Top Fifteen DC Villains

Carry on from the DC heroes I will now list my favourite villains.

15. Black Adam
Not so much of a villain just more of a tragic character who believes more in a different kind of justice that clashes with Shazam. I really like his design and backstory and I am really looking forward to seeing Dwayne Johnson portraying him in live action.

14. Sinestro
The former Green Lantern who created the Yellow Lantern Corps based on the power of fear. As I said in the heroes list I really like the powers of the lanterns with their rings so I had to have another user on this list and who better than Hal Jordon's greatest foe.

13. The Crime Syndicate
I know this is a group but the Forever Evil storyline in the New 52 is one of my favourites ever and it is all thanks to this group which consists of evil counterparts to some of the main heroes.

12. Talia al Ghul
One of the biggest love interests for Batman and the only one to have a child with him, Damien Wayne. She is a really cool assassin and whenever she faces Batman she always tries to mess with his mind not just hurt him.

11. Black Hand
One of the most insane villains I have ever seen; Black Hand was so obsessed with death since his early childhood that the events of the Blackest Night storyline (one of my favourite comics) began because he killed his entire family and then himself and then became the wielder of the Black Lantern ring.

10. Scarecrow
Has a really awesome design and I just really like his fear toxin that he uses to combat Batman and infect Gotham with from time to time. Batman chose a bat because he wants to instil fear into his enemies so it is always fear vs. fear when these two battle.

9. Cyborg Superman
Hank Henshaw is one of the most tragic villains in my opinion because after being exposed to radiation and watching his body decay, he acquires a robot body only for his wife to comics suicide. When he reappears as Cyborg Superman his design was just so freaking badass and he destroyed Coast City which is changed Hal Jordon forever in the pre - 52 comics.

8. Ra's al Ghul
Batman's second arch nemesis (beaten by Joker) Ra's al Ghul is really interesting with the fact that he doesn't want to kill Batman because he finds him to be the only worthy successor as Head of the Demon. While battling him Ra's constantly tries to convince Batman that death is the only way to combat evil in the world.

7. Captain Cold
An awesome Flash villain who deserves to be in this list for being one of the founding members of the famous Rouge group. He has always been a cool villain either with his ice gun or his ice powers in the New 52 and it was great seeing him as hero Citizen Cold in Flashpoint.

8. Deathstroke
DEATHSTROKE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Even though this list is about the comic version his Arrow TV series version does really help show how much of a badass this guy really is.

7. Bane
Has to be on this list as the villain who broke Batman's back. A foe who is a match for Batman in a fight in body and intellect, Bane was even considered a successor for Ra's al Ghul a few times.

6. Lex Luthor
Superman's greatest foe who always proves quite the challenge for him because even without powers his superior intellect makes him a match. He was just so freaking awesome in the Forever Evil storyline which is one of my favourite New 52 comics.

5. Hush
The Hush comic is one of my favourite Batman storylines of all time and it is all thanks to this epic villain. He spends the entire comic manipulating a lot of Batman's villains to combat the caped crusader and wear him down. I also really like that he is the childhood friend of Bruce Wayne and thus has a connection with his past.

4. Captain Boomerang
Started out a bit of a wacky villain for The Flash but became a really serious mercenary and my favourite member of the Suicide Squad. I just really like that boomerangs can be used so effectively in battle and I his zombie design in the Blackest Night storyline was so cool and he played an important part after being resurrecting in Brightest Day. Plus his perfect portrayal in the Arrow and Flash crossover really did help as well.

3. Harley Quinn
The Joker's psychotic girlfriend who his completely crazy and also really funny at the same time. She actually first appeared in the Batman Animated Series but became so popular they just had to put her in the comics and I am glad they did. She has some great designs and she is also a great member of the Suicide Squad.

2. The Joker
The clown prince of crime just has to be in everyone's list of villains because he is the most iconic out of all of them. The Joker is chaos incarnate and the complete opposite of Batman in every respect; everything he does is just for the fun of it no matter how evil the act is. I have also really liked that despite being in the Batman comics since the very early days he always lies about his origins so he is constantly a mystery.

1. Reverse Flash
My absolute favourite villain and I like all of his incarnations but I think Eobard Thawne AKA Professor Zoom is the best because everything he does is to torment Barry Allen. I liked that Thawne's idolization of Barry in the distant future caused him to go insane which lead's him to gain speed powers and be the first Reverse Flash to where the reverse colours of the Flash's costume. Of course my favourite comics he is on has got to be the Flashpoint storylines.   

Film Review: Resident Evil Retribution

The most current film in the Resident Evil film series, lets get to it! SPOILERS

Retribution takes place after an uncertain amount of time from the events of Afterlife and Alice (Milla Jovovich) has been captured by the Umbrella Corporation. She finds herself in a special Umbrella facility deep under the ice in Russia that is under the control of the revived Red Queen and has simulations of major world cities. However a strike unit has been sent to free Alice under orders from Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts) and consisting of Ada Wong (Li Bingbing), Leon Kennedy(Johann Urb), Barry Burton (Kevin Durand)  and Lurther West (Boris Kodjoe). However the Red Queen is prepared for intruders as she has hundreds of monsters at her disposal while her human clone forces are led by Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory).

Place your bets on who to win

Once again this is directed by Paul Anderson and even though it is obvious at this point the film is again an entirely original plot not based on any of the games however it draws inspiration from 5 and 4.

Your still as great as ever Milla!

I want to talk about the story first before getting in to the characters because I really want to say that it story might actually be one of the weakest in the series. Overall I did enjoy watching this film however it just nagged me with how many similarities it had with the first one. For example the Red Queen A.I. is back again and running Umbrella but there is no explanation as to why she is back when she was fried at the end of the first film, we already had her as a villain I just don't get why she had to come back. Also even though it is set in a massive underground testing facility it again felt too similar to the setting in the first film because once again the characters have to escape from it because of a time limit. Lastly I do not get why Wesker is suddenly helping Alice and humanity because he just seemed to want to destroy both in Afterlife, I know he might have a secret plan to be revealed in the sequel but still I just don't get it. However I did find the whole cloning aspect in this interesting and all of the simulated environments that they have.

"Who wants to experience ultimate pain first?"

Once again we have Alice back and she is just as great as ever with a cool new costume and kicking some zombie ass. For other returning characters we also have Lurther and Wesker; Lurther, like in Afterlife, is a great character but he doesn't feel as significant in this one but I'm still glad he is in it but I really wished that Wesker had a larger role because he is only in it for a few scenes. We also have Jill Valentine and I am so glad she has returned because I really liked her from Apocalypse and she is more like her 5 version here. Whatever problems I have with 5 I liked Jill in it because she was like some unstoppable killer; pulling off some great moves and in a skin tight purple outfit I might add and its all been adapted perfectly here.

"Who shall I get to push me?"

For other returning characters we have Rain (Michelle Rodriguez), One (Colin Salmon) and Carlos (Oded Fehr) and it was a surprise because they are all dead but that is where the cloning comes in. Seems they where cloned after death to be Umbrella soldiers and characters in a simulation so we have good and bad versions of Rain and Carlos. I really liked that they did this because Rain and One at least got to have a larger role in the film series now overall and its always great to see Carlos back. Also Rain fighting along side Jill at the end is one of the best moments in the film and is just as good (actually probably better) than the Wesker fight in Afterlife.

"Who wants to mess with this badass team?!"

Now for the new characters and I have to say that we have got some great choices and casting. I'll start off first with Johann Urb as Leon and he is a great character and its good they are using one of Resident Evil's most known protagonist but I kind of felt that he didn't have that much of a presence in this. As for Ada, Li Bingbing really nailed it as her because she looked exactly like her and I liked all of the scenes she was in. However my favourite was Kevin Durand as Barry because firstly I feel like I am seeing Kevin Durand in a lot of films lately (he is on The Strain right now) and he is such a great actor but I am also just really glad that Barry is in the films. Barry is a great character in the games but so, so underused (like Billy and Rebecca) since he has never been a playable character and hasn't had a large role since 1 (unless you count the cameo in 3). But in this film Barry was awesome, he was great in all of the action scenes and his death scene was so badass the way he shot One. Sure he died in this but I think he has had a better role in this than the games have been giving him!

I thought this in the games and I am thinking this now: That red dress isn't practical field gear!

Now on to the monster which is the biggest weakness of the Resident Evil films and that is because we barely get any. First we have the zombies but they are actually the best monsters in this film because they where awesome. They are like the military ones from 4, 5 and 6 in which they use guns and vehicles and I thought I wouldn't enjoy it much because in the games I prefer proper zombies. However in the scene where they are all attacking Barry, Leon and Lurther in the Russia simulation was so cool and they even had a chainsaw wielding one that looked damn creepy. This film failed though in bringing back the Executioner and the Licker from the previous films and I just wonder why? We have already seen them couldn't they have given us something else? I don't care if there where two Executioners and a giant Licker I wanted Hunters or Bandersnatches or one of the bosses.

Best character in the film

Overall this might be the weakest entry in the film series however I still enjoyed watching it because it had some great action scenes, some new characters from the game and the ending implies a pretty badass finale to the series.

SCORE: 6/10

Highlights: Great action sequences (Alice fighting the zombies, Russia attack, final fight)
                   More characters from the game (especially Barry!)

Let - Downs: The plot felt too much like the first film
                      Not enough variety of monsters (again)

You can find all of the great screenshots I used right here;

http://ladymanson.com/ShadowofReflection/home.php

                     

Film Review: Resident Evil Afterlife

Finally got round to reviewing this one!

Afterlife takes place a year after Extinction and Alice (Milla Jovovich) has destroyed the Umbrella Tokyo base and seemingly killed Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts) but at the cost of all her clones and her powers. She then spends six months trying to find any more survivors but only succeeds in finding Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) who has lost her memory. The two must battle new types of zombies and monsters within a prison in L.A. along with Claire's brother Chris Redfield (Wentworth Miller) and other survivors led by former pro - basketball player Luther West (Boris Kodjoe). They try to get to escape and reach the haven called Arcadia but it might not be the salvation they are looking for...

"Few more lessons and I'll be able to fly"

This film marks the return of Paul Anderson as the director not just the writer and producer and while I like that it is a shame not to have Russell Mulcahy who I praised in my Extinction review but I will touch on that later. Just like Extinction, Afterlife is a completely original plot that is only loosely based on the game however unlike Extinction this one brings in a lot more references to a certain game which I will explain during the review.

"Okay who wants to go first?"

The only two characters to return from the previous films are Alice and Claire and while I really like those two I would really liked to have seen L.J. or Carlos again (mostly L.J. because of Retribution) even though I know they are dead. However they bring in two of Resident Evil most known characters Chris Redfield and a re - casted Albert Wesker (Shawn Roberts). I really like these two casting choices because where brilliant throughout the whole film and they really looked like the characters they where playing. As for side characters there really isn't as much in here as I really would have liked and that is my first complaint about the film because in Extinction and Apocalypse there where lots of great characters and a big draw for the film for me. Two worth mentioning however is Luther West, he is really cool liked his no nonsense attitude and Bennett Sinclair (Kim Coates) as a film producer who only cares about himself. There are some other characters with them but I never really liked them as much as the members of Claire's convoy.

Three Milla Jovovich......yeah I've had that dream loads of times!

Also something I really have to mention and that I didn't like too much was that the majority of the film takes place in a prison in the middle of L.A. One of the reasons Extinction is my fav Resident Evil film is because I really liked the bright and big locations in the desert, thanks to Russell Mulcahy. I guess after Apocalypse and Extinction I wanted the films to always be out doors but no its confide indoors; Tokyo Base, Prison, Ship. However I do really like the set designs especially the hi - tech whiteness of the Arcadia ship or the extensive underground Tokyo Base.

Just as badass from the game

As for the monsters they have once again brought back zombies (of course) but this time they are a lot more dangerous because they are more like the ones from Resident Evil 5; this means they run and have a parasite in their mouths that latch on to enemies. Normally I would not have liked this because I don't like the zombies in 4, 5, and 6 however they are done really well in the film here and their parasite look gross. Other then that we have The Executioner from 5 making an appearance and once again even though I disliked 5 because of its enemies I have to praise it here because it was a perfect adaptation of it from the game and its involved in one of my favourite scenes in the film. That's about it unfortunately (apart from two dogs five minutes at the end) and that is my biggest criticism about this film and the others; they need more monsters! I can't believe they only chose three, well two if you don't count zombies because they really have to be in it every time!

"Bring it on!"

Some of my favourite moments that I just want to quickly mention is the beginning of the film where Alice and her clones storm the Tokyo Base. That was just so epic with all of her clones killing the Umbrella soldiers and using guns, swords and explosives. Next is when the zombies break into the prison and Alice has to jump off it holding a cable while detonating the roof. Shortly after that we have the show room fight between Alice, Claire and The Executioner and that was choreographed really well with the massive swinging axe and the use of slow - mo. Finally is the final fight between Chris, Claire and Wesker because it too is such a perfect adaptation of the fight from 5, I think shot for shot.

Surprise cameo

Overall this isn't as good as Extinction because of a location for the film that I didn't like as much, the severe and I mean severe lack of monsters and I guess it wasn't as fun as the third. However it is influenced a lot from 5 (chest pieces as well I forgot to mention) and even though it is my least fav Resident Evil game they have done it so well that I really enjoyed watching this.

SCORE: 7/10

Highlight: Heavy influences from 5 which are adapted perfectly in this
                 Shawn Robert as Albert Wesker and Wentworth Miller as Chris Redfield
                 Awesome action sequences throughout the film

Let - Downs: Not much monsters
                      Don't care for much of the side characters
                      After such great locations in the Nevada Desert  I don't like that its set mainly in a prison and them just trying to escape from it

You can find all of the great screenshots I used right here;

http://ladymanson.com/ShadowofReflection/home.php

Film Review: Resident Evil Extinction

On to the third now and like before MAJOR SPOILERS.

Extinction takes place an uncertain amount of time after the Raccoon City Incident and despite their best efforts Umbrella could not stop the halt of the the T - Virus. It has now spread throughout the entire world infecting humans, animals and plants and because of the latter the environment on Earth has mostly turned in to desert wastelands. Umbrella however have not given up on their experiments and Dr. Sam Isaacs (Iain Glen), head of Umbrella's North American underground facility, is determined to recapture Alice for his research. Alice herself has been in hiding since acquiring her new powers and just wanders the wasteland while evading Umbrella. Meanwhile a small convoy of humans are making their why across America just trying to survive (inspired by Mad Max 2) led by Claire Redfield (Ali Larter) and accompanied by new and familiar faces such as Carlos Oliveria (Oded Feher) and L.J. (Mike Epps).

Best film characters right here!

Just like the last film Paul Anderson writes and produces this one while it is directed by someone else however unlike the last one I know the director of this one; Russell Mulcahy who directed Highlander one of my most favourite films. I really like his style because it involves a lot of a lot of moving camera and crane work which is how he got those beautiful location shots in Highlander. Also while the last film was heavily influenced by the Resident 2 and 3 games this one decided to have an original plot like the first film. Not only that but they destroyed the world with the T - Virus something which the games didn't do yet. While this is a bold new direction it also means that the films after this one will have to have mostly original plots as well because they could hardly copy the games much after this.

Ass - Kicking Alice time to shine

We got a good cast of characters with Alice returning again and kicking ass like she always is however even though she is important in the story (with Umbrella trying to catch her and cloning her) I don't find her as interesting as Claire and her convoy. I find that the exciting bits of the film are when it focuses on the other characters and even though she joins them half way through, even of she didn't I wouldn't really mind. Also returning is Carlos Oliveria and L.J. and since they are two of my favourite film characters I am glad; as I said before I am grateful that Carlos has such an important role in the films and this one is no different and L.J. has a lot more serious role now which is great to see.

Bad place to be Isaacs 

For the new characters we have Claire Redfield and I was looking forward to seeing her because, like Jill, she is one of m favourite game characters. She takes more of a leadership role in this which is different from how she is in the games but it works and Ali Larter was a really great choice. We also have Sam Isaacs is a great primary antagonist in this and is obviously a replacement for William Birkin since they missed on their chance to use him however Isaacs is cold, calculating and merciless and serves as a great final boss (more on that later). Last from the video games is Jason O'Mara as Albert Wesker and he is a lot different from his video game counterpart; he is chairman of Umbrella now and only appears as holograms when Umbrella has their board meetings. It is a drastic change and even though I really wish he had a more prominent role I did quite like it, Jason O'Mara is a great actor (seen him in a few other stuff) so I have no complaints about the casting I just think he was underused. We also have a wide range of characters as part of Claire's convoy and I really like them all and they are what makes me like the parts with the convoy the best. Oh yeah really good seeing Linden Ashby in this film as a member of the convoy, I don't really see him in anything else but I remember him best as Johnny Cage in Mortal Kombat, a great Paul Anderson film :)

Where your signature crossbow Claire?

Now on to the monsters and I was really pleased to see that they upped up the gore a lot in this one; finally we see blood coming out of zombies when they are shot, finally we see their body parts crushed! They also look a lot better as well because the zombies in the previous films really looked to normal for my taste but they looked more dried up and deformed now and probably because of the change in the environment. Besides zombies we also have the Crimson Heads from the games; they are not intelligent zombies but ones that are a lot more hyper, stronger and aggressive and I think they where perfect in this. The sequence where they fight the group is my favourite part in the film, it is just so brutal seeing them using their fists, running and biting all over the place. For animals we once again have the zombies dogs and I have always liked them but we also have the crows which I admit I am not that bothered about. Sure their scene was inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (awesome film) and sure their attack on the convoy was really cool but honestly who really cares about the crows from the game?

What a why to go out

Now for the final boss of the film and something I was looking forward to along with Nemesis; Tyrant! Isaacs is the one who transforms into the Tyrant after overdosing on the T - Virus and it's Anti - Virus and I have to say it did not disappoint. It looked really cool with it's grey skin, long clawed arm and that fact that Isaacs was still in control. This Tyrant, in my opinion, is a cross between the Tyrant from the original game and the Tentacle Tyrant from Dead Aim and I have always liked both. The action scenes when he was fighting against Alice was just great however I did feel that it was a bit too short and it's death at the hands of the laser grid was kind of rushed and lacklustre.

This looks kind of familiar?

As I said some of the best parts in the film where the attack of the Crimson Heads, final battle with the Tyrant and Claire's convoy but I also liked scenes such as Carlos's death scene because that was really badass and the beginning where Alice runs into that family of crazies. However I did not like that they had so many references from the first film in here like modelling the underground to look like the mansion or putting in the laser grid just to finish of the Tyrant, it was just too much. I do really like the story overall but I just didn't get the point of testing all the Alice clones in that survival training ground at all and they never really explain why they did it.

Sorry Stevie

Overall Extinction is my favourite entry in the film franchise because I think they improved a lot from the previous films. I think the bright, desert locations was a great choice and was really different from the underground lab from the first and the dark city in the second. Plus the convoy parts are the best parts in the film and I think that's because its fun to watch, it has the best characters and events with them.

SCORE: 9/10

Highlights: Claire's convoy/cast of characters
                   A higher level of gore
                   Like the wide, bright locations

Let - Downs: Alice seemed more like a side character in this to me
                      Too many references to the first film
                      Once again they don't have a wide variety of monsters

You can find all of the great screenshots I used right here;

http://ladymanson.com/ShadowofReflection/home.php

Upcoming Reviews

Thought I'd give a run down of some reviews that I really want to get round to writing. Bear in mind that this list may change because I might not be able to do them all or I might decided not to review them.

TV Shows

Finish Revolution: You all know that I am reviewing all episodes of season one of Revolution because it is one of my fav shows however I probably won't do season two straight afterwards. The reason for this is because since there is no season three (and the likely hood of it drops every day) there is no real rush to do it.

Arrow: Like Revolution, Arrow is a show that aired before I started this blog so I couldn't review it straight away. However I thought why not review it now but also review all episodes like I do with Revolution because the amazing site, screencapped has all seasons. Since I want to start on Arrow soon I might hurry up in my review for Revolution episodes, maybe upload two a week, and finish it before the end of the year.

Game of Thrones, Walking Dead, Falling Skies, Gotham: Maybe do individual reviews for these episodes as well but Arrow comes first so I don't know when I will get round to these. Also screencapped hasn't got screencaps for three of them and when I review individual episodes I would really like to use screenshots in them.

Films

Rest of Resident Evil
Battle Royale
Hammer Horror films (really like them)
Marvel films

Games

Rest of the Final Fantasy XIII series
Rest of the Silent Hill series

Anime

Code Geass
Death Note
Redo Sword Art Online and Btooom!


There you have it a list of some of the things I would like to review next and I really hope that I get round to doing them all.

Film Review: Resident Evil Apocalypse

Time for a review of the second Resident Evil film!

Resident Evil Apocalypse is set after the events of the first film and the T - Virus has made it's way out of the Hive and has now infected most of the population of Raccoon City. The Umbrella corporation has locked the city down, evacuated their most important personal and are even taking advantage the viral outbreak to test their latest Bio - Weapon; Nemesis. Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), a disgraced member of the elite S.T.A.R.S unit with a grudge against Umbrella, tries to survive in the zombie infested city. Meanwhile Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr), an Umbrella commando, is trying to combat the zombie menace with his squad but soon begins to question the corporation he works for. In the midst of this former Umbrella employee Alice (Milla Jovovich) awakens after being captured at the end of the first film and finds out that Umbrella as done something to her.



It would be so cool to be there right now

Unlike the first film this one is directed by Alexander Witt and I admit that I have never heard of him before this film however it is produced and written by Paul Anderson so it is still in a similar style like the first film. The most noticeable difference however between the first film and Apocalypse is that this one borrows heavily from the game source material, for which I am glad they did. Writing a great original story in the Resident Evil story is a good move if it worked (and it sure did in my opinion) but sooner or later it had to stick more closely to the games and that is what Apocalypse does. It's plot is influenced mainly from the second and third games but it also uses elements from CVX, three of the best games in the series. I do really like the story that have here because it is so close to RE3 but they nicely fitted in the events from the first film.

"Time to blow some zombie heads off!"

For the location of Raccoon City I have to admit that is where it deviates quite a bit from the games; Raccoon City is supposed to be a lonely, simple mountain community surrounded by a dense forest. They chose Toronto for the film and it is a little too modern looking and has a too many skyscrapers, going on about the location might be nit picking but I have played the games too many times not to notice. However to do have many great inner city locations that suited the film; the gothic style church, the school and they did a really excellent job in making the streets look ruined, looted and devastated. Plus I read that is was Milla Jovovich's idea that their be a heat wave in the film so Alice and Jill can have a more practical reason for their outfits; my thanks to her!

One of my favourite Resident Evil characters ever right here!

As for the cast it is almost completely new seeing how that Alice is the only returning character from the previous film. Firstly there is Oded Fehr as Carlos and I have to say I am really glad that they gave Carlos such a large role; those who read my Resident Evil rants know that I hate that most Resident Evil game characters are being pushed aside in favour of Chris and Leon (both of whom I think have been used a main characters too often). Carlos is one of the characters I wanted to see more of in the games so being a main character for the film franchise is the next best thing for me. Also Oded Fehr is probably one of my all time favourite actors who I think is perfect in the role; they dial down his "ladies man" personality from the game but in return he is a badass soldier and I read that he did most of his marital arts moves and gun handling himself.

If I saw Nemesis walking down the street I'll be like "Hell no!" and gotten out of there

Next we have Sienna Guillory as Jill Valentine and again an excellent cast choice, she even looks a lot like Jill and wears her outfit from 3. She had a really large role in this film for which I am glad for but I kind of wish it was even bigger if that was possible. I really like Milla Jovovich returning in this and she even brings some great action sequences because of her heightened abilities but she overshadows Jill's character when she joins the main group. I'm a bit in two minds about these characters; I really like Alice but at the same time I wanted Jill to be the main leading role throughout the entire film. Maybe that is because Jill is one of the characters from the games I really wanted to see in the films but she has to compete with Alice in this.

We're back b***hs!

Now a complete standout in this film for me and who has become one of my favourite Resident Evil characters (film and games) is Mike Epps as L.J.. His character is just so funny and so likable throughout the entire film, every scene he is in is great and steals most of them in my opinion. We also have Thomas Kretschmann as Major Timothy Cain (only named in the novels) an Umbrella Security operative who is in charge of handling the Raccoon City incident. Cain is definitely the villain that was needed for the film because that is what the first one truly lacked (as I mentioned in my review of it).

"Even if where supposed to just be a medical company, lets slaughter all these civilians" 

Gone on about the characters for quite a bit but just a quick mention of the supporting ones. We also have Raz Adoti as Peyton Wells another S.T.A.R.S member, who is really great in the film but looks so much like Kenneth Sullivan from the games I wonder why they didn't just name him that. There's also Jared Harris and Sophie Vavasseur as Charles and Angie Ashford; I've always liked Jared Harris so his great in this as the T - Virus creator and Sophie Vavasseur also did a good job, I even like the nod to the Ashford family from the games even if they are two original characters. Lastly we also have Zack Ward as Nicholai Ginovaef (interesting to see a good Nicholai!) and Sandrine Holt as Terri Morales who has a great small role. All in all I have been pleased with the casting for the film and its characters.

"You looking at me?"

As for the monsters I am really glad that the Licker has made a return and that there are even more of them this time around. They are done this time in CGI but it is way better than what they used for the first film, Lickers are my favourite RE monster so glad there back. However once again I wished they could have included more monsters from the game like Hunters, Brain Suckers, the Mutated Plants etc. what sets the Resident Evil game apart form all others in the zombie genre is that its not just about the zombies, its about the dangerous and creative creatures you come across too. The zombies and zombie dogs are back in all their glory from the first film but also again there is a severe lack of gore; even when a zombie gets shot (even in the head) there really is no splatter.

Run Alice!

Now for the most iconic creature in the RE universe, Nemesis, I have to say that it could have been slightly better. I really liked the look of Nemesis in this film, I think the make - up and the suit are all impressive, however it doesn't seem that imposing like it was in the game. The main reason for this is because they made him rely too much on weapons throughout the film like his rail gun; unlike the game Nemesis does not use any of his tentacles concealed underneath his coat. Before I saw this film but after I heard that Nemesis was in it I was so looking forward to seeing Brad Vickers's famous death captured in live action and I was disappointed that not only Brad wasn't in it they didn't even use anyone else to have a sharp tentacle shoved through their throat. Plus I think the final show down between Nemesis and Milla was a bit because it was just hand to hand combat. I did like the Nemesis in this it just wasn't exactly what I thought it would be.

Oh Yeah!

Overall this is a great squeal to the first film even though I really wish that it could have been even longer like two hours because we could have had some more iconic scenes form the games.

Highlights: Characters/Cast (Jill, Carlos, L.J.)
                    Story (Influenced by the games more)
                    Locations

Let-downs: Nemesis could have been a bit better
                    Needed more gore and monsters from the games
                    A longer run time to fit in more events from Raccoon City

SCORE: 8/10

You can find all of the great screenshots I used right here;

http://ladymanson.com/ShadowofReflection/home.php

Film Review: Resident Evil

Thought I'd finally get round to reviewing one of my most favourite film series and video game adaptions; Resident Evil, so here is the first one that started it all. SPOILERS in this because it will be in depth and this is the kind of review for people how have seen this film and the others.

Resident Evil begins with the outbreak of a virus, called the T - Virus, in an underground facility called the Hive. It is owned by the pharmaceutical company Umbrella; one of the largest companies in the world and basically owns the town of Raccoon City that is located above it. The highly intelligent computer program that runs it, the Red Queen, decides to shut down the Hive and seal everyone of the employees down there. The main protagonist Alice (Milla Jovovich) awakens in a mansion with no memory of who she is but is soon dragged into the Hive by an Umbrella commando team led by One (Colin Salmon). Alice must now survive the horrors inside the Hive, try to recover her lost memory and figure out what exactly happened to cause the outbreak.

Some zombie killing action!

Resident Evil was directed by Paul W. Anderson and while I know he has had his fair share of criticism I think he is a really solid director who has a few gems (Mortal Kombat, Event Horizon). While this film is an adaption of the video game series it features a completely original plot not found in the games but none the less uses it's universe. Now this could have been a really bad move but I think it worked for this film because the overall plot was still similar to the games.

Damn, that laser sure made a clean job of it

To elaborate on this it borrows heavily from the story of Resident Evil 2 i.e. a virus outbreak in an underground lab that turns people to zombies. However instead of the virus infecting the city straight away they decided to set it in the laboratory and Anderson himself stated that he didn't want the film to feature any game tie ins because he felt that "under-performing movie tie-ins are too common and Resident Evil, of all games, deserved a good celluloid representation". Meaning he wanted to avoid too may links to the game as possible for this first adaption at least.

Oh Yeah!!

Now did I like that move that Anderson made? Yes I did and that is because I like certain adaptions that create their own story based on original material. If the story is well thought out and done right then it can be great and personally I really enjoyed it; it just felt like Resident Evil to me while not showing an exact same story from the games. There are some things however that I admit must follow the original material exactly because the story is too important to change drastically (Game of Thrones) and there are examples when it is done wrong (almost all original material in The Walking Dead).

"Oh hell no!"

I really liked the cast for this film with my favourite being Milla Jovovich as Alice because she is my all time favourite actress, in this she is smart, sexy and kicks a lot of zombie ass! She does ask a lot of questions but that is because of the loss of memory and a way for the other characters to explain what is going on. She is likable and a strong female protagonist which of course suits the horror film genre, plus we get to see her in some shower scenes and wearing that red dress throughout the film - what's not to like :). She may not be based on any Resident Evil character but she is really well thought-out and woven into the story really well as an Umbrella security agent. In fact before I continue thought I'd point out that the characters is mostly made up of Umbrella personnel and that is probably one of the big appeals in the film for me; a point of view from people working for Umbrella not those who are against it.

Shot them in the head Rain

As for the rest of the cast we have One the Umbrella team leader who I felt was really underused and that was annoying because he is played by such a great actor but at least he has one of the coolest film deaths ever involving the really cool laser grid scene. There's Michelle Rodriguez as Rain a member of the Umbrella team and even though she plays the same character type in everything I've seen her in (a no - nonsense badass) she is one of the ones so good at it that you don't mind. We also have James Purefoy as Spence who is the films antagonist who does a great job but then there is Eric Mabius as Matt Addison a person against Umbrella who even though is good in it I felt his character was just shoved in there so they have someone who is not an Umbrella employee. Lastly there is Martin Crewes as Kaplan the Umbrella team computer expert who I think is a real stand out; he did his part so well and I just found him really likeable.

It may be a short scene but the zombie dogs are badass in this

As for the zombies and other creatures in this film it is all done really well and that is because for the most part it is not done in CGI but with make up and I like that the best for zombies/horror films. It may not be as gory as I would have liked it to be for an adaption for the Resident Evil game but for the most part it does the job really well. The zombies all look the part of zombies even if there is a lack of missing limbs and trailing guts from any of them but I guess there really hasn't been any time for that is they have all been stuck in a lab. I also liked the movement of all the zombies and I guess that is to be expected since they hired professional dancers to play them.

Poor b*****d

The zombies dogs however is adapted perfectly from the video games; not only do they look like the same breed but they sound and act like the did in the games as well. They where never done in CGI (expect to erase an ear or eye) instead they got professional trained dogs and covered them in fake blood and meat that made them look as though they were skinned. Lastly I am glad they chose the Licker for the final boos in this because it is one of my favourite creatures but for the first few scenes it is in it is done in CGI and you can obviously tell that it is. Luckily for the mutated version of Licker they created a full - scale model with actual moving head, lips and tongue that just looks so much better.

You are one ugly mother-!

As for stuff that I admit they could have done better (I mentioned lack of gory but that is really minor) is a proper antagonist. I know Spence turns out to be it but this only happens at the very end of the film because of his loss of memory for the majority of it (plus is motivation is just money). I know that the Red Queen was the one who sealed the Hive but I really don't consider an A.I. to be a real villain in just about anything. However as much as she seemed to be a homicidal b***h it is said early in the film that she was only doing what she was programmed to do to preserve life, even if it did mean to killing a lot. Every Resident game has a proper villain; 1 - Wesker, 2 - The Birkins, 3 - Nicholai/Nemesis, CV - The Ashfords/Wesker, Dead Aim - Morpheus and 0 - Marcus. Those are the only TRUE Resident Evil games in my opinion and I just wished we had one here.

Soaking wet Milla Jovovich - oh yeah!

Two more things that I think could have been changed was that I wish the final fight with the Licker could have lasted longer and been a bit more interesting. I think that they focused just a little too much with the fight between Matt and zombie Rain when we could have seen more of the Licker. However the overall fight was pretty damn cool, really fast paced because it was set on a speeding training and I liked the music that they used to. Lastly even though I really like the cast I kind of wished they could have included just one character based off the video game instead of just a cameo of William Birkin by Jason Isaacs at the end. I think HUNK could have worked really well in this and he could have been part of the Umbrella team.



You can make it Kaplan!

Overall while it may not be perfect I think this film is a great start to the Resident Evil film series even though I know it hasn't appealed to every fan because of how original the plot is compared to the games. Maybe the could have made it more gory and gave the film a better overall antagonist and final fight but I enjoyed it immensely. It is as a lot of some cool gunfights and fist fights against the zombies and the laser scene is just so memorable. This film also worked  thanks to the great cast, action and story that I found to be just as good as the games and I like that they have a great set up to the squeal at the end that obviously looks based on Resident Evil 3.

"Just when I thought I'd got out you pull me right back in"

SCORE: 7/10

The great screenshots of the episodes where provided by the great site Screencapped. You can look for yourself from the link below;

 

 





http://screencapped.net/

Resident Evil Rant Part Two: Rebooting the Series

This is long overdo but the reason for that is because I have been very busy lately and I have only now just found the time to get round to writing part two. Those who have read my previous Resident Evil Rant may already now that I am dissatisfied with the direction the games have taken and I feel that it is in everyone's best interest if the series is rebooted. I will now make a list of what I think Capcom can do to make a good reboot and what mistakes it needs to avoid making again.

1. Never get rid of the zombies!
Had to get this one out of the way first because it is the most obvious one and the fall of the Resident Evil games started when they replaced zombies with intelligent parasites. When your enemies in survival horror games can jump around and use machine guns and bazookas then it turns in to an action game and that is something no true Resident Evil fan wanted. Leon's story in 6 did a good job of trying to bring zombies back and found a good way of letting them use weapons (they would drunkenly use clubs and guns like a proper zombie would) but Chris and Jack ruined that good work.

2. Don't overload it with too many B.O.Ws
In the old games they had great ones like Hunters, Lickers and Bandersnatch but in 6 they have the enemies mutant in to these stupid looking ones and in 4 and 5 I hated that they all looked like insects and parasites. Also in the old ones they always saved the stronger enemies for the right moments like the boiler room in the Resident Evil 1 mansion lab or the hospital in Resident Evil 3.

3. Don't load us down with too much ammunition and weapons
These shops and ammo drops in 4 and 5 really put me off the entire experience, probably more than anything else in the games. They may have got rid of the shops in 6 and went back to finding weapons in the field but the enemies still dropped too much ammo. Whenever I fought a boss in the new games I was not worried about losing to them at all. One of the most scary things about bosses in the old games was wondering if I might have been too trigger happy on the zombies and saved nothing! lack of resources and feeling like you can be killed at anytime is what makes a survival horror game a great survival horror game.

4. No QTE
Does this really need an explanation?

5. No multiplayer
I did sometimes enjoy this but I think it would be best if they got rid of so they can focus more on a single player experience because again that is what made the old games great. However if they want to have multiplayer than keep it for mercenaries because I still really enjoy that mode and maybe they could make more mini games if they want.

6. Don't abandon good characters
I don't know about anyone else but I just got sick of seeing Leon and Chris in every new Resident Evil game and why the hell don't we know what happened to great characters like Rebecca, Billy or Carlos?? Unless the character has died then keep them active in the overall story.

7. Don't get rid of the Umbrella Corporation
If they do reboot the series and use the Umbrella corporation again then for God's sake don't get rid of such a cool and powerful enemy in a prologue in 4! Umbrella was a really great and menacing company that doesn't care about human life at all and we did not even get to see their downfall properly. And as for Spencer the shadowy head of Umbrella who we never see and only heard off in the past - don't kill him off in such a lacklustre way after so much build up.

8. Don't go running around the entire world
There has not be single location in the new games as good as the old ones because they keep moving the settings around too much. They need to confine it in a single location so they can put more of an effect in to it, like the mansion and Raccoon City. Only Code Veronica X has done it right so far.

9. Bring back backtracking
As I mentioned in Part One I really like the backtracking in the old games; going back to old locations with a new key and running in to more enemies. The new games felt like we were just walking forward a liner corridor no matter how much they made us fell the levels were big.

10. Bring back typewriters and ink ribbons
Hate auto save because like with more ammo and weapons they take away the whole danger of the games. Because they limited the saves to ink ribbons you had to make sure you don't waste them for near the end of the game.

There you go ten good rules for Capcom to stick to if they decided to reboot the Resident Evil games. If you can think of anymore please let me know!

Resident Evil Rant Part One: The Fall of the Resident Evil Games

Still the greatest Resident Evil monster ever!

This post will be something entirely different, it won't be a review like they usually are. Instead I will be talking about a game series that was one of my most favourite, emphasis on was: Resident Evil.

Back when I was younger Resident Evil was by far the greatest survival horror games ever, even better than the Silent Hill series and that is only because Silent Hill can be a bit slow sometimes. There was other elements in the games to be sure like action but those were mostly saved for the bosses or more powerful enemies. I can remember long hours I would spend playing Resident Evil 2 and 3, the setting of Raccoon City was far the perfect setting and full of enemies, human and inhuman alike.
The tone and atmosphere for both was great as well; for Resident Evil 2 there was something quite creepy about the RPD station and the laboratory beyond and in 3 constant moaning of the zombies while your out in the street filled you with a scene of unease. Also every monster in it really gave you a sense of dread whenever you fought one, whether they were the normal zombies and zombie animals to the more sinister Tyrants such as the unstoppable Nemesis!

However there were other games besides these two; two others that surpassed them and were the perfect survival horror games ever - Resident Evil Remake and 0. As much fun as the original Resident Evil was, Remake improved absolutely everything about it and even added a lot more to them and 0 used Remake as an example and became a great prequel to the series. I am confident in saying that there have been no other survival horror games that have beaten these two.

Of course there are some other Resident Evil games worth mentioning; Code Veronica X was a great addition on the PS2, with its main setting on a prison island being just as great as Raccoon City. I admit whenever I played CVX in the dark when I was younger it did make me jump in some places. Also I know they had some mixed reviews but I also think the two Outbreak games deserve a spot in the great Resident Evil titles. They could have improved on a lot of things e.g. made them one big long game instead of splitting it in to episodes, but at least it still had a feeling of classic Resident Evil.

Now to refer back to the title of this rant; The Fall of Resident Evil, I will of course have to mention when it started to fall from grace. I know this next game was well received and has it share of fans but there is no deny that Resident Evil began to lose it with the release of Resident Evil 4.

Don't get me wrong Resident Evil 4 was a great game however I have always considered it more of an action game more than anything rather than a proper Resident Evil. Sure the Ganados and the bosses were interesting and difficult enough with their high intelligence but they just did not have the same impact as zombies. Also when the Ganados started to use guns near the end of the game I just really hated them then because the game just turned in to shooter, they might as well have been human enemies. However one thing that really annoyed me was the introduction of a shop were you can buy weapons and that enemies drop lots of ammunition. The biggest thrill of the classic Resident Evils was never knowing when or were you get your next gun and conserving ammo because it was scarce. With the shop and money that you can collect I never felt worried at all about my inventory like the last game.

Next entry of the Resident Evil was number 5 and this was an even bigger disappointment than 4 which I will talk about now. Frist though I just want to say that the racism surrounding this game was just so stupid, its a GAME that was set in Africa that was taken over by parasites, it had nothing to do with real life! The reasons I dislike this game was first to do with the fact that everything was a redo of 4, from the enemies to the chainsaw wielding guy to the shop at the end of the chapters it was just all the same, it even went to enemies using guns near the end as well. Next was the crappy A.I. that they gave Sheva and the fact that you can't play the game alone. I know in 4 you have to protect Ashley but she mostly stays out of the way and leaves at certain points but Sheva was always there and just so damn annoying that I just couldn't play it anymore. Also I just could not stand the story or the characters, Sheva being the main reason I hate them. She was only there in a hope to ease the racism and I just did not get why she stayed with Chris, her backstory was generic and weak and she had no impact on the story at all. Instead of her it should have been Rebecca, Barry or Carlos, at least they fit in to the overal story already and with Wesker in general, she just did not deserve to be there especially since this game was also the end of the iconic Wesker.

Lastly we have Resident Evil 6 and if I am honest I did like this game a hell of a lot more than 4 and 6. It still had a lot of problems like chapters, the enemies in Chris and Jakes and quick time events but it did try to return to some of its roots. Weapons can now only be found not bought, Leon's campaign actually had zombies in it and it worked really well with the over the shoulder mode (which you can now move in) and you have multiple campaigns like the previous games. However the best campaign in this was Leon's (even though chapter three is a complete waste of time) because of the zombies because I just did not like the J'avo in Chris and Jakes, even though some of their mutations were interesting. It should have been zombies for all campaigns and I know it could have worked, for example I know Chris has better weapons than the others but maybe he could have had massive crowds of zombies to deal with and he still could have had lots of B.O.W as well, like some of the J'avo mutations but as separate enemies. Also I did not like that Leon and Chris was in this because  again they have completely ignored the other characters.

There you have it, I believe 4, 5 and 6 were the reasons Resident Evil has fallen from grace however I do know from looking on the internet that I am not the only one who feels this way. I have heard that there is a seventh Resident Evil in development but it is a little too late, the damage is done from 4, 5 and 6 and there is no forgetting it. There is only one thing the series can do now; reboot.

That is it for now but I will be back for a part two were I go over the points of why a reboot is the best option and how to make it a great Resident Evil game again. Also I know I did not go in to so much detail on the classic Resident Evils like 2 and 3 and why I think they are the best but I might save that for a review on them.