Anna Daniels
After decades of trying, Hollywood is still having a hard time producing good video game movies. Detective Pikachu is probably the best movie based on a video game, but beyond that, it’s pretty slim pickings out there. However, director James Cameron revealed that, during quarantine, he has taken solace in a surprising video game movie as one of his guilty pleasures: Resident Evil. The Avatar and Terminator filmmaker recently proclaimed his affinity for the video game adaptation from 2002, and we’re really not sure what to think.
In a recent interview with Empire for their upcoming Celebration of Cinema issue (because no movies are coming out in theaters for their cover story), James Cameron revealed his surprising opinion on the Resident Evil movie, the first in a franchise that would inexplicably go on to have five sequels. The director said:
“One of my guilty-pleasure films that I actually think is quite beautifully made is Resident Evil.”
However, it might not just be about the filmmaking from director Paul W.S. Anderson. Cameron added, “Watching Michelle Rodriguez in that film, moving like this feral creature, is joyful.” Michelle Rodriguez just so happens to be one of the cast members from Avatar, and we can’t help but wonder if Empire caught Cameron on a day where the last movie he watched was Resident Evil, and it’s the only thing he could remember on the spot.
That being said, at least Resident Evil is among the strongest entries in the franchise. On Rotten Tomatoes it’s the second highest rated movie in the entire series, but that’s not exactly a crowning achievement when the critical score is 36%, which is just one percent lower than the highest rated movie, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter at 37%. It should be noted that the first Resident Evil does have an audience score of 67% though.
At the end of the day, if the Fast and Furious franchise is allowed to have stupid, action-packed fun on the big screen, then why can’t there be enough room for Resident Evil to have Milla Jovovich making a getaway on a speeding motorcycle as a massive tank shoots bullets and missiles at her while a covoy of zombies follows behind? Sure, it’s dumb, but no one said every movie had to be smart.
As for James Cameron, he’s just biding his time by trying to broaden the cinematic tastes of his children. Apparently his daughters are very “horse-oriented,” so he sat them down to watch True Grit, which stars John Wayne as a cowboy who accidentally switches bodies with a horse. Okay, that’s not true, but could you imagine?
Cool Posts From Around the Web: Written by: Slash
