Resident Evil 1 & 2 Re-Released on DVD Together
Though this 2-Disc DVD contains both Resident Evil 1 and 2, this review will focus only on the latter. Based on the vomputer game of the same name, both of these scary, sci-fi adventures stard Milla Jovovich as Alice, an action hero who saves the world from hordes of cannibalistic zombies unleashed by Umbrella Corporation, a malevolent outfit bent on global dominance.
RE2 picks up right where the first left off with Milla being the only original cast member. The new cast includes a few recognizable faces like Sienna Guillory, Oded Fehr, and Mike Epps.
The story is set in Raccoon City whose skyline resembles Toronto. We find Alice rousing from a deep sleep in the Umbrella lab where she has been genetically-altered to become a super-human killing machine. Although she’s programmed to further the conglomerate’s diabolical plan, she manages to side with the good guys.
Major mayhem has broken out all across the city, as the ever-increasing reanimated corpses outnumber normal people. Alice, armed to the teeth, takes to the streets where she teams up with other survivors in a last stand against an assortment of creatures that feed on human flesh.
Overmatched, she finds herself trapped in a church with Jill (Guillory), a gun-slinging city cop, Terri (Sandrine Holt), a TV reporter, and L.J. (Epps) an escaped-con. What gives all this senseless slaughter a semblance of depth is that our heroines are desperately trying to rescue a little girl (Sophie Vavasseur) and escape Raccoon City before an atomic bomb is dropped on the town.
A riveting, well-acted, female empowerment flick, RE2 is an above average example of the horror genre.
Very Good (3 Stars)
Rated R for female nudity and violence.
Running time: 195 minutes.
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: Stuntman set tour, undead boot camp, bridge scene narrated by Milla Jovovich, sneak peak of Resident Evil: Extinction, “Behind-the-Scenes” and several additional featurettes.
