Resident Evil (2002)

Resident Evil (2002)

Taglines: Survive the horror.

In the near future, the powerful Umbrella Corporation has a hidden research facility called The Hive underneath Raccoon City, where the scientists develop genetically engineered drugs for medical purpose and biological weapons. After stealing the lethal T-virus, a thief contaminates The Hive and the artificial intelligence Red Queen seals the Hive and kills all the staff and guinea pigs.

A woman called Alice awakes naked in a bathroom of a mansion without memory and soon a commando led by a man called One subdues her and another man called Matt, who claims to be a cop. Alice learns that she is a security guard with her partner Spence assigned to protect the entrance to The Hive and her memory will return in an undefined period since she was affected by a gas. The Red Queen had a malfunctioning five hours ago and had shut down the facility and killed everybody releasing a lethal gas.

Resident Evil (2002)

Now they need to shut down the Red Queen and restart her systems. They use an underground train to reach The Hive and the Red Queen asks then to leave the place. However Kaplan disables the Red Queen opening the doors in The Hive. Soon the group learns that the staff has turned into zombies and now they are under siege of the zombies. Most of the commando dies and only Alice, Spence, Matt, Rain and Kaplan survive. Now they need to find a way to escape from The Hive since the system will shut down the exits in a short period. Who will survive?

Resident Evil is a 2002 German-British science fiction action horror film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson and produced by Bernd Eichinger and Jeremy Bolt. The film stars Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez. It is the first installment in the Resident Evil film series, which is loosely based on the Capcom survival horror video game series of same name. Alongside Jovovich and Rodriguez, it also stars Eric Mabius, James Purefoy, Martin Crewes, and Colin Salmon.

Resident Evil (2002)

Borrowing elements from the video games Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2, the film follows amnesiac heroine Alice and a band of Umbrella Corporation commandos as they attempt to contain the outbreak of the T-virus at a secret underground facility. The film received mixed reviews from critics but some highly praised Jovovich and the cast performances as well as the action sequences and the zombies design. It was a box office success, grossing more than $100 million worldwide. The film opened in 2,528 theaters and grossed $17,707,106 on its opening weekend (March 15–17, 2002). The film grossed $40,119,709 domestically and $102,984,862 worldwide.

After commercial success at the box office, a sequel, Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) was released. It was followed by Resident Evil: Extinction (2007), Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010), Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2016). Anderson did not direct the second or third films due to filming commitments with Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Death Race (2008).

Resident Evil (2002)

About the Story

Underneath Raccoon City exists a genetic research facility called the Hive, owned by the Umbrella Corporation. A thief steals the genetically engineered T-virus and contaminates the Hive with it. In response, the facility’s artificial intelligence, the Red Queen, seals the Hive and kills everyone inside.

Alice awakens naked in the bathroom of a deserted mansion with amnesia. She dresses, checks the mansion, and is subdued by an unknown person. A group of Sanitation Team commandos led by James Shade breaks into the mansion and arrests Matt Addison, who just transferred as a cop in Raccoon P.D. The group travels to the underground train under the mansion that leads to the Hive, where they find Spence.

The commandos explain that everyone in the group except Matt is an employee of the Umbrella Corporation, and Alice and her partner Spence are security guards for a Hive entrance under the disguise of a couple living in the mansion. Five hours prior, the Red Queen had shut down the entire facility and released a gas which killed everyone inside, flooded the labs, and destroyed the elevators, also causing Spence and Alice’s amnesia.

Resident Evil (2002)

At the Queen’s chamber, a laser defense system kills Shade and three more commandos. Despite the Red Queen’s urgent pleas for the group to leave, Kaplan disables the Red Queen systems, and the power fails, opening all of the doors in the Hive. This releases the zombified staff and containment units containing Lickers. When everyone regroups, they are ambushed by a horde of zombies and a gunfight ensues. J.D. perishes as the group becomes overwhelmed. A bitten Rain retreats with Kaplan and Spence; Matt becomes separated from Alice, who starts regaining her memories.

Matt looks for information about his sister Lisa and finds her zombified. Alice saves him, and Matt explains he and Lisa were environmental activists, and Lisa infiltrated Umbrella to smuggle out the evidence of illegal experiments. Alice remembers she was Lisa’s contact in the Hive but does not tell Matt.

The survivors reunite at the Queen’s chamber, and the commandos explain they have one hour before the Hive traps them inside automatically. Alice and Kaplan activate the Red Queen to find an exit. To force her cooperation, they rig a remote shutdown. As they escape through maintenance tunnels, zombies ambush them, and a reanimated J.D. bites Rain before getting killed. The group reaches safety, but Kaplan is bitten and separated.

Resident Evil Movie Poster (2002)

Resident Evil (2002)

Directed by: Paul Anderson
Starring: Milla Jovovich, Michelle Rodriguez, Eric Mabius, James Purefoy, Martin Crewes, Heike Makatsch, Indra Ové, Eric Mabius, Fiona Glascott, Stephen Billington
Screenplay by: Paul Anderson
Production Design by: Richard Bridgland
Cinematography by: David Johnson
Film Editing by: Alexander Berner
Costume Design by: Richard Bridgland
Set Decoration by: Penny Crawford
Art Direction by: Jörg Baumgarten
Makeup Department: Tanja Drewitz
Music by: Marco Beltrami, Marilyn Manson
MPAA Rating: R for strong sci-fi/horror violence, language and sexuality /nudity.
Distributed by: Sony ScreenGems
Release Date: March 15, 2002

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