Lor Gislason
New images of the Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down, The Strangers: Prey At Night) helmed Resident Evil film have been revealed thanks to IGN. The classic zombie survival horror series will be coming to theatres in November 24th and promises a return to the “terrifying roots” of a series that just turned 25.
The film follows the first two games, originally released for the Sony PlayStation in 1996 and 1998 respectively. The Special Tactics And Rescue Service (S.T.A.R.S) team has been called in to investigate reports of cannibalism following a series of brutal murders. They soon discover a plot by the Umbrella Corporation involving biological weapons, namely, the T-virus.
In the game, you can play as either Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield who have different abilities and storylines. Jill is considered an easier mode, due to her lock-picking skills, while Chris is more durable and has less inventory space.
Touted as an origin story to the original Capcom games, Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City will feature “scares and atmosphere rather than full-on action.” It has zero connection to the Milla Jovovich films, which progressively became more action-orientated with each sequel while straying further away from the plot of the original games.
Taking place two months after the events of the first game, Resident Evil 2 also features two playable characters, Leon S. Kennedy and Claire Redfield. Leon is having possibly the worst first day ever as a cop while Claire is looking for her brother Chris. The duo explore the remains of Raccoon City while being pursued by the terrifying Mr.X, a “Tyrant” type mutant towering over humans, sporting a trench coat and fedora.
Casting for Leon was reportedly difficult with Roberts seeking an actor with the right balance of humour and weariness. A remake of the game for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Microsoft Windows was released in 2019 to enormous success and critical acclaim, selling over 8 million units.
The difference with this film as opposed to the previous movies is that it is an ensemble where each of the main characters carries huge importance to the narrative. They are not just cosplay characters who have the exact hair and costume of the characters.
–Johannes Roberts
Lisa Trevor, a vitally important character to the events of the series, was also shown, hunched over and sporting her human-skin mask. Lisa is the teenage daughter is the Spencer family—the owners of the mansion from the first game—tortured and experimented on for years by the Umbrella Corporation leading to the creation of the G-Virus and Nemesis (Resident Evil 3) Tyrant monster.
Resident Evil has spawned multiple games, animated movies, comic books, novels and audio dramas. It is Capcom’s best selling series with over 117 million copies sold as of June 2021 with the recently released Resident Evil: Village.
Other cast members include Tom Hooper (Game of Thrones, The Umbrella Academy) as Albert Wesker, Chad Rook as Richard Aiken (Siren), Hannah John-Kamen as Jill Valentine (Netflix’s The Stranger) and Robbie Amell (The Babysitter and The Babysitter Killer Queen).
For more great content on Resident Evil, be sure to check out:
Previously On Resident Evil Revelations
Resident Evil 0 Suffers From a Case of Prequelitis
Resident Evil Code: Veronica is Too Much of a Good Thing
Resident Evil and Obtuse Horror Games
