Blockbuster video makes it to screen
by Nick Nance, reporter

    In 1996 Capcom released one of the most popular video games in recent history—Resident Evil —as a four-part series.

   Now the award-winning blockbuster series that has sold more than 16 million units worldwide is a full-length motion picture.

   The Umbrella Corporation has created a vast top-secret underground genetic research facility known only as the Hive.

   The Hive is controlled and monitored by a state-of-the-art computer known as the Red Queen.

   A deadly viral outbreak occurs, and in response, the Red Queen seals the entire facility to contain the leak, killing all the trapped employees.

   Alice (Milla Jovovich) awakes not knowing where she is or even who she is because of the toxins released by the Red Queen.

   Then Alice and a military task force are sent to isolate the virus that wiped out the entire research staff before it overruns the Earth.

   The military force must get to the computer’s mainframe and reset it to gain access to the location of the virus.

   In order to access the Red Queen, the military force must pass through what seems like endless obstacles throughout the enormous Hive.

   They are forced to conquer deadly lasers and mutant dogs. Alice discovers a genetically altered specimen, the result of Umbrella’s secretive experimental research.

   Alice and the task force discover the cause of the outbreak: Umbrella’s latest project turned bad, by the T-virus.

   They also figure out that an unknown person released the virus into the Hive’s atmosphere.

   When they realize the staff of the Hive are not really dead but have transformed into flesh-eating zombies, they must avoid being bitten or even scratched or they will become zombies themselves.

   In an attempt to escape, the remaining team members request assistance from the Red Queen, who agrees to help.

   However, she tells them that they must kill the infected member of the group before she will help them escape.

   Keeping them from escaping is the genetically mutated experiment that is now a vicious creature known as “the Licker.” Each time the Licker eats, it grows stronger.

   The nail-biting, edge-of-your-seat adventures the group face to escape will leave the audience breathless.

   Resident Evil is an exciting movie all will enjoy. In what is a pre-quel to the video game, the accuracy will awe moviegoers.

   Jovovich portrays Alice perfectly. Her beauty and believability are highly impressive.

   Despite some graphic violence and mild nudity, Resident Evil will excite the oldest of children and should be enjoyed by all action-adventure lovers. Resident Evil should be one of the must-see movies this year.