Resident Evil (2002)

Resident Evil isn’t the first film based on a computer game, and in 2002 is wouldn’t be the last; not least because of the various sequels of this particular franchise.  Tomb Raider (2001) had its merits, though the sequel Cradle of Life (2003) didn’t.  I seem to remember the only good thing about Doom (2005) was the first person shooter moment that Karl Urban has, which is really what Doom was all about anyway.  In this illustrious company Resident Evil doesn’t exactly stand out, but it also doesn’t fall into the mire of awful adaptations (I’m looking at you Streetfighter).

The setup to the film works really well.  Umbrella is a huge corporation that owns so many products that 90% of homes contain something made by them; additionally they have huge lobbying clout.  So, Unilever or Nestle then.  Of course the real work of Umbrella is military hardware, illegal and morally questionable genetic research.  So, Dow, Monsanto or any Western government then.  Sorry, I’ll stop being so political.  Essentially, the idea of an ethically suspect multinational is just as relevant today as it was in 2002.

Van Helsing (2004)

I know that this movie has been a pet hate for a couple of friends who used to do a great movie double bill podcast, so when Van Helsing appeared on TV, I had to see if it really was that bad.  Yes.  It's that bad.  I could end the review there, it's almost not worth taking time over, but hatchet jobs are so much more fun than fawning over the latest Chris Nolan film.  So here goes.

It starts off in an almost promising way.  It's quite a nice idea for the beginning to start at the end of Frankenstein, hypothesising what might happen next.  However by the time it cuts to a year later and Van Helsing is introduced it all goes to shit.  So the promise only lasts about 5 minutes then, it soon fades and crapness abounds.