Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is a 2021 action horror film written and directed by Johannes Roberts. Adapted from the stories of the first and second games by mh:awesomegames:Capcom, it serves as a reboot of the Resident Evil film series and the seventh live-action film overall, which was loosely based on the video game series of the same name. The film stars Kaya Scodelario, Hannah John-Kamen, Robbie Amell, Tom Hopper, Avan Jogia, Donal Logue, and Neal McDonough. Set in 1998, it follows a group of survivors trying to survive during a zombie outbreak in the small town of Raccoon City.

Development took place in early 2017, after Resident Evil: The Final Chapter was released, with producer James Wan expressing interest in the project. Later, Constantin Film chairman Martin Moszkowicz said that a reboot of the film series was in development. In the same month, Wan was called to produce the reboot with a script by Greg Russo; subsequently, Roberts was hired as both writer and director and both Wan and Russo left the project. Filming began on October 17, 2020, in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. The film underwent reshoots in May 2021.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City had its world premiere at the Grand Rex in Paris on November 19, 2021, and was theatrically released on November 24, 2021, in the United States by Sony Pictures Releasing. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with its faithfulness to the first two games being praised. The film has grossed $41.9 million worldwide against a $25 million budget, and was massively successful on VUDU, becoming the top-rented film during its first weekend.

Plot
Once the booming home of pharmaceutical giant Umbrella Corporation, Raccoon City is now a dying Midwestern town. The company's exodus left the city a wasteland with great evil brewing below the surface. When that evil is unleashed, the townspeople are forever changed and a small group of survivors must work together to uncover the truth behind Umbrella and make it through the night.

Development
Pre-production took place in early 2017 while Resident Evil: The Final Chapter was still in theatres, with Constantin Film chairman Martin Moszkowicz saying that a reboot of the series was in development, and producer James Wan expressing interest in the project. In December 2018, it was announced that Johannes Roberts was attached to write and direct the film. However, Wan later confirmed that same month that he was no longer involved in the project and said that news of his involvement was premature, and instead produced Mortal Kombat (2021).

During an interview with mh:rottenwebsites:IGN in March 2021, Roberts said he wanted to give the film a darker tone:

"'The big thing for me in this film is the tone. What I loved about the games was that they were just scary, and that's a lot of what I wanted, that atmosphere. It's raining constantly, it's dark, it's scary, Raccoon City is a rotten character,' he said. “I wanted to put [it] and mix it with the fun side, especially with the narrative style of the first game. We had a lot of fun, we even used the fixed angles that the first game has when the characters are at Spencer Mansion.'"

Inspired by John Carpenter's films, including Halloween, Assault on Precinct 13, and The Fog, the filmmaker explained that the origin story is a piece divided between two main locations: Spencer Mansion (the setting for the first game) and the Raccoon Police Department, which first appeared in Resident Evil 2:

"'[The remake of the second game] was a wonderful cinematic experience with the tone, the constant darkness, the rain, the look of the game and I just took that and said yes, this is the world I want to work in,' Roberts said. 'We chose the tone for the remake of the second game and made it our model for this film.'"

Although director Paul W. S. Anderson and Milla Jovovich released six commercially successful films based on the games between 2002 and 2017, Roberts emphasized that his version has nothing to do with the series that preceded it, although he says he enjoyed Anderson's first film:

"'It's a totally separate story that is based on the roots of the game and the world of terror,' he said. 'I fell in love with Milla Jovovich, that first film is a lot of fun… but it was a real pleasure to get the reins of a new franchise. I had never seen the horror and atmosphere of the games [in the movies], what I felt when I was playing those games or watching from behind the shoulders of people playing games. I never felt it on the screen, and this is something I wanted to tell you about.'"

Writing
Greg Russo was attached as writer in 2017. Russo, who was also attached to write the script for Mortal Kombat (2021) at the time, drew inspiration from the 2017 video game mh:awesomegames:Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, though he would later clarify he only drew on the tones of the game – "scary, isolated, alone" – rather than the story itself. Russo wanted Moonlight Sonata, a composition featured in several Resident Evil games, to feature in the opening credits. In a November 2018 interview with DiscussingFilm, Russo confirmed he was no longer involved with the project. In August 2019, Roberts told Screen Rant that the reboot would be "super, super scary" and more faithful to the games than the previous films.

In a statement to Deadline Hollywood, Roberts said the film will be based on Resident Evil (1996) and Resident Evil 2 (1998), along with: "I really wanted to go back to the original first two games and re-create the terrifying visceral experience I had when I first played them whilst at the same time telling a grounded human story about a small dying American town that feels both relatable and relevant to today’s audiences."

In the same article, Resident Evil producer Robert Kulzer states: "After a dozen games, six live-action movies, and hundreds of pages of fan fiction, we felt compelled to return to the year 1998, to explore the secrets hidden in the walls of the Spencer Mansion and Raccoon City."

Casting
In early 2020, casting was underway but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In a February 2020 interview with Starburst Magazine, Roberts confirmed that casting details were set to be announced in March. In April 2020, Full Circle Cinema reported that the studio was eyeing Brenton Thwaites, Kaya Scodelario, and Harris Dickinson for the roles of the Redfield siblings Chris and Claire and Leon S. Kennedy.

On October 6, 2020, Deadline Hollywood reported that Scodelario and Hannah John-Kamen had been cast as Claire and Jill Valentine, alongside Robbie Amell, Tom Hopper, Avan Jogia, and Neal McDonough as Chris Redfield, Albert Wesker, Leon S. Kennedy, and William Birkin, respectively. The reboot was described as serving as an origin story set in 1998. That November, Donal Logue was cast as Chief Brian Irons, alongside Chad Rook as Richard Aiken, and Lily Gao as Ada Wong.

In Japan, Capcom later confirmed the characters in the movie will be voiced by different voice actors. For example, Chris and Claire are voiced by Subaru Kimura and Fairouz Ai instead of Hiroki Tochi and Yūko Kaida.

Filming
Principal photography began in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada on October 17, 2020,  with Maxime Alexandre serving as cinematographer. Filming was completed on December 24, 2020. In March 2021, Roberts revealed the full title as Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. In May 2021, Amell revealed that the film was undergoing reshoots in Toronto.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The main problem this movie suffers is its attempts to change two stories from two completely different games into a runtime of 107 minutes. One half of the film adapts the plot of the first Resident Evil, while the other half covers Resident Evil 2. Viewers will be confused into believing that they're watching two unrelated movies at the same time until the final 10 minutes where the two plots tie up.
 * 2) Poor costume design, the actors they chose resemble more like cosplayers than the actual characters in the video games.
 * 3) Speaking of actors; while the actors for Albert Wesker, Chris Redfield, Claire Redfield, and Brian Irons look great to decent to their video game counterparts; the actors for Jill Valentine and Leon Kennedy look nothing like they were in the games. Leon is by far the worst offender, he does not have black and/or facial hair. He is supposed to be clean-shaven and blonde like in the video games. Some viewers noted that Leon looked more like Carlos Oliveira in the Resident Evil 3 remake than Leon.
 * 4) The flash cuts of zombie heads growling and guns being fired were found poor.
 * 5) Mediocre special effects. The licker in the Racoon City Orphanage and the mutated version of Birkin are crowning examples.
 * 6) The horror in the movie relies on jump-scares, some of which can be clearly telegraphed. There are still scary moments in the movie however.
 * 7) Even though the acting was good, but the film missed a mark for its casting, aside from Robbie Amell.
 * 8) Bad characterizations. Leon does not have his sarcastic personality like in Resident Evil 2 or 4. Brian Irons does not have his antagonistic traits like in Resident Evil 2. Albert Wesker shows some degree of care into Jill rather than a cold, sadistic double agent in the game.
 * 9) The tagline "Witness The Beginning Of Evil" implies that the movie is some sort of prequel to the games, but what we got was an adaptation of Resident Evil 1 and 2, with barely anything new, aside from Lisa Trevor now being an ally to Leon and Claire rather than an enemy in the first Resident Evil.
 * 10) The scene where Leon S. Kennedy is drunk and shot his training partner is very bad.
 * 11) Sequel-bait Ending: Albert Wesker is revived by Ada Wong, only for her to give him a new task.

Good Qualities

 * 1) A great soundtrack that does capture the haunting vibe of Resident Evil.
 * 2) It does stay faithful to the source material since Johannes Roberts is a fan of the franchise.
 * 3) There are some genuinely suspenseful and creepy moments in this film.
 * 4) Depending on your view about Lisa Trevor, her giving the key to a secret passageway to the Spencer Mansion to Claire was a touching moment.
 * 5) Good acting. Robbie Amell was a great choice for Chris that it feels like you're actually watching the character.
 * 6) The spencer mansion is a well-designed, creepy location.

Critical and audience response
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City received mixed reviews from critics, with its faithfulness to the first two games being praised, but criticized for some of its casting and special effects. On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 31% based on 84 reviews, with an average rating of 4.9/10. The website's critics' consensus reads: "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is an affectionately faithful adaptation that further proves its source material is ill-suited to the big screen." On Metacritic, the movie has a critic rating of 44/100. On IMDb, the film has an average user rating of 5.2/10. On Letterboxd, the film has an average rating of 2.3/5. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it a 61% positive score, with 48% saying they would definitely recommend it.

The movie currently has a Google users rating of "60% of users liked this film".

In a positive review, Johnny Oleksinski from New York Post gave 3 out of 4 stars and wrote, "The film is empty-headed good fun that’s blessedly under two hours and has just enough character development to make you kind of care when someone gets bitten." Ferdosa Abdi from ScreenRant also gave a positive review, writing: "Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City is a fun and faithful adaptation of the games it is based on, but is lacking in character substance." Sean Kane from CNet also praised the film and wrote: "Despite the lack of scares, minor tweaks to the games' lore and overall silliness, director Johannes Roberts' love for Resident Evil is clear in every moment of Welcome to Raccoon City. With a barrage of Easter eggs and fascinating takes on classic characters, the film's a gleeful trip back to the Spencer Mansion and Raccoon Police Department aimed squarely at fans."

Taylor Lyles of mh:rottenwebsites:IGN gave the movie a 6/10, explaining, "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is certainly not the worst video game adaptation or even the worst Resident Evil movie, but both those bars are pretty low. Director Mr. Roberts does deserve some credit for sticking much more closely to the source material than the Paul W. S. Anderson films, but a short runtime, a rushed third act, and lack of elements to make it truly scary to watch in the dark hold it back immensely. Nevertheless, it should serve as decent fun for fans of the Resident Evil games, if only to find all the Easter eggs and references scattered throughout.".

In a mixed review, Mark Hanson from SLANT, gave two out of four stars and wrote "Johannes Roberts's prequel ultimately remains buried by its indifference to unchecked corporate power." Charles Bramesco from The AV Club gave a C+ and wrote, "Alas, there's no covert greatness to the just-plain-underwhelming Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City, a reboot totally bereft of the visual distinction or creative personality that often made its predecessors intriguing diamonds in the rough."

In a negative review, Nick Schager from Variety wrote, "In any decade, the film's bevy of unexplained details, dropped subplots, paper-thin characterizations and fright-free mayhem would disappoint." Kimberly Myers from The New York Times also gave a negative review, writing: "Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City may reward longtime fans of the video games by returning to the series' origins, but others will find themselves wanting to leave town, much like the movie's characters."

Box Office
As of March 2, 2022, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City has grossed $17 million in the United States and Canada, and $24.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $41.9 million.

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside House of Gucci and mh:greatestmovies:Encanto, and was projected to gross $8–10 vmillion from 2,803 theatres over its five-day opening weekend. The film opened nationwide on Wednesday, November 24, 2021, and made $2.5 million on its first day—including $935,000 from Tuesday night previews—from a total of 225,000 theater admissions. The film went on to make $8.85 million in its first five days, placing fifth. Audiences were 64% male as well as 68% between the ages of 18 and 34. . In its second weekend, the film earned $2.69 million. In its third, the film made $1.66 million and finished sixth at the box office. The film was tenth in its fourth weekend, earning $316,480 from 719 theaters.

Outside the U.S. and Canada, the film earned $5.1 million from 15 markets in its opening weekend. It made $4.2 million in its second weekend and $2.3 million in its third.

Japan was the film's highest-grossing foreign market, contributing $4.4 million from the box office.

Future sequel or sequels?
Director Johannes Roberts stated that if a sequel were to be developed, he would like to adapt the story from mh:awesomegames:Resident Evil – Code: Veronica and then mh:awesomegames:Resident Evil 4. He said: "'I could very much see [Resident Evil – Code: Veronica] becoming part of the next installment. There's a lot of interesting lore and tiny details that we have brought into this movie, but would be amazing to expand on. There are characters that we didn't use in this game that we would love to expand upon in the next movie."

Roberts also expressed interest in adapting mh:awesomegames:Resident Evil 7: Biohazard and Resident Evil Village in the future. He said: "'There's also a different side of Resident Evil with Village and Resident Evil 7, where it's a much darker, more horrific world.'"

Robbie Amell stated he hopes to return as Chris in a sequel which includes his boulder-punching scene from Mh:awesomegames:Resident Evil 5.

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