joshwoodzy wrote:

I think you are critiquing a storyline that was never meant to be dissected like that. The whole point of Resident Evil was to kill zombies, with the over the top B movie plot way on the back burner. That's why it was appealing back in the day. As soon as it starts taking itself seriously with motivated villains, it kind of stops becoming what it used to be and starts becoming an even cheesier video game trying to pass itself as art or gritty. It's not fun anymore.

This looks like it's going somewhere bad mood-wise, so when I say things, be aware that I try not to rile anyone up, troll, or insult people's taste. If you do somehow take it as an insult, or my tone comes across as angry or mean, then I apologize. I respect others' tastes, but when discussing why the movies are bad, I'm starting to talk about the source material's influence and what would make both better.

The problem is that Capcom takes the series so seriously, and you can't argue that it doesn't (going by the long-ass cutscenes and monologues). If it didn't, I wouldn't mind it as much. Even before RE5, I'd have written it off as simple pulp, but Capcom is so devoted to treat this like some grand epic, desperately trying to tie up loose ends, and incorporate crap like Dead Aim into the canon that I can't say that it's people having fun with a goofy story. And don't pretend like fans don't take it seriously. I see quite a bit of people saying the games have a great storyline, but when accurately dissected, they insist we all take it too seriously, and that it's "just a game." We're talking about a story that when told with a straight face features an entire city of people being wiped out because nobody stepped up and realized that the police chief with a history of rape became a millionaire overnight and is threatening to kill anyone who touches his statues or goes near sewers, not to mention that he's trusted with the mayor's daughter when the main event goes down. I'm not saying that the games are bad just by having these elements (I still really enjoy 1, 2, and 3, and I think I may have mentioned 4 ), I'm saying that they fall short of true greatness by having them.

For example, imagine playing RE1 or REmake without knowing anything about the backstory of Resident Evil or playing any other titles. Then, strip out the files showing the humorously gross incompetence of Umbrella's employees. There are murders going on in the mountains, your first team disappears, you're ambushed in the woods by monsters, some of your teammates are killed (and you're split up from the rest). You are then trapped in a scary mansion, cut off in the middle of monster-infested forest, with deadly zombies and mutants. There is very little ammo or weaponry with which to protect yourself, and you're pretty sure the only teammates you do have contact with have it in for you for unknown reasons. It creates an air of unknown danger and oppressive loneliness, a perfect combination for horror (as the Silent Hill games and the best parts of Condemned managed to do well). The plot slowly unfolds to reveal insidious schemes behind a biological weapon plan that doomed not only the scientists, but unknowing contractors and civilians. That would make the game even better, and would have made a really great horror movie.

Now, factor in all of those goofy "Me eat doggy food now" and "Whoopsadaisy, we acci-muh-dentally unleashed the virus because of <goofy plot spackle reason here>," files and the whole "bring the police in to test the B.O.W.s" storyline (replaced, maybe, by Wesker using S.T.A.R.S. to try and recover the project for his own means, and manipulating Barry into helping clean out any evidence). It's an extra layer of goofy that horror games feel they need to add because they think audiences are stupid and can't deal with suspense. Indigo Prophecy ruined a potentially great thriller this way, not to mention Condemned 1 and 2's massively retarded plot reveals.

You say it starts to become what it was never meant to be, but examining the gameplay, the narrative elements of the environment and aforementioned elements that made the scary parts scary, I think it was meant to be a great horror game, but had amateurish writers come in to string the set pieces together, and the plot turned into a laughable mess. Instead of RE4's self-deprecating, tongue in cheek ode to cheesy '70s horror, we got a genuinely good horror movie with cheese sprinkled everywhere.

Now as far as the movies go, I say if they want it to be a serious horror movie, then ditch Alice, because backflipping, dual-wielding mayhem throws out the element of danger that creates suspense. If they want to do a serious action film, then make a protagonist you can root for fight an antagonist with real motivations. If you want pulpy, campy fun, then incorporate well-realized humor into well-paced visceral action (creating something action that has an impact, instead of repetitive wall-climbing Matrix action scenes that rarely outpace the other).