Since I recently revisited the 2023 “Super Mario Movie” and the new sequel, I wanted to take a look at a couple other video game movies that I haven’t seen yet. So, for this review I took a look at the 2021 movie “Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City” and the 2001 movie “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider.”
Welcome to Raccoon City, once the booming home of pharmaceutical giant Umbrella Corp. The company’s exodus left the city a wasteland, a dying town with great evil brewing below the surface.
When that evil is unleashed, a group of survivors must work together to uncover the truth behind Umbrella and make it through the night.
When “Welcome to Raccoon City” was initially released, both critics and most audiences gave the movie a fairly mixed response, with some fans giving it some praise. Now, while I’m not really familiar with the video games, I thought it was a decent watch for the most part.
Compared to the previous iterations of the video game adaptations, “Welcome to Raccoon City” delivers more of an eerie, horror tone compared to the action-packed versions in the previous franchise – almost like a “B” movie vibe to it in a way. The darker atmosphere of this iteration has made some sequences really tense, especially when the zombies start appearing.
While some of the visuals aren’t really the best, the creature designs of some of the monsters from the game look really great and, at times, very scary. There’s also a moment towards the end where a supporting character transforms into a monster that uses both practical and CGI effects that’s definitely one of the major highlights of this movie. There’s also a scene that features a zombified truck driver on fire that goes into a police station that makes a shocking, tense moment.
This “Resident Evil” movie received fairly mixed audience responses, often praised by fans for its faithful atmosphere recreation of the games’ horror settings, while criticized by others for its poor acting (agree with this one), low budget special effects and a weak script. The movie ended up becoming a modest commercial disappointment, grossing $42 million worldwide on a $25 million budget.
MPA: Rated R For strong violence and gore, and language throughout (107 minutes)
In the 2001 movie “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider,” aristocrat archaeologist Lara Croft races against an organization to find the “Triangle of Light,” an ancient artifact capable of controlling time. With a rare planetary alignment occurring, she must locate two halves of the artifact before the villainous Mafred Powell uses it to alter history.
While critics initially gave this movie mixed to negative reviews, it’s a highly entertaining stylish action-adventure that’s a fun, nostalgic watch (for those you loved the games) despite a fairly thin story. Just like “Resident Evil,” I don’t really have a lot of knowledge about the games, yet I really enjoy the globe-trotting adventure.
From all the stuff I’ve seen about the games, I can easily tell that this movie really captures the spirit of the “Tomb Raider” games that features plenty of globe-trotting fun and some puzzle solving. Angelina Jolie was perfectly casted for the Lara Croft role and she was even dedicated to performing several of the stunts.
The 2001 “Tomb Raider” movie also delivers a lot of high-octane action-packed moments that will appease both action fans of the video game. The thrilling “training session” with a killer robot in the movie’s opening is a cool way to start the action and the Croft Manor break-in where Croft makes some acrobatic moves to fight off the people that are breaking in is easily one of the best action moments. There’s also a scene featured in a Cambodian temple, where Croft navigates to find a hidden treasure and a few battles take place that can also be highly entertaining.
“Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” was a significant success that received generally negative reviews from critics but found a dedicated following among fans as a “guilty pleasure” action movie. Though some opinions may differ, some fans prefer the 2001 version for its campy, sometimes over the top adventure feel compared to the more serious and grounded feel of the 2018 reboot.
MPA: Rated PG-13 for action violence and some sensuality (runtime 100 minutes)
“Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City” can currently be streamed on Hulu and various PVOD platforms while “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider” can currently be found on Paramount Plus and other various PVOD platforms.