resident evil is not a franchise known for consistency. Be it the quality of the games themselves or the genre they fall into, for every big hit resident evil has an equal, if not greater, miss behind it. This is especially true for the associated movie franchise. While the first one was praised for not being completely terrible, the following movies didn’t get the same courtesy. But just as the games reinvent themselves repeatedly, so will the movie series.
If a notification Giant Freakin’ Robot is to believe, yet another resident evil movie reboot is currently in the works. However, rather than relying on the first two games for inspiration, it will adapt what many believe is the best entry in the series: Resident Evil 4. Returning to Leon Kennedy, focusing more on high stakes action and adopting a campy tone are just some of the drastic changes Resident Evil 4 brought to the table, all of which make for a much more straightforward cinematic experience. Given that so many have tried and failed, could this next reboot finally be the one to do everything right?
Resident Evil 4 is significant
It’s really hard to overstate how important it is Resident Evil 4 is. Besides being an immense critical and commercial success for Capcom and receiving re-releases for just about every gaming platform you can think of, its influence extends to dozens of other titles. By Weapons of warwhich is also getting an upcoming film adaptation, to the recently revived Empty space series, elements from Resident Evil 4 can be found almost anywhere you can think of. From the over-the-shoulder perspective to the game’s adaptive difficulty and rewarding combat, it really caught lightning in a bottle.
This is not to say the first resident evil game is not significant in comparison. It remains a staple of the survival horror genre, and the remake arguably surpasses it in terms of scares and atmosphere. However, Resident Evil 4 is a perfect place to start a new film series for several reasons.
For starters, the less cinematically exciting aspects of the original trilogy are thrown in for a plot to match the shift to action. Instead of fighting for survival in a zombie-infested town, Agent Leon S. Kennedy is sent to the Spanish countryside to rescue the president’s daughter. No really. From there, Leon traverses a remote village, an old castle and a derelict prison island as he battles cult members and ‘Las Plagas’, a monstrous virus that infects the populace. Along the way, he encounters several equally colorful characters. There’s the comedic foil in Luis Sera, the femme fatale in Ada Wong, the supportive Ingrid Hunnigan, and old buddy turned villain Jack Krauser. It is the main cast of any cheesy action movie, which can be transplanted to film without any significant changes.
Resident Evil 4 is an action movie
Speaking of characters, Leon S. Kennedy went through a significant flare in between his first appearance resident evil 2 And 4. Aside from bleaching his hair, the timid RCPD officer underwent a significant personality change, becoming a bona fide action hero with cheesy one-liners and an overall goofy nature. To complement this newfound confidence, he’s thrown into scenarios that are – admittedly – hysterical when taken out of context.
Here are just a few examples. Leon took lessons from The Matrix, while narrowly dodging a set of lasers three consecutive times with extreme acrobatics. In addition to outrunning boulders and flaming slingshots, he also escaped the wrath of a giant autonomous statue before facing off against two giant monsters in a hellish underground area. Did we mention Leon gets into a fair knife fight with Krauser? Twice? As if that weren’t enough, the game ends with a dramatic escape on a jet ski, as the prison island explodes behind Leon. And no, he doesn’t turn to look at the explosion. We are so far from what resident evil originally it was that it might as well be something completely different.
But that’s why Resident Evil 4 would make a great movie, wouldn’t it? Sales numbers alone mean it was the series’ introduction to thousands of players, and given its availability on just about every platform you can think of, it’s permeated the consciousness of its fanbase for years. Plus, the inclusion of multiple cinematic set pieces, a focus on action and memorable characters, and a more traditional setup make it the perfect choice for a feature film adaptation, let alone another reboot for the franchise.
It’s easy to take a look resident evil and eventually write it off as something that just can’t be adjusted properly. You can’t be blamed for thinking that. Between the absolute failure of Netflix’s attempt at making a series and the recent movie that has come and gone, there may be no interest in taking the survival horror series to another medium. However, if this movie can ride the traction that the upcoming Resident Evil 4 remake is rolling, it may just need one last spark to ignite apart from a successful movie franchise that of Paul WS Anderson’s attempt.