DeadeGuard98

Goshdarn it, where do I even begin?

First of all, say what you will about Paul W. S. Anderson's take on RE but at least he only had the incessant "borrowing" down the line... And they always know how to show you a good time!

Secondly, this movie is downright discombobulated! Not only does it reference the OG two games- but ALSO the remakes. Which means OMFG, total confusion as to what it wants to be...

Finally it is shameless in exploiting every fact of the games. In that it couldn't get much more clickbaity than this. Lauding annoyingly mistimed references every chance it got.

Mind you, those are just my three big grievances. Now the deets!

PROS: + Cinematography is sleek and I can see where the budget went. Instead of y'know writing...

+ Loyal to the time period with the countless song choices!

+ Fine, the set pieces were phenomenal. Which is what they were counting on AND absolutely delivered.

CONS:

• Casting is hit-and-miss. Or should I say character development is...

• It may look like RE; but it isn't RE. It takes the chunks and appendages of that beloved franchise but Frankensteins it. "Reference Evil"

• Over-utilised the "sneaking up on you" trope as the sole method to build up "TENSION" way too many times.

• Can see where the remakes worked their way in with the unnecessary potty mouths!

• 2-in-1 film is the major fallacy. The moment they went on with that decision. It was doomed for an apocalypse or is it... extinction?

(not shaming Anderson's movies, just a coincidence ;)

• Pacing is utterly ludicrous and uneven. With it taking its sweet, goddamn ass time in the beginning and then races through to the finish.

In conclusion, I feel like this is good enough, without a shadow of a doubt... Why video games need to remain as such because they cannot be separated. Filmmakers are convinced that movie adaptations of games HAVE to contain in-your-face iconic lines (Which by the way, they made me want to hurl and roll my eyes with each one).

Because after all, that's the only reason why fans would want to watch something right? Not actually taking a stab at original content. So, no... No thank you to Raccoon City~

DaRevieweD.

I rolled my eyes, I scoffed at the characters... The overly tired and uninspired premise.

The implausibility of the scenarios- but then I checked myself. It was so terrible and I just wanted so bad for it to go in a different direction!

Only to realize I must have fallen under the same band of viewers who probably condemned it and/or left halfway before the hour mark!

But that was the whole selling point- and it made me just so speechless. It's a commentary on violence, saturation of horror movies and also our stubborn demanding of it...

Take the title of the movie with some hyperbole and you will be fine~

😱First Impressions: In all honesty, the cover of the film unnecessarily gives out more details than it should. You may have heard of it before in bigger budget films- family is trapped during a post-apocalyptic scenario. But this film did something those would never have dreamed of~

Pros: 😋 Stellar performances; Alexander is the standout followed by a tie with his on-screen wife and daughter (hear me out). You can almost their familial bond and long-established rapport.

😋 Some mentioned the daughter as a big minus to the film enjoyment and I definitely see why- but that's precisely the point. It's about seeing things from a child's perspective and of course actually has to do with a significant aspect of the narrative. Hence the coaxing scenes; which were the best, heartfelt parts.



Cons: 😪 The camera work was phenomenal but at some point it just spiralled out of control and certain parts the tension was already visible, palpable. But the so-called framing of the scenes actually eased me out more so than drew me in... It felt like artistic, creative angles then proper set up of scares.

😪 The end; I appreciate the message of the film. It's about hope, isolation (something which bears a resemblance to COVID, imagine if this was out 2020). But the choice of affliction they chose was just a way of adding needless action sequences. It could have been more subtle after all the effort they made to craft a highly anxiety, hair-raising psychological horror.

😇 Verdict 😈 One of the gems that sadly has burrowed way too deep for me to only discover it today- literally. Don't let some reviews fool you and ruin your judgement of the girl (seriously). Going in blind is best~ A psychological horror film on par with its more famous counterparts like Birdbox or A Quiet Place. It has subtlety and the small setting only helped its cause for immersion, character development.