Film Friday: A Little TMI in RE

A Resident Evil and City of Bones Analysis

A few weeks ago I waddled my way up a handful of stairs with my popcorn, drink and Twizzlers in hand and found my comfy VIP seat in our local movie theatre. The lights dimmed and the previews started and I was anxious for the film to start, hoping that I would get some sort of glimpse into what to expect from The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones due to hit theatres August 2013.

The Mortal Instruments like the films in the Resident Evil franchise are produced by Constantin Films so there are bound to be some similarities in cinematography, lighting, effects, even music.

In case you are a unfamiliar with the plot of Resident Evil, here is a brief synopsis. A large government organization called the Umbrella Corporation meddled with some biological weapons that turned ugly and the virus got loose creating a zombie apocalypse across the nation. Alice, the heroine (Milla Jovovich) has an adverse reaction to the disease making her a sort of ultra-human who battles against the Umbrella Corporation and a nation filled with decaying, brain-eating ‘once-humans’. Sound vaguely familiar?

Though The Mortal Instruments and Resident Evil are two totally different story lines there are things about Resident Evil that can be borrowed and adapted into the making of City of Bones. 

The studio already has experience working with a plot that features this super-human kind of character and throughout the Res. Evil franchise there has been a great array of visual effects that have helped distinguish these super-human characteristics from those of the average human. The Mortal Instruments features a group a demon butt-kicking humans, descendant from angels. Some of these heroes with angel blood directly coursing through their veins giving them abilities no regular human would ever be capable of. It will be interesting to see what elements will be drawn from Resident Evil and transformed into the shadowhunting world. 

Throughout Resident Evil, from film one to film five, Alice is plagued with flashbacks which is a great catalyst for information and an opportunity for the viewer to gain backstory knowledge if unfamiliar with the Resident Evil plot from the popular video games. The use of flashbacks in City of Bones will have much of the same effect. Viewers who are unfamiliar with the book series will gain a vast amount of knowledge and avid TMI fans will have the pleasure of the visuals on screen.

Both movies feature heroes in fitted black leather gear and though Alice uses an array of heavy duty guns she’s also used a few shiny sharp blades in previous films that gleamed, reflected light and looked super deadly on screen. The seraph blades will have that same lethal look I’m sure. 

Resident Evil has used the same studio space as City of Bones in Toronto and many of the cast and crew members are the same as well. Kevin Durand is featured in both films for example. This kind of familiarity and comfort with each other and with their filming space is integral, in my opinion, in creating a solid movie. The characters in the story; Simon, Clary, Luke and Jocelyn. Jace, Alec, Isabelle and Hodge. Blackwell, Pangborn and Valentine are supposed to be familiar with each other, a level of comfort and security should be portrayed and felt within the audience when watching the movie and I think this will be achieved because some of the cast and a lot of the crew have previous experience with each other. 

Take a look at the virus infected citizens in Resident Evil. Special effects and makeup are a huge part of those films in creating these undead creatures as well as CGI technologies to create those human-eating, rabid dogs. The same effects and makeup will be used to create the number of demons and Downworlders in The Mortal Instruments films. 

Spend a few hours, maybe Halloween night, if you have no other plans and watch a few of the Resident Evil films and see what you think! As I watched the film with a different perspective I found myself totally engulfed in the possibilities for City of Bones hidden within Resident Evil. There are so many gems to be pulled from that franchise and with images from the City of Bones set still highly kept secret we can at least get a little bit excited over the parallels in Resident Evil.