An Average Movie-Goer’s Review
Spoilers! If you don’t want spoilers – check out the Spoiler-Free post
I love horror movies and if I’m going to watch them anyway, why not write an entertaining/funny review from the POV of an average movie-goer and not a professional critic.
Today we’re looking at 2021’s Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City
Written and directed by Johannes Roberts, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is a reboot of the live-action Resident Evil film franchise and an adaptation of the 1st and 2nd mainline video games of the Resident Evil series.
You can read our review of the first Resident Evil live-action film, here.
A special police unit investigates a mansion on the outskirts of Raccoon City while the sister of one of the unit teams up with a rookie police officer to survive a zombie outbreak.
Is it Scary?
Like most of the Resident Evil video games, Welcome to Raccoon City, starts with the scares and then leans into the action. You won’t have any nightmares from the movie but there is definitely a much bigger focus on trying to scare you compared to the original live-action version.
Unlike that movie, Welcome to Raccoon City tries to scare you for most of the movie. Though most of the scares are more about suspense than jump scares and the jump scares themselves don’t really work.
Detailed Plot:
The film opens with some creepy music in an orphanage at night and we pan over to the children’s bunks where it appears all of them are sleeping. The creepy music dies out so we know something creepy is about to happen.
On one of the top bunks, we see two children, who we later find out are Chris and Claire Redfield, sleeping when a hand reaches over Claire’s face and wakes her up. She jumps up and sees a strange figure watching her from the other side of the room.
Instead of freaking the fuck out, Claire calls out to it as it leaves the room. Chris wakes up and tells Claire to go back to sleep, telling her it was all in her imagination. We learn this isn’t the first time this figure has visited Claire at night.
A little while later, Claire sneaks out of the room and follows several creepy sounds toward the playroom of the orphanage. In a makeshift tent at the end of the room, she sees someone inside with a light but when she calls out, the light shuts off which is the biggest “yea there’s totally someone in there” sign I’ve ever seen.
Since Claire is clearly not afraid of anything she approaches the tent, sees the same figure who was watching her, and simply asks what her name is. With some twitchy movements, the figure outstretches her arms, which are essentially handcuffed in a wooden block, and shows Claire a medical bracelet.
Turns out the figure is named Lisa Trevor and when asked where she lives, Lisa writes on a piece of paper, “BELOW”. So, you know, what the fuck?
Lisa runs off through the other side of the tent as Claire attempts to follow her and sees a toy doll in the tent. In a jump scare, Claire is pulled out of the tent by the director of the orphanage and scientist, William Berkin (played by Neal McDonough).
Berkin asks what she was doing but Chris suddenly appears and lies, telling him Claire sleepwalks sometimes since their parents died. Berkin totally buys it and sends them both to bed.
We see Claire in bed sleeping, she wakes up probably having felt something creepy happening, and sees the same doll from the tent on her bed. She also sees Lisa Trevor watching her, now at the foot of her bed.
In another jump scare, Lisa grabs Claire’s face as she screams. Claire wakes up screaming, now several years later in 1998, so we’re not sure if the face-grabbing part actually happened as a child or if it was just a nightmare.
Claire (now played by Kaya Scodelario) is hitchhiking to Raccoon City to see her brother after having left for several years. We learn this from the overly-talkative truck driver who is stuffing his face with a hamburger as he drives and as his pet Doberman looks on hungry.
The truck driver also makes it very clear that Raccoon City is now a shithole and there aren’t many people still left in the city. He then tries to make a pass at Claire by grabbing her leg and doesn’t see a woman stumble out into the road. Claire yells to watch out but he’s unable to avoid her and slams directly into her.
The truck driver begins to freak out claiming it wasn’t his fault (totally was). Claire tries to calm him down so they can wrap the body and bring it into town. The two don’t notice when the woman wakes up, now a zombie.
The woman gets up and walks into the forest without Claire and the truck driver realizing it. Meanwhile, the Doberman jumps out of the truck and starts to lick up the blood left behind by the zombie.
The two realize the woman is gone and as Claire tries to call out to her, the truck driver decides they should leave to continue onto Raccoon City.
We see an overview of the city and some text pops up telling us Raccoon city used to be the home of the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, the Umbrella Corporation, until the corporation decided to leave town. Now in its final stages of transitioning away, Raccoon city is becoming, essentially, a ghost town left with only those too poor to leave.
We cut to see new Raccoon city arrival and police rookie Leon S. Kennedy (played by Avan Jogia) on his first day sleeping in a restaurant while a few of the Raccoon City STARS (Special Tactics And Rescue Service) Alpha team play pranks on him.
The Alpha team includes Albert Wesker (played by Tom Hopper), Jill Valentine (played by Hannah John-Kamen), and Richard Aiken (played by Chad Rook). Wesker places a bottle of ketchup on Leon’s head and bets Jill $10 to shoot it off, though he stops her when Jill pulls out her actual gun instead of using the toy gun Wesker intended.
Jill uses the toy gun, throwing it at the sleeping Leon which causes the ketchup bottle to fall and allows her to win the bet. It’s a fun light-hearted scene showing us the team but we also learn Jill has a crush on Wesker, though we don’t know if the feelings are reciprocated.
Two other non-STARS police officers walk in and make fun of Leon for having shot his partner in the ass during training which resulted in him being transferred to Raccoon City. They then talk to the STARS team informing them they’re headed to the Spencer Mansion to investigate a dead body found.
After they leave, the STARS team leave for the station but not before Jill introduces herself to Leon and tells him they mean well. The waitress then speaks with Leon and her eye begins to bleed. Leon asks if she’s alright to which she responds her eye has been doing that for the last few weeks but it’s no big deal.
The two are interrupted by a loud bloody smack at the window, turning out to be a crow who flew into the window like it’s a normal thing they do.
We cut to the truck dropping Claire off at her brother’s home. As she walks away the Doberman, who is foaming at the mouth with cloudy eyes, bites the truck driver’s hand.
Outside of Chris’s home, a child who is clearly sick and losing their hair watches Claire until their equally sick mother shows up and angrily shuts the curtains. Claire uses a knife to break into her brother’s home. Walking through his living room we learn Chris is also a STARS member, has a crush on Jill, and has become close with William Berkin.
Chris (played by Robbie Amell) comes downstairs and we learn it’s been 5 years since they last saw each other. Jill apologizes and tells Chris she thinks there is something going on in Raccoon city. She plays a tape sent to her by someone she has been communicating with in a chat room.
The video shows Ben Bertolucci (played by Josh Cruddas), telling Jill that Umbrella poisoned the water in the city and had a “Chernobyl-level” incident several days ago. Chris doesn’t believe the video and tells Jill the guy is crazy.
We cut to William Berkin at home with his wife, Annette, and daughter Sherry, when he gets a phone call. After hanging up he tells Annette to get Sherry dressed as they need to leave immediately. Before she can ask what is going on, sirens all over town begin to blare, and the power cycles across the city.
Back at Chris’s home, Chris gives Claire some money and leaves for the station, telling her not to steal his motorcycle. She then wonders to herself why he isn’t sick and shows frustration that Chris doesn’t believe her but her thoughts are interrupted by the neighbor watching her from the glass backdoor.
The neighbor’s eye begins to tear blood as she appears to walk away. A bang draws Claire’s attention to the front door that has now swung open. She spots the child from next door under the table and when she asks if he needs help, he tells her she’s the one who needs help.
His mother then busts through the back door and lunges on top of Claire. Claire fights her off, escapes the house, and steals Chris’s motorcycle.
We cut to the Raccoon Police department, now midnight, where the STARS team, Chris, Jill, Wesker, Richard, and Brad Vickers (played by Nathan Dales) are given their assignment by the Chief of Police, Brian Irons (played by Donal Logue).
The team is sent to the Spencer mansion to find out what happened to the two cops from earlier, Officers Marini and Dooley, who are not answering their radios. Leon walks into the meeting but is hilariously reprimanded by Chief Irons for leaving his post at the front desk. This tells us besides the STARS team and Irons, Leon is the only cop left in the precinct.
Before they leave, Wesker’s beeper goes off telling him to check his locker. There, he finds a PalmPilot that displays a message telling him Raccoon City will be destroyed at 6 am.
We cut to the Berkins speeding down the street and almost hitting Claire. Claire and Berkin briefly lock eyes, and this triggers a flashback showing us Claire was taken from the orphanage in the middle of the night by Berkin under the lie of having found her a new home.
We cut back to the present and Berkin speeds off while all around we start to see the effects of the “Chernobyl-like” incident. The waitress from the diner walks out appearing to be almost full-zombie and the truck driver speeds by uncontrollably appearing to be infected.
The truck speeds towards the RPD crashes just outside the entrance gate and explodes into fire. Leon, who is listening to music wearing headphones, doesn’t hear any of it and doesn’t notice when the truck driver, fully engulfed in flames, walks in. Chief Irons shoots the truck driver, alerting Leon. Leon locks the gates as Chief Irons states there may be others.
Chief Irons packs up his things into a box, tells Leon the phone lines are dead, and comically promotes him as he is going to leave town.
We then check in on the STARS team who have arrived at the outskirts of the Spencer mansion by a helicopter piloted by Brad. The team spots the previous officers overturned van and land nearby with Chris, Wesker, Jill, and Richard heading off on foot towards the mansion.
The four enter the mansion and split up, Richard and Chris heading upstairs while Jill and Wesker clear the first floor.
Back in the city, Chief Irons has reached the outskirts but his and others’ attempts to leave the city are blocked by Umbrella guards who open fire at the cars. Iron manages to avoid getting shot and rushes back to the RPD building.
Arriving in the underground parking garage he hears strange sounds and rushes for his gun. The Doberman, now a full-fledged zombie dog attempts to attack Irons chasing him around several cars. Claire appears with a fire extinguisher and bashes the Doberman’s head in, killing it.
Leon then shows up to investigate the noise and the three head upstairs to access the situation. Irons tells them the exits are blocked by Umbrella and Claire suggests they gather the weapons in the armory. Irons then heads off to try to contact Chris and the Alpha team in order to bring the helicopter back.
Meanwhile outside the zombies are attempting to break in through the gates.
Back at the helicopter, Brad Vickers is waiting for the team by playing Snake on his phone but is then attacked by a zombie who busts through his window.
At the Spencer mansion, instead of searching for the missing Officers Marini and Dooley, Wesker follows the map and instructions on the PalmPilot. The two arrive at a library room containing a piano which Wesker sits at and plays several notes as instructed on the PalmPilot.
Jill questions his actions but is distracted by the helicopter light that appears to be too close and doesn’t notice when a secret entrance opens in a bookshelf.
Jill realizes the helicopter is headed straight for them and lunges at Wesker, pushing both of them to safety. The helicopter crashes through the building and explodes covering the room in flames.
As the flames dissipate Wesker reveals to Jill he was contacted by a secret group several months ago who are willing to pay him to get whatever secrets Umbrella is hiding. Jill realizes Wesker was planning to betray them all along.
She tries to convince him to help look for Richard and Chris but he refuses. A zombie appears behind Jill but she’s saved by Wesker who then leaves through the secret passage.
On the other side of the mansion, Chris and Richard find a zombie researcher biting Officer Marini. The zombie attacks, shaking off several shots until finally being put down.
Chris attends to the Marini’s wounds as Richard heads upstairs to find the missing Officer Dooley. In one of the rooms, he finds a gun on the ground covered in blood but is then attacked by several zombies. Downstairs, Chris hears the gunshots but before he can run upstairs he’s grabbed by two zombies.
Chris is able to hold off the zombies but Richard doesn’t have plot armor and is swarmed by another group who kill him.
At the police station, Leon and Claire grab weapons in the armory when they hear someone yelling from the holding cells. Leon investigates and finds Ben Bertolucci locked up with someone who is clearly transitioning into a zombie.
Ben demands Leon open the door and tells him he figured out the Umbrella company poisoned the town. He also says the police in the city were given something, a shot or pill, that prevents the poison from taking effect. Finally, he reveals the T and G virus were created by Umbrella and can turn people into bio-weapons.
Since Leon is hesitant to release him, Ben tricks Leon into getting close to the cell where he grabs him and removes his gun. Leon agrees to open the cell but does so just as Ben is attacked and bitten by the zombie in the cell.
As the zombie attacks Leon, Claire appears and shoots it with the shotgun. She then notices Ben in the cell now dead from his wounds.
The zombie then gets up but Leon kills it by unloading his entire magazine into it, which is really not good ammo conservation. The two meet up with Irons who has had no success with reaching Vickers, probably because the helicopter blew up.
Irons decides to try another way out of the city and the three head back to the garage just as the zombies break through the gates. Shooting their way through several zombies, they escape through a metal roll-up door leading to the streets.
The three arrive at the orphanage where Irons says there will be a secret entrance and passageway to the Spencer Mansion. Leon sees something moving in the ceiling above them and spots Lisa watching him from another room.
Lisa signals for him to be quiet and points up. Leon doesn’t understand that the thing in the ceiling is triggered by sounds so instead he loudly yells for the others. But, by the time they arrive Lisa is gone.
A long tongue descends from the ceiling and grabs Chief Irons, pulling him up. Moments later, his dead body is thrown to the ground having been slashed by some kind of monster.
Leon and Claire look up and see the bio-weapon, the Licker. Leon screams to run and the two race down the hall. The Licker is able to use its tongue to trip Leon and is about to attack but Lisa attacks it and saves Leon.
Lisa fights the Licker and is able to jump on its back. Using the wooden board she’s handcuffed to, she jams it into the Licker’s mouth, preventing it from biting her. She then uses her foot to remove the Licker’s lower jaw from its head, killing it instantly.
Claire asks Lisa for help getting to the Spencer Mansion and Lisa leads them to the playroom. She gives them a set of keys and motions them to open a secret entrance in the wall with the key. The entrance leads to an elevator that will take the two to a passageway to the mansion.
Claire thanks Lisa who stays behind as Leon pushes the elevator to head to the next level.
Back at the mansion, Chris is still alive, making his way through the rooms. We see a sequence of a completely dark room only lit briefly by muzzle flashes every time Chris shoots. I was iffy about this sequence until Chris ran out of bullets and had to resort to using a knife and lighter, but then I loved it. Yes, it’s a trope but it’s a suspense-inducing trope when done right.
Chris hears zombie sounds and spots Officer Dooley except he’s the zombie who was making the sounds. Dooley crawls to Chris and as the lighter dies out, Dooley disappears and reappears behind Chris.
Dooley attacks but Chris is able to hold him off just as Jill arrives to save the day. She clears out the room with her sub-machine gun and tells Chris of Wesker’s betrayal. She suggests the only way out is through the secret passage Wesker went through.
Back with Claire and Leon, the two arrive in a storage room with old film reels and discover the Umbrella corporation were taking kids from the orphanage to experiment on them. The lead researcher conducting the experiments was William Berkin and Lisa Trevor was one of his experiments.
Claire also realizes that night we saw in the flashback earlier, Berkin was taking her to run experiments on her. We see, in another flashback, Claire fought back and escaped the orphanage that night.
We cut to William Berkin who has arrived at his lab with his family; Annette and Sherry. He packs up several samples of the G-Virus just as Wesker arrives and demands the samples. Berkin refuses to hand them over and pulls out a gun, shooting Wesker in his bulletproof vest. Instinctively, Wesker shoots William three times in the chest.
As Wesker lies dying on the ground he tells Annette to pass him the vials of the G-Virus.
Annette hands the vials over to Berkin and he gives her the gun. Wesker pleads with them to just give him the vials and tells Annette not to do anything stupid. Annette then stupidly points the gun at him and Wesker shoots her directly in the head.
In the chaos, Sherry has escaped and Wesker berates William but when he notices he’s injected himself with the virus, Wesker shoots him several more times. As Wesker attempts to leave he hears the sound of a gun behind him and turns to see Sherry pointing a gun at him. He raises his gun but is shot from behind by Jill.
Chris consoles Sherry as Jill attempts to help Wesker but he tells her it’s too late for him. He states he was never going to shoot Sherry, but he fucked up and they need to leave him behind so they can get to the underground train before Umbrella blows up the city at 6 am. Wesker apologizes to both Chris and Jill before he dies from his wounds.
Chris, Jill, and Sherry leave not noticing Berkin has woken up and is mutating due to the virus.
Jill and Sherry squeeze through a gap in one of the walls but Chris stops when he hears the growls of Berkin echoing through the area. He heads back to kill the monstrous Berkin but is easily overpowered.
Berkin is about to kill Chris but is shot from behind by Claire with a shotgun. She pumps several shots into him, dropping him to the ground. Chris then shoots the final shot directly into his head, killing Berkin.
Leon arrives to the shocked Chris who assumed he would have died. Leon agrees stating he’s just as shocked. The three leave and meet up with Jill and Sherry and together the group finds the train. Meanwhile, a very not-dead Berkin wakes up and begins to mutate again.
Leon and Jill get the train moving, racing to the exit of the tunnels just as it turns 6 am and the Spencer Mansion self-destructs. The debris covering the train slows it to a stop giving a fully mutated Berkin enough time to catch the train and rip off the roof.
Monster-Berkin grabs Claire but she breaks free by stabbing it with her knife. Chris shoots the multiple eyeballs on its body until he is out of bullets but Monster-Berkin is still standing. He’s about to go in for the kill when Leon walks in with a rocket launcher and fires.
The rocket completely obliterates Berkin ending the threat yet, somehow, everyone else in the small train car is perfectly fine. We then see the entirety of Raccoon City destroyed by an explosion and from out of the train tunnel, Chris, Jill, Sherry, Claire, and Leon exit to a brighter(?) future.
There’s a post-credits scene!
A body in a body bag wakes up screaming and it’s revealed to be Wesker. Breaking out of the bag he stumbles and crawls along the floor unable to see. A woman approaches, tells him the loss of vision is a temporary side effect, hands him sunglasses, and confirms he was dead but they brought him back.
She tells him her name is Ada Wong and only smiles when he asks what they want from him. Sequel baiting!
Review:
As an average movie-goer Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is okay, leaning into the good range. The acting is passable (though Donal Logue steals every scene he’s in), the chemistry between the actors’ work, and the dialogue does its job. The movie doesn’t take itself too seriously and has some funny character moments, which is good as most of the suspense comes from caring about the characters.
The CGI for some of the monsters is not bad but it’s also not good, at several instances the lighting seems a bit off and you can tell it’s CGI. Luckily there are not many full-on monsters in the movie but at least the practical effects are good including zombie design and Lisa Trevor.
Is it the best horror or zombie movie of all time? No, but you’ll have fun and you’ll be entertained. It’s also definitely better than the previous live-action Resident Evil films.
Now as a fan of the Resident Evil video games:
The problem video game adaptations face is there will be some people that hate the movie solely because it changes a lot of the source material lore. But, changes to lore and cutting out specific parts of the game’s story is necessary for movies since video games can take hours upon hours to complete and a film is only a couple of hours, if that.
So it’s not a surprise that many fans dislike this movie as it not only changes some of the lore but condenses two video games into one movie.
As someone coming in with an open mind, considering the above, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is freaking great, it’s the best Resident Evil live-action adaptation so far.
Johannes Roberts is clearly a fan of the games and you can really tell how much he wanted to add to the movie but couldn’t, having to rely on Easter egg after Easter egg. (In fact, I’m adding a section of the Easter eggs I caught below)
There are some character changes that you might be put off a bit by but the changes fit within this version of Resident Evil that Roberts created.
As a fan of Leon’s character, I was a bit disappointed he was reduced to more of a bumbling rookie but I’m glad Claire shines. I could see what their intention with Leon was since he is a rookie but as a fan of the Resident Evil 2 remake, it’s a huge departure from his character there. It’s not bad but it’s jarring.
Wesker also comes off as a more sympathetic character which I thought was a good change and wonder if that will keep up in the (hopefully) sequels. Since this film felt more like a Chris/Claire story, I would hope a potential sequel would be a Leon/Jill story to build up their characters more to their video game counterparts.
But, honestly, I feel like Johannes Roberts did such a good job with this film that I’m not worried about which direction he takes. If you’re a fan of the games, specifically the remakes, you’ll like this movie.
Easter Eggs – Not a Complete List
- Lisa Trevor’s design – Resident Evil Remake reference, calling it a reference since they don’t explain why she has another face on her face… it belongs to her victims!
- Orphanage doll – same as from the Resident Evil 2 game
- The truck driver and his hamburger – Mirrors the opening to the Resident Evil 2 Remake
- Jill Valentine calling the sandwich a “Jill sandwich” – Resident Evil 1
- Zombie crow flying into the glass, a staple in the games
- Claire’s lockpicking to get into her brothers house, a reference to all the lockpicking in the games
- Itchy Tasty – reference to a file in Resident Evil 1 where a researcher(?) slowly loses his mind
- RPD station – the design matches Resident Evil 2 game
- Jill’s worst way to die questions, swallowed by a snake or be eaten by a shark – This is a reference to two of the possible ways Richard Aiken can die in the Resident Evil Remake
- Zombie dog in garage – a reference to all the damn zombie dogs in the games
- The mansion entrance layout is the same as the game
- The PalmPilot Wesker uses at one point displays a map with the same design as the maps in the games
- Leon getting the bulletproof vest – Matching his appearance in the game
- Shotgun ammo box displays the name Steel boy – the name of the shotgun ammo in the recent games
- Lickers being attracted to sound – Same as the game
- Orphanage looks almost exactly like in the game
- The keys given to Claire by Lisa are the same keys from the game, (diamond, hearts, spade, club)
- Train interior same as the end of Resident Evil 2
- Chris shooting the fully mutated Berkin’s eyes – reference to eyeballs being the weak spot in the games
- Leon using a rocket launcher – reference rocket launcher being the final weapon used in most of the games
- Wesker wearing sunglasses is a reference to his appearance in the games
NOTE: I’m pretty sure Brad Vickers’s only line in the entire movie is “Fuck you.”
(There’s definitely more, I also got pulled into the movie a few times and forgot to take note of a lot.)
Cast IMBD