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resident evil

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

November 26, 2021 by Steve Norton Leave a Comment

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.

Filed Under: Film, Reviews Tagged With: Donald Logue, Hannah John-Kamen, Johannes Roberts, Kaya Scodelario, Neal McDonough, resident evil, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, Robbie Amell, Tom Hopper, Umbrella Corporation

No More Masks; Israel Conflict; The End for the Church?; Resident Evil 8

May 19, 2021 by Matt Hill Leave a Comment

In this jam-packed, lightning round episode of the Your Sunday Drive podcast, we cover four fascinating topics in just one hour!

First, mask mandates go away as we seem to be approaching the end of the pandemic. What’s our experience so far and how do we handle the inevitable cultural friction of the moment?

Next we talk about the renewed conflict in Israel. What’s the history and context of the current violence and, most importantly, how can Christians respond?

Church membership is down and deconversion stories are on the rise. We dig in to these trends and how, counterintuitively, there may be good news afoot.

Finally, we spend some time discussing our current fave books, shows and games. Resident Evil Village (Resident Evil 8) is the focus, with a surprising connection made between fandoms and the church.

Come along for Your Sunday Drive – quick conversation about current events, politics, pop culture and more, from the perspective of a couple of guys trying to follow Jesus.

Hosts: Matt Hill and Nate Polzin. Presented by the Church in Drive of Saginaw, MI, as often as possible. Please visit churchindrive.com and facebook.com/thechurchindrive

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Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: bonhoeffer, Christian, christian podcast, church attendance, culture, deconstruction, deconversion, disco elysium, eldredge, epic, Faith, holly ordway, Israel, masks, Palestine, Pandemic, Podcast, politics, pop culture, resident evil, resident evil 8

Christian Rebels? The Pandemic & Pop Culture Nostalgia

May 15, 2020 by Matt Hill Leave a Comment

your sunday drive podcast

Mid-pandemic, with many questioning and resisting government authorities and policies, we ask: Can Christians be rebels? Are there biblical and/or historic church models for us to follow, such as Jesus and the apostles, the prophets, American civil rights leaders?

Many are more immersed in pop culture currently than ever before – particularly in nostalgia for old shows, movies, etc. What are the positives and negatives of nostalgia? How does it relate to spiritual matters and to the “Christian rebels” topic?

All this and more (! 🙂 ) in this episode of the Your Sunday Drive Podcast.

Come along for Your Sunday Drive – quick conversation about current events, politics, pop culture and more, from the perspective of a couple of guys trying to follow Jesus.

Hosts: Matt Hill and Nate Polzin. Presented by the Church in Drive of Saginaw, MI, as often as possible. Please visit churchindrive.com and facebook.com/thechurchindrive

Filed Under: Podcast Tagged With: Bible, christian podcast, covid, Government, lock down, Lord of the Rings, Pandemic, politics, pop culture, Power, quarantine, rebel, resident evil, Romans, the office

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