Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is being released on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray and DVD on February 8th 2022.
Extra features include over 20 minutes of all-new featurettes, exploring the characters, creatures and creepy locations of Raccoon City as well as the process of adapting the first two games of the massively popular video game franchise for the big screen:
Replicating the DNA
Cops, Corpses and Chaos
Zombies, Lickers and the Horrors of Resident Evil
The Digital rental version will be available on January 18th 2022.
Meanwhile, here is our previous coverage of the movie with a range of critical opinions:
‘Witness the beginning of evil’
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is a 2021 American science fiction horror film, an adaptation of the video game, and a reboot of the film franchise.
Written and directed by Johannes Roberts (47 Meters Down and sequel; The Strangers: Prey at Night; The Other Side of the Door; Storage 24; et al).
The movie stars Kaya Scodelario (Crawl), Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp), Robbie Amell (Upload), Tom Hopper (The Umbrella Academy), Avan Jogia (Zombieland: Double Tap), Neal McDonough (Yellowstone) and Donal Logue as Chief Irons.
Produced by Robert Kulzer (Constantin Film), James Harris for Tea Shop Productions (I Am Not A Serial Killer) and Hartley Gorenstein (The Boys). Alex Westmore and Colin Scully of Constantin Film oversaw the project.
Director Johannes Roberts told Deadline: “With this movie, I really wanted to go back to the original first two games and recreate the terrifying visceral experience I had when I first played them whilst at the same time telling a grounded human story about a small dying American town that feels both relatable and relevant to today’s audiences.”
Plot:
Once the booming home of pharmaceutical giant Umbrella Corporation, Raccoon City is now a dying Midwestern town. The company’s exodus left the city a wasteland…with great evil brewing below the surface.
When that evil is unleashed, the townspeople are forever…changed…and a small group of survivors must work together to uncover the truth behind Umbrella and make it through the night…
Reviews:
“Fans of the video game will find a lot to love here, and it is honestly refreshing to not have to worry about the previous six films of mythology and continuity. It’s thinly plotted and adequately acted, but it knows what it wants to be and embraces that to the best of its ability. It ain’t good, but all that ain’t nothin’ either.” Awesome Friday
“This adaptation makes strange choices with its characters and can be rough around the edges, but it offers a compelling lead and succeeds in suspense-filled sequences. Roberts keeps things moving briskly, but it does constantly throw a lot of information at its audience […] Welcome to Raccoon City is a movie made for the games’ fans by one massive fan.” Bloody Disgusting
After a slow, banal and tedious first half, devoid of any thrills, horror, and action, it picks up the pace to deliver some watchable zombie sort-of terror, but in the end, the ’98-set WtRC is still a pointless and fun-free reboot with lazy writing, all-too-dark visuals and dodgy CGIs in which nothing new or even semi- frightful happens…” CineMarvellous!
” …the movie consists of not much more than police officers stalking down dark corridors, and trying to shoot at, or fight off, zombies that suddenly lunge at them […] amazing sets, from the police station to the orphanage, to a sinister, abandoned mansion, and the monster designs are truly impressive, but when it all comes down to mindless, meaningless attacks, who really cares?” Combustible Celluloid
“There are definitely some elements that could have used a little extra tweaking (I will forever remain saddened by the monsters in this), but as a whole, Johannes Roberts has crafted a video game adaptation that’s bursting with love for those games as well as the horror genre, and it’s his enthusiasm and attention to detail, plus Scodelario’s performance, that saved the movie for me and made it a rather entertaining viewing experience.” Daily Dead
“Instead of relying on characters like Alice, we see those involved deal with their situation and the different ways they handle conflict, which grounds the film in realism. The cast is solid, with the female characters being the most intelligent, competent, and heroic of the story. However, the flaws become noticeable when the film meanders in the middle as the exposition stops the pace from moving forward.” Deadline
“It isn’t a transcendent take on its source material, but Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City hits all the notes needed to immerse us in the original games’ doomed world of disease and decay. After six sleek and sparkly Resident Evil features, that’s a welcome change indeed.” Dread Central
“While the characters and the plot are pretty thin, the horror is so good it single-handedly makes this movie worth a watch. It has cool zombies, surprisingly good jump scares, and some really effective atmospheric scenes. So if this sounds like something you’d enjoy, I definitely recommend checking it out.” Horror Obsessive
“Raccoon City isn’t perfect. Not even close. But it didn’t need to be. All it needed to do was be scary. Be fun. And most importantly, give fans a Resident Evil film that was true to the games. Johannes Roberts achieved that. Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City invites you into a frightening yet highly entertaining world…” Killer Horror Critic
” …behaves like there haven’t been hundreds of zombie movies since the first game debuted, to the point where everything about it feels second-hand and too late to the game. Fidelity to the original IP is certainly to be valued in a cinematic adaptation, but it shouldn’t be the only thing a film has going for it. Bottom line: If you want to see something that plays just like the video game, play the video game.” Rue Morgue
“We can definitely guess the larger points that will happen, but the ride is agreeable enough. There are nice nods to moments in the games, such as certain locations, character actions, weapons, and the appearance of memorable monsters. And yet nothing feels forced or slotted in just for the sake of fan service. A decent horror film needs good scares and good action, and this film provides.” Screen Anarchy
“Once the S.T.A.R.S. team inevitably discovers that the laboratories in Spencer Mansion’s basement were being used for human experiments and the creation of the (un)deadly T- and G-viruses, our heroes spend the rest of the film routinely fleeing from the CGI beasties that start rampaging out of the woodwork. Instead of effectively capturing the chaos of a shooter game, though, Roberts’s images coalesce into a mass of incoherent sludge.” Slant
“A pair of early zooms, as well as recurring white-on-black intertitle time cards, flirt with ’70s aesthetics […] Subpar computer-generated effects, helter-skelter editing and a blaring score, though, mark it as a contemporary B-movie […] In any decade, the film’s bevy of unexplained details, dropped subplots, paper-thin characterizations and fright free mayhem would disappoint.” Variety
“Johannes Roberts did as he promised and didn’t rely on loads of action scenes for Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. Unfortunately, he didn’t bring nearly enough horror to replace it. Maybe if he had used some of the film’s bloated running time to explain a bit more of the backstory […] things might have seemed a bit scarier […] severely disappointing film.” Voices from the Balcony
Release:
Sony will release Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City theatrically on Wednesday, November 24th 2021.
Cast and characters confirmed:
Kaya Scodelario … Claire Redfield
Hannah John-Kamen … Jill Valentine
Neal McDonough … William Birkin
Tom Hopper … Albert Wesker
Robbie Amell … Chris Redfield
Avan Jogia … Leon S. Kennedy
Donal Logue … Chief Brian Irons
Lily Gao … Ada Wong
Chad Rook … Richard Aiken
Stephannie Hawkins … Sickly Mom
Darren W. Marynuk … Self
Carson Manning … Orderly
Filming locations:
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada (outdoor filming)
Toronto, Ontario, Canada (studio)
First nine minutes extended preview:
Trailer:
MOVIES & MANIA says:
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is mostly filled with unlikeable characters which unfortunately means there is nobody to root for. That said, it’s shot well and oozes atmosphere. There is a lot of build-ups but not enough pay-off and it all gets too claustrophobic (perhaps for budgetary reasons). It’s well worth a watch just don’t expect the major reboot we all hoped for.
