Shoot ’em in the head!

>>Resident Evil echoes the zombie lore
of George A. Romero

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Film adaptations of video games have a bad track record to date. Tomb Raider and Mortal Kombat are a pair of excellent examples, particularly in comparison to the bloody, if not always bloody brilliant, Resident Evil. Why does Resident Evil, opening this week, seem to work where others failed?

Let’s consider a few things. Mortal Kombat was inspired by a fighting game, not a story-driven adventure game—which is what Capcom’s hugely successful Resident Evil game is, for all its spatter and ballistics. Unlike Mortal Kombat, there’s a fairly solid yarn there, tying together the outbursts of ultraviolence—this crazy business about zombies amok in a subterranean, corporate biotech facility. The amnesia gimmick—Alice, played by Milla Jojovich, can’t remember why she’s so good at popping these things—maintains a note of mystery.
Tomb Raider had a storyline and, better yet, an iconic central character, played by no less than Angelina Jolie. Problem was, the film version was a major-studio affair, watered down by the committee process for mainstream appeal. Not so Resident Evil. It bears the mark of Constantin Films, a lean, mean German indie operation that knows to target the game’s bloodthirsty cult following.

It’s important to note that producer Bernd Eichinger was the German distributor of Dawn of the Dead, back in ’79. Eichinger clearly remembers the impact and appeal of George Romero’s pop-apocalyptic zombie masterpiece. In fact, Romero fans will note the debt that Resident Evil owes not only to Dawn (certain touches are straight outta the Romero rulebook) but also his overlooked The Crazies. The latter was a bitter and ultimately hopeless look at the potential threat of secret germ-warfare research, questioning the ability of those responsible for such things to contain them in emergencies (that means you, Mr. Saddam!). While nowhere near as thoughtful as Romero’s films, Resident Evil does zero in on the fear factor of corporate malfeasance plus zombifyin’ germs.

Resident Evil opens Friday, March 15