Resident Evil

I have never played the popular video games nor have I seen any of the other movies in this franchise but I am a big fan of Zach Cregger so I decided to see Resident Evil last night and I had a lot of fun with it.  Bryan (Austin Abrams) is a hapless medical courier who is given a last minute high priority package to deliver to Raccoon City General Hospital.  He argues with his pregnant girlfriend on the phone while driving on a snowy mountain road and hits a pedestrian (Andrea Miltnerova) as a result.  He attempts to take her to the hospital with the help of the county sheriff (Johnno Wilson) but chaos ensues in which he has a series of escalating misadventures involving mutants infected with a virus created by the Umbrella Corporation and released in a laboratory accident.  He eventually reaches several scientists with the Umbrella Corporation (Paul Walter Hauser, Zach Cherry, and others) which culminates in a dramatic standoff at the hospital.  While this is quite gory with some effective jump scares, I would call it a dark comedy rather than a horror movie because there was more laughter than screams from my audience.  What makes it so amusing is that Bryan is completely incompetent and survives in spite of, rather than because of, his actions (there is a hilarious running gag in which he encounters a series of padlocks that he cannot open) and Abrams has brilliant comedic timing as he reacts to his circumstances.  I liked this choice because it really captures the experience that most people would have playing the game (I also liked the meta commentary about playing video games).  Finally, the monsters are really cool and I was very impressed that they were created using mostly practical effects (the main monster is performed by several professional dancers harnessed together who move in unison).  This is definitely my favorite video game movie adaptation (you do not need to be familiar with the games to enjoy it) and I recommend it with the caveat that it contains a lot of profanity.