Mentioning the name of Capcom’s famous gaming franchise Resident Evil conjures several different images. After 25 years of a presence on various gaming consoles, some think of puzzle-loaded tales of horror, involving zombies and other mutated creatures. Meanwhile, fans of the Milla Jovovich-led action-horror blockbusters think of insane superhuman stunts that also involve zombies and other mutated creatures. As Sony Pictures is getting ready to release its big cinematic reboot, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, the former is firmly in mind thanks to the new trailer being packed with callbacks to those first two games.
Just as the film’s official Twitter account had warned us, the world can now feast their eyes on the first footage from writer/director Johannes Roberts’ big RE-boot. Sure enough, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is set in the 1998 timeframe that the first three games focused on, showing Claire Redfield (Kaya Scodelario) returning home to Raccoon City to expose the Umbrella Corporation’s hideous deeds.
“Hideous” is definitely a word that seems fitting when describing what we see in this trailer, as it’s not just a reel of an amazing cast of actors. Mixed in with comic book media veterans like Gotham and Blade’s Donal Logue and MCU veteran Neal McDonough are some pretty horrific-looking creations. Ranging from your standard human zombies and half-decaying dogs, to the infamous Licker and the tragic Lisa Trevor, the R-rated thrills are quite gorier than the later entries of the previous franchise allowed themselves to be.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City shows us two different stories, from two different games, connected by Claire and her brother Chris (Robbie Amell). While Claire explores a Raccoon City overrun by the undead, alongside rookie cop Leon Kennedy (Avan Jogia), Chris is exploring a mansion in the mountains with some secrets to discover, with fellow STARS team operatives Jill Valentine (Hannah John-Kamen) and Albert Wesker (Tom Hopper).
Already, diehard players of the Resident Evil video games are probably wondering how in the world Chris and Jill’s quests will tie together into one cohesive whole. But in the light of what’s been shown off in the first trailer for Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, those concerns can probably wait for another day. Strongly embodying the look and feel Capcom’s games, most noticeably the 2019 remake of Resident Evil 2, this undead odyssey’s heart has been shown to be in the right place; even if that place happens to be in the mouth of an Umbrella Corporation creation.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City will retell this epic story for a November 24th release. So if you happen to be part of a family of gamers, it’s going to be an extra special Thanksgiving this year. Though if you want to find something for everybody to enjoy this holiday, take a trip to the uninfected 2021 release schedule.
