Resident Evil cannot be summed up in a word, or even a sentence. The survival horror series has defined a video game genre and continues to delight players 25 years out from its initial release. The franchise has drifted into different tones in its fifteen games, from terrifying dread in Resident Evil: Village to camp-fueled action fun in Resident Evil 6, but has still maintained its roots.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is the newest telling of the Resident Evil origin story, managing to match the wide-ranging tones of the series while standing on its own with the gaps it fills in storytelling. The film is a one-two punch of rebooting and reintroducing audiences to events and characters, done by using scenes and beats from the first two games of the series — Resident Evil and the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2 — while inserting new moments and additional backstory to flesh out characters even more. The result is a new start for a beloved story that has something for first-time viewers and diehard fans alike.

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Welcome to Raccoon City anchors itself through Claire Redfield (Kaya Scodelario), one of the many iconic characters from the series, and her experience returning home to Raccoon City, once a booming town now dying after the infamous Umbrella Corporation has left the area. Claire's past has made her curious, leading her to warn her brother, Chris (Robbie Amell) about a potential outbreak. Stories begin to collide when Chris is sent to the Spencer Mansion with fellow cops Albert Wesker (Tom Hopper) and Jill Valentine (Hannah John-Kamen) to investigate a missing police team, while Claire meets rookie cop Leon S. Kennedy (Avan Jogia), who grapples with the absurdity that his first day on the job has turned into.

Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City production still
via Sony

The casting choices — some of which may have seemed questionable in trailers — come together in record time. Scodelario's Claire looks like her video game counterpart, down to the red jacket, but becomes so much more thanks to the director and writer of Welcome to Racoon City, Johannes Roberts. She's serious and strong-willed, ready to do anything to uncover the truth about Umbrella. Claire is given a personal stake in the ongoing drama that goes deeper than just being related to an RPD cop. Avan Jogia proves himself as the perfect Leon in his very first scene, capturing the man before the events of the Resident Evil series harden him up. Jogia's Leon is an unlikely (sometimes unwilling) hero who provides a good portion of the film's comedic beats.

And for being a horror-action film, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City isn't afraid to be funny or in some moments, absurd. The film draws its laughs from the craziness of an unfolding zombie outbreak, swinging between character reactions like a pinball machine. There are moments in the Raccoon City Police headquarters that feel plucked from John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13, one of Johannes Roberts' biggest inspirations for the film.

Claire and Chris from Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City

Besides comedy, the film does a phenomenal job of taking characters that aren't playable in the original games and turning them into three-dimensional people. There are multiple characters that get this treatment, but none shine as bright as Welcome to Raccoon City's iteration of Albert Wesker, a fellow RPD member and one of the most notorious villains of the Resident Evil franchise. Played by Tom Hopper, Wesker is more than just an aloof man hiding behind sunglasses — his loyalty and nature are just ambiguous to work while his deepened relationship with those on the RPD squad adds a much-needed layer of humanity to his character.

Despite the changes made for the film, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is unapologetically infused with a flavor that can only be described as Resident Evil. It helps that the set dressing is ripped straight from the games, down to the font on the sign for the RPD headquarters. There are Easter eggs and nods from series entries such as Code Veronica and Resident Evil 3. There are Easter eggs and nods from series entries such as Code Veronica and Resident Evil 3. Dialogue isn't just ripped from a cutscene, but feel like they’d be right at home in any Resident Evil game, especially the conversations between Claire and Leon, one of the many great dynamics the film sheds light on. The film ends with a special surprise for fans of the games and lays the groundwork for a potential sequel that would expand on characters and bring in fan favorites from the series. With the work done in Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, it just may finally be time for a more faithful series of Resident Evil adaptations that refuse to be a copy-and-paste of the games but still feel like a part of the story Capcom has created.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is now playing in theaters.

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