It’s no secret that video games have been more than inspired by Hollywood films. Whether it’s the epic Crime dramas of Grand Theft Auto, to the protagonists having more of a passing resemblance to the stars of the big screen. Yet until recently, the translations back from games to films have been met with less than critical acclaim, with the world T.V. recently picking up the slack. In 2021, the beloved titles of the Resident Evil franchise got a live-action cinematic telling that largely tried to give the games a live-action cinematic telling. As audiences got a Welcome to Racoon City. 

Taking the courses of the first two and a half games, the quiet community of Racoon City are deeply disturbed, when a cannibalistic bunch of mutants start rampaging the local area. Officers of the law, Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine, must put their special statical training to the test, as they prepare for the terror located deep inside the Spenser Mansion. Where the source of the infestation might have originated from. Problems intensify when Claire Redfield chose today, of all days, to return. She meets rookie Leon S. Kennedy, and the two groups attempt to bring the folly of the evil Umbrella Corporation to light.

Without giving too much away, the first two games’ most memorable moments are here, and the film does an impressive job of synchronising the two games into one cohesive narrative. The fan favourites protagonists are also here, as both Redfields, Leon S. Kennedy and Jill Valentine make prominent appearances. Yet, if you want to see an under-equipped rag-tag group of average people go up against the onslaught of mutant monstrosities, then Resident Evil Welcome to Racoon City does not leave the audience disappointed in that regard.

The cast is a selection of names, a lot of whom you’ll recognise from other projects. Off of a recurring guest appearance in American Horror Story (and off of a casino heist) is Neal McDonough as the nefarious Dr Birkin. And outside of her breakthrough starting on the U.K. T.V. show Skins, Kaya Scodelario offers her unique take on Claire Redfield. If there is more room for adaptations of the further Resident Evil games, (even though they are less beloved than the two or so depicted here), I can see the cast returning to reprise their roles. Even the film does tease a lot of plot threads that could be picked up in the future. 

Sticking firmly to the source material, while allowing plenty of room for the cast to have their interpretations. The team behind Welcome to Racoon City have a lot of reverence for the games and a few ideas of their own to translate the action more smoothly into the screen. Although it is a different telling to the bygone days of Paul W. S. Anderson’s dramatic, yet stylistically distinctive leaps. While setting up an interesting storyline that could be picked up further down the line, in this faithful adaptation of a fun, pulpy, mutant-head-exploding franchise, the film shows that horror will always have a home in Racoon City.

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