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Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City 4K UHD Review

Dead on arrival.

“Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City” is a franchise reboot that goes back to its video game roots. The 1998 set story revolves around Claire Redfield returning to her hometown of Raccoon City to investigate the shady Umbrella Corporation at the worst possible time as a zombie viral outbreak has occurred. Claire bands together with others (mostly Raccoon City Police Department and STARS officers) that include her brother Chris Redfield along with rookie Leon Kennedy, Jill Valentine, Albert Wesker and Brian Irons. Together they must try and survive and figure out what has happened.

For all their flaws, the Paul W.S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich Resident Evil movies were highly entertaining action-horror adventures with a badass female hero at the center. While I admire writer/director Johannes Roberts’ attempt to adapt the video game franchise more faithfully, “Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City” falls flat.

Now, there are moments that work here such as the video game easter eggs, the creepyness of the zombies and creatures, and a few atmospheric horror centric set pieces (primarily zombie encounters). Aside from that though this is a rough watch. The movie may be stacked with talent like Hannah John-Kamen, Robbie Amell, Donal Logue, Neal McDonough, and Kaya Scodelario, but Johannes Roberts clearly didn’t create any characters that resonate here. In fact, Leon Kennedy is written as one of the single stupidest characters I’ve seen in cinema in recent years (even with his redemption scenes). Characters do things that no human ever would and it makes for a headache of a cinematic experience. The movie also suffers greatly from budget constraints. The more confined story could have worked, but there’s far too much green scene sequences, padded action moments, and rough CGI here (ala the climactic monster).

Video/Audio:

Presentation: 2.40:1 2160p. How does it look? The visuals may not always look the best, but the 4K transfer is as good as can be.

Audio Track: Dolby Atmos. How does it sound? This is an active Atmos track that delivers eerie sound effects and pulse pounding action. 

Extras:
* Blu-ray copy
* Digital copy
* Sony trailers
* “Replicating The DNA”- A featurette about the movie, characters, and adapting the video game franchise.
* “Cops, Corpses And Chaos” covers a bunch of elements including the horror, casting, direction and more.
* “Zombies, Lickers And The Horrors Of Resident Evil”- The title says it all.

February 7, 2022 - Posted by nicklyons1 | 4K UHD Review | action, horror, Resident Evil, Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City 4K UHD Review, Zombie Movie