RESIDENT EVIL: Welcome to Raccoon City

 

Jeri Jacquin

Coming to Bluray and Digital from writer/director Johannas Roberts and Sony Pictures Home Entertainment comes RESIDENT EVIL: Welcome to Raccoon City.

Living at the Raccoon City Orphanage is Claire Redfield (Kaya Scodelario), brother Chris (Robbie Amell) and friend Lisa (Marina Mazepa). In charge is Dr. William Birkin (Neal McDonough) who uses each of them for his own personal experiments. When it becomes Claire’s turn to be part of it, she runs away.

Years later, Claire comes back to Raccoon City but watching a serious accident, a woman who is killed quickly turns into a zombie. Officer Kennedy (Avan Jorgia) also begins to notice strange behavior of the people around him. Getting away from that, Claire goes to look for Chris to tell him that Ben Bertolucci (Josh Cruddas) told her everything, but her brother does not believe her.

It does not take long before Chris sees for himself what is happening to all the people and Claire gets her brother away from it. The police station has the Alpha team headed up by Chief Irons (Donal Logue), Chris, Jill Valentine (Hannah John-Kamen), Richard Aiken (Chad Rook), Brad Vickers (Josh Cruddas) and Albert Wesker (Tom Hopper) who are now headed to a place called Spencer Mansion.

The problem is the mansion is now over-runned by the undead and Wesker is not honest with the team. As everything begins to fall apart, Birken takes one last opportunity to use something called a G-Virus before an unexpected visitor shows up.

Scodelario as Claire is the amazing bad-ass of the film who does not take nothing from anybody – even if they are not exactly alive. Getting grungy and protective is a great combination for Scodelario giving Claire what is needed to jump into the story.

Amel as Chris does not quite believe his sister until he sees it for himself. I mean really, the undead have to be seen and experienced right? (insert wicked smile) McDonough as Birkin is a scientist who does not care about anything except his experiments. The one thing that makes this character is that all McDonaough has to do is grin and stare and its kind of scary in itself!

Other cast include Lily Reid as young Claire Redfield, Holly de Barros as Sherry Birkin, Janet Porter as Annette Birkin, Daxton Gujral as young Chris, Dylan Taylor as Kevin Dooley, and Lily Gao as Ada Wong.

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Special Features include Replicating the DNA, Cops, Corpses and Chaos, Zombies, Lickers and the Horrors of Resident Evil.

Anyone who knows me probably can feel the tingle of excitement vibes I have for anything zombie, zombie like, undead, reanimated, walkers, etc. RESIDENT EVIL: Welcome to Raccoon City gives me that and a whole lot more. Along with the creepy and scary (especially on a 75” television with an amazing sound bar) creatures, there is intensity, a few jaw drops, and very loud action which makes for an amazing night in front of the television in the dark!

Writer/director Roberts made sure that nothing was left lame because, and it is true, there are some of that type in the genre. It was a wild ride dodging and weaving the undead with a story that means there is more to follow. The cast does their job but not without getting messy or bloody, but I am good with that.

In the end – witness the beginning of evil!