“Resident Evil: Welcome to Racoon City”, released on Nov. 24, is an action/horror film. The storyline comes from the first two Resident Evil games by Capcom. Writer and director Johannes Roberts did a perfect job bringing these games to life while adding his own twist to some characters.

Based in 1998, this film follows a group of five people trying to survive a mysterious zombie outbreak in the small, almost deserted town, Racoon City. Two main storylines are followed:

One part follows Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine and Albert Wesker as they investigate the abandoned Spencer mansion. They are unaware of the zombie outbreak back at home and as betrayals unfold, they must find their way out of the mansion alive. I feel that this half of the movie brought most of the action and jump-scares, so beware if you startle easily. However, there is a big plot twist and sudden change of adventure that made me more interested in the outcome of the movie. Although the other storyline was more interesting to me, this one unfolded much quicker and included more drama.

Back in town, Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy try to find a way out of Racoon city before the town self-destructs. They visit Racoon City Orphanage, the home of Claire’s nightmares and an old ghostly friend. I think this storyline was slightly rushed, especially in the end. Before I even completely realized that the outbreak was in full swing, they were shooting zombies and finding underground prisons. Some major important plot twists were also passed over very quickly and I didn’t realize how important they were until the movie was over. This slightly decreased my enjoyment of the movie, but I liked the main ideas of this storyline more. It was more mysterious and suspenseful.

This is also where Roberts decided to add something more to the film by giving a previously overlooked character more spotlight.

In the original games, Lisa Trevor appeared only a couple of times and didn’t have a very prominent role in the adventure. This is why Roberts’ inclusion of her character was such a surprise to many people. I am not overly experienced in the Resident Evil video games, but I was hoping that her character would make an appearance and Roberts succeeded my expectations. The mysterious air of her background made me feel a deeper connection to the character as a viewer. She is the leather-faced girl that can be seen watching Claire sleep at the beginning of the movie and makes another appearance to help Claire escape Racoon City in the outbreak.

Roberts’ addition of her character in this film was genius, as it compelled viewers to investigate her backstory in the original games and make them wonder if she will have a comeback in the rumored sequel.

Overall, this movie was incredibly put together and I am looking forward to hopefully seeing a sequel. As someone who gets scared easily, there was a perfect amount of jump scares to where I was on the edge of my seat but not on the verge of leaving. From the first minute of the film all the way to the last second, everyone in the theater shared the same suspense and it made the viewing experience so much better.