DVD review (region 1)
Directed by Paul WS Anderson
Starring Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius, James Purefoy
Release date Out now

When a top-secret underground research station suffers a security breach, a crack squad are sent in to investigate. They find that the complex is over-run with flesh-chomping zombies…

Writer-director Paul WS Anderson has a reputation of making sci-fi movies that are critically derided but commercially successful (well, aside from Soldier, which nobody bothered with). Resident Evil proved to be one of Anderson’s biggest hits, a fast-moving adaptation of the classic video game that was popular enough to inspire two sequels. Anderson’s not an innovative director by any means, but he manages to create a big, dumb, action-heavy zombie movie that’s good fun if you remember to leave your brain in neutral.

Although the script, CGI and supporting performances are all variable, Resident Evil benefits greatly from its two action heroines. Milla Jovovich, as the security expert with memory loss, makes for an iconic lead – beautiful, resourceful and dangerous, while Michelle Rodriguez is no less formidable as a fearless, tough-talking soldier.

There’s also a memorable score from Marilyn Manson and Marco Beltram, which fuses moody ambient sounds to the crunch of heavy metal, and some rousing zombie action (including an undead dog being high-kicked in the chops). It’s hardly original, with Anderson plundering freely from Aliens and George R Romero’s Living Dead movies and inevitably suffering by comparison. But Resident Evil is a fast-moving crowd-pleaser and one of the few half-successful adaptations of a video game.

It’s clear from the DVD documentaries that Anderson takes his cue from the right places, as he name-checks such classic flicks as The Omega Man and Planet of the Apes. There’s an opportunity to see the alternative, fairly lame upbeat ending to the film, which only makes you grateful Anderson ditched it for his original downbeat resolution.

Other extras include a slew of featurettes that comprehensively talk through the movie’s music, effects (the zombie-canine apparently kept licking off its ‘skinned-alive’ make-up) and the transition from game to screen. There’s also a decent commentary where Anderson and producer Jeremy Bolt want to talk seriously about the movie, and Jovovich and Rodriguez just want to goof around. Matt McAllister

VERDICT: 6/10
Simplistic but exciting horror actioner.