being as far from that statement as possible. I knew from the moment I saw the trailers, casting, and heard about the odd crossover plot that this film would be a disaster-- and it was far worse than I could have imagined. As an avid RE fan, I had hopes that there would be some semblance to the games, especially with all the claims from the cast and crew. Literally the ONLY thing even remotely close to the games are two establishing shots and the Licker, while the rest was simply tossed to the side with zero respect or regard for the franchise. I wouldn't be so harsh on this film if it wasn't so dearly promised to pay tribute to the games. Plus, the filmmaking itself left much to be desired. Spoilers ahead: None of the characters are even slightly alike their video game counterparts. Claire and Chris are, for some inexplicably unnecessary reason, nearly complete strangers with a strong distaste for each other. Throughout every single game, these siblings have been incredibly close and supportive of one another, with just about every appearance of Claire being BECAUSE of her concern for her brother. Not to mention all the good luck charms he gets her (which she promptly lends or gives away, but it's the thought that counts)! Hell, every famous outfit she wears has its crowning piece being a red jacket from Chris. Claire herself was rude, bratty, and presented as a delinquent for some reason. Chris hardly got any limelight and otherwise was void of his usual dutiful/passionate personality. Leon was a sleepy, stupid, drunk who seemed to hate his new job (and was terrible at it). Absolute throwaway as to who he was in the games; he also really liked to throw around the f-bomb, which made up about half his goofy lines. Jill was a mess, being a weird flirty girl with a complete lack of responsibility. Since when does she have a thing for the awkward and much-older Wesker, and why is she screwing around with her gun in public for fun? That's nothing like the Jill we know and love. She's supposed to be a respectable and strong solo-girl. Stop shoving romance into everything, none of these characters need it. And as for Wesker... You might as well have renamed the character Jim and it would have made more sense. Who the hell was that supposed to be? Funky rom-com broski who refers to his team like old highschool pals and has zero idea what Umbrella is all about? Probably the most annoying and backwards spin on any of the characters. Wesker is supposed to be a short-winded methodical villain who cultivated STARS from the beginning as his "guinea pigs". Worth noting this production isn't the actors' fault. It's the result of a poorly written and falsely advertised film base. That being said, the character inaccuracies still had me writhing in my seat. The plot itself was confusing and started off feeling like an 80s paranormal fan film. Strange and inconsistent editing, over-use of sharp horror stings, and a focus on Claire's weird new childhood trauma (not even partially inspired from the games). The story was trying to use her as a catalyst, but with the characters being in so many different places and doing different things, it fell apart the moment it started. Not a single thing correctly upheld to canon--which, again, it was stated by the director that this would be a FAITHFUL representation of the franchise--and overall it was just boring, if not irritating. Did I expect the movie to be a 1:1 representation of the game? Absolutely not; but they absolutely could have done better.