'Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City' First Look Already Has People Moaning
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Featured Image Credit: Sony Pictures
Three new images from the upcoming Resident Evil live-action movie reboot Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City have arrived and to say they've split opinion amongst fans would be an understatement.
Whilst we've known who will be playing the series' most iconic characters for some time, this is the first glimpse we've had of them in costume. The images, shared first by IGN, seem to set the tone for the upcoming movie, which will be a bit of a do-over from the original clutch of Resident Evil films directed by Paul W. S. Anderson, and starring, among others, Milla Jovovich.
Resident Evil as a series has evolved quite a lot over it's decades of existence, so take a rest and enjoy our breakdown of the horror game grandaddy over the years.
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So, let's take a look at those images, shall we? Below we have Avan Jogia as Leon Kennedy and Kaya Scodalario playing Claire Redfield. Fans might recognise them from Zombieland: Double Tap and Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, respectively. Below that is Umbrella Academy's Tom Hopper as Albert Wesker, Hannah John-Kamen as Jill Valentine, Robbie Amell as Chris Redfield and Chad Rook as Richard Aiken. Finally, we have Maria Mazepa as Lisa Trevor.
What's bent some so-called fans out of shape is the fact that some of the characters don't look exactly like their digital counterparts. A selection of comments on Facebook are testament to the feeling of entitlement some people have over who gets to portray their favourite fictional protagonists.
"This looks terrible so far," remarks one such commentator. "I'm confident if you put out a casting call for actors that looks the way Leon actually looks you'd get hundreds of auditions. It's like people don't want to stick to anything source these days even when it's loved by the fans."
"They could at least Try to be close to the games," says another. "I'm sure the guy playing Leon is a good actor and I have no problem with him but you might as well have Samuel L. Jackson play Leon if you don't care for the source material."
What these people seem to be forgetting is that these characters are, indeed, fictional, and it is much more important that the actors portraying the characters are able to carry the weight and gravitas of their individual plights.
In an interview with IGN, Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City's director Johannes Roberts rebukes these baseless criticisms perfectly.
"The difference with this film as opposed to the previous movies is that it is an ensemble where each of the main characters carries huge importance to the narrative. They are not just cosplay characters who have the exact hair and costume of the characters. It was hugely important with the whole casting process to find people who embodied the spirit and energy of the characters I wanted to portray. I think often in game adaptations one of the big flaws can be just casting someone to look visually like the characters - giving them the identical haircut and clothes but not really trying to give the audience the thing that a movie does better than a game - which is to create a three dimensional character that you can really connect with and believe in."
Look, I can't speak for anybody but myself here, but as a Resi fan I would much rather have an actor who actually gets the characters and their situations than one that just looks a bit like them. I think we'd all do well to remember that it is the experiences of Leon, Claire, Chris, Jill etc that draw us to them and not what they look like. I'm really rooting for this movie, and we'll get our chance to see it come November 24th when it releases exclusively in cinemas.
Topics: Resident Evil, Movie
