While 1995's Mortal Kombat is about as perfect a representation of Midway's arcade fighters as you can get sans its lack of blood, Paul W.S. Anderson's approach to turning the Resident Evil franchise into a film is similar to the one Uwe Boll used for his video game adaptations, in that he took the property and did entirely his own unique thing with it. Not a single character from any of Capcom's survival-horror hits makes an appearance, and outside of the occasional reference made to things like Umbrella or Raccoon City there isn't anything here to differentiate this from what would have been an otherwise completely original zombie flick with heavy science fiction elements were it not for the name on the poster. In a way, its title has kind of been a double-edged sword. On one hand the massive popularity of the supposed source material brought the film a lot of attention over the years that it likely wouldn't have received without the brand association if the director's prior two box-office bombs are any indication, but on the other it's also earned the picture the ire of the series' hardcore fanbase for having next to nothing to do with the very games it's implied to be portraying. That's an unfortunate trade-off as it prevents perhaps the biggest portion of the movie's audience from being able to see that, while almost entirely unrelated to the works that got them to watch in the first place, they were given what is still to this day one of the most exceptional pieces of action-horror of the past two decades. The first thing that will stand out to you is the environment. The sterile imagery of the underground office/research facility location calls to mind both corporate malfeasance and unholy scientific experimentation while carrying a futuristic, ominous vibe that will be familiar to anyone who's seen Event Horizon. A variety of striking sights await you inside, and no I'm not just talking about the bared flesh of a particularly attractive Milla Jovovich who hasn't looked this good since maybe Chaplin. Undead scientists return with entire portions of their heads missing and infected Dobermanns snarl at their prey with heavily lacerated skin that came from breaking out through the wire mesh of lab cages. The latter of which is brought to life by stunning practical effects applied to real animals (in a manner that doesn't appear to harm them). A number of things are tried here that probably shouldn't have worked, but thanks to the meticulous crafting by Anderson were able to stick the landing regardless. Like how a plot that by all means should have been convoluted due to covering everything from surprise backstabbings and hidden agendas to amnesiac protagonists somehow manages to make sense by the end. The thrills definitely fall more on the B-movie side of the spectrum, what with the ridiculous story, little bit of skin, and the cheesy aroma given off by the bloody monster carnage, but the feature is made with such clear effort and vision that it's genuinely as exciting, sexy, and maybe even a touch frightening as it was intended to be. Still, the lack of fidelity will always be a tough sell for some. For them the saving grace could be the ending, where the lead-in to the sequel concludes on a scenario that makes the whole thing feel like some kind of elaborate prequel to the 1998 wonder that defined Resident Evil for so many. The later continuations rather derail this notion as anything after Apocalypse, which did try to pander to the angry fans with an increased level of faithfulness, strode out further into original territory. Yet, that is neither here nor there. So the one legitimate fault to be found is that the picture takes its sweet time getting going with a slow opening meant to build the tension and mystery, but instead only gives the impression of the narrative dragging its feet. This is not an authentic recreation of the games as you remember them. It merely borrows some vague semblance of their concept and a few creature designs to form its own distinctive entity that more accurately serves as a bold reinvention. I find it weird to be so accepting of that in this case when such deviations from what's experienced when playing that which these types of flicks are reportedly based on has left me irritated in the past. It's made sense in the context of something like Doom where there isn't really any narrative content for them to have worked with, but Prince of Persia for example, while ultimately still pretty good, turning out extremely different for no discernable reason was irksome. The reason for my overlooking of the many liberties taken here though fully stems from the quality of them. The new directions gone with its handful of familiar elements are genuinely thrilling to the point where it's easy to gather why it received multiple follow-ups that helped spawn a separate legion of devotees. Thus it has been able to appeal to a larger chunk of the viewing population than the collective of gamers it inadvertently ticked off and be remembered for its own merits.