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Johannes Roberts

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City – Going Back to the Beginning

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Set in 1998, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City invites the viewer to Raccoon City, a once-booming town that housed pharmaceutical mega-corporation known as the Umbrella Corporation. However, after the company abandoned the area, Raccoon City has become a dying Midwestern wasteland. Despised by locals and ignored by the rest of the world, the city has been left in shambles on the surface with a growing toxicity bubbling underneath. When that evil is uncovered by former resident Claire Redfield (Kaya Scodelario), she returns to attempt to rescue her brother Chris (Robbie Amell) before it’s too late. However, as the night runs on, the damage left by the Umbrella Corporation begins to surface, wreaking havoc on those who live in the area.

Beginning with the video game and evolving into a successful cinematic series starring Milla Jovovich, Resident Evil has remained in the pop culture canon now for over 25 years. Whereas Jovovich’s series had a certain campiness to the material, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City returns the sci-fi franchise to its more horror-driven roots. Written and directed by Johannes Roberts, Raccoon City emphasizes the seediness of its location. Drenched by the rain and blanketed by bleeding colours, Roberts wants the viewer to feel the horrifying atmosphere. (It’s also worth noting that, in doing so, Raccoon City definitely leans more like its video game origins, which emphasized the terrifying elements of the world.) By amping up the blood and gore, clearly his intent is to entertain through terror and, honestly, it almost works. However, despite his unflinching support of the franchise’s scarier roots, Roberts’ script simply relies too heavily on tropes that we’ve seen before, preventing it from becoming something truly special and unique.

Having said this, the film’s cast is clearly having an absolute blast which helps to offset any particular banality to the script. Anchored by sci-fi stalwarts Robbie Amell, Tom Hopper, Kaya Scodelario, Neal McDonough and Hannah John-Kamen, the cast are more than game for their character arcs and monster madness. However, the true gem within this film lies with Donald Logue who fully leans into his performance. While subtly is hardly a word that could be used to describe his work here, Logue always has a way of bringing depth to his characters when the material is found lacking. As a result, even in moments where the script requires scenery chewing, Logue remains infinitely engaging as the disgruntled Chief of the RPD.

Underneath Raccoon City’s gory exterior though lies a conversation about dealing with the traumas of our past and how that bleeds into the present. Whether it’s attempting to deal with ‘father figures’ who have broken their souls or divided loyalties, everyone here is trying to work out their own drama. For example, having managed to escape from Dr. Birkin’s experiments as a child, Claire managed to break free from her life Raccoon City. Even so, despite the fact that she managed to remove herself from the city, she still bears the weight of her experiences. When conversations with a mysterious source confirm her fears about Umbrella’s corporate demons, she feels she must return to help her brother from avoiding the fate of others. However, at the same time, her return also forces her to work through the damage inflicted upon her by Birkin’s cruelty and, hopefully, emerge from her trauma with a newfound strength and hope.

Enthusiastically leaning into the gore, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is definitely a new beginning for the once great franchise. While the script may seem lacking at times, Raccoon City still offers enough zombie-fueled fun to make it a visual treat for horror fans. Backed by some solid performances from its cast, Raccoon City proves to be a place that you may want to visit… but you may not want to return to.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City is now playing on theatres.

47 Meters Down: Uncaged – Sisterhood of the Travelling Sharks

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47 Meters Down: Uncaged tells the story of four teen divers who discover the sunken ruins of a Mayan city in the heart of Mexico. However, as the young women investigate the mysterious caverns, they soon find themselves trapped in the abyss by deadly great white sharks. With their air supply steadily dwindling, the girls must make their escape through the underwater labyrinth of claustrophobic caves in order to survive.

Directed by Johannes Roberts (The Strangers: Prey at Night, 47 Meters Down) and co-written between Roberts and Ernest Riera, Uncaged is a follow-up to the successful first film in the series which starred Mandy Moore. Whereas the first film told the story of two young women trapped in a steel cage under the water, the sequel instead leads us into a series of mysterious underground caverns in the heart of Mexico. (Hence, the ‘uncaged’ moniker included in the title.) What’s more, given the fact that Uncaged boasts an entirely new cast, the two films are tied together only through their mutual interest in shark-fuelled thrills. 

As sisters Mia and Sasha, stars Sistine Rose Stallone and Corinne Foxx (daughters of Sly and Jamie respectively) have good chemistry as estranged sisters who must get past their differences in these dangerous waters. Within the story itself, Uncaged also portrays the strength and courage that women possess, especially when they care enough to stand together. Although estranged at the film’s outset, Mia, Sasha and their friends soon learn each other’s value as they face certain death together. 

Still, in all seriousness, the real reason films like this draw a crowd is the sharks and Roberts clearly excited at the opportunity to play in the deep once again. With the new setting, Uncaged shows that he understands what’s required to direct underwater thrills. Liberated from the shackles of a film in one small location, Roberts maintains the claustrophobic atmosphere of the first film while revelling in the fact that there are more locations for shark-infested mayhem. Having not found a hearty meal in hundreds of years, these sharks have evolved in the dark with heightened senses and are clearly very hungry. Thankfully, the film works well as a ride that offers the necessary jump scares and tense moments that makes films like these so much fun. (Without spoilers, one scene where the leads are sinking deeper into the watery abyss with nothing but a flashing red light works particularly well.) 

Although the fact that this has become a franchise remains somewhat surprising considering the gimmicky plot of the first film, 47 Meters Down: Uncaged floats on its own merit. While it doesn’t quite make you ‘scared to go back in the water’, Uncaged is a fun film that offers all the bite that its audience will be looking for this summer.

47 Meters Down: Uncaged swims into theatres on August 16th, 2019