It's 1998 Raccoon City. The Umbrella Corporation is shutting down operations in the city. Claire Redfield (Kaya Scodelario) has come back to warn her brother, policeman Chris Redfield (Robbie Amell). There are rumors of poison in the water. The company had actually leaked the virus into the town's water and it's turning its inhabitants. Chris, Jill Valentine (Hannah John-Kamen), Albert Wesker (Tom Hopper), and others are heading to the mansion to search for missing cops. Chief Irons (Donal Logue) leaves slacker new rookie cop Leon Kennedy (Avan Jogia) alone in the station as he tries to escape. William Birkin (Neal McDonough) is the lead doctor in the experiments.
I really like the first half of this movie. It's relying more on the franchise's horror elements. It's a zombie horror movie. It reboots the franchise from other characters' POV. It really works. The story should gather the characters into that police station and let them fight their way out. At first, I thought it would gather the characters in that diner. That would have been great, too. Instead, the movie insists on filling out the checklist of the franchise lore and go back to the mansion. I understand the allure of revisiting and repeating. Star Wars keeps going back to the same planets despite having a whole galaxy. I really wish that they would do a side story with new characters that can branch off into somewhere new and unexpected.
I really like the first half of this movie. It's relying more on the franchise's horror elements. It's a zombie horror movie. It reboots the franchise from other characters' POV. It really works. The story should gather the characters into that police station and let them fight their way out. At first, I thought it would gather the characters in that diner. That would have been great, too. Instead, the movie insists on filling out the checklist of the franchise lore and go back to the mansion. I understand the allure of revisiting and repeating. Star Wars keeps going back to the same planets despite having a whole galaxy. I really wish that they would do a side story with new characters that can branch off into somewhere new and unexpected.