So after the whole Milla Jovovich Resident Evil movies wrapped up, they apparently decided to try a version that more closely hewed to the plots of the actual games. In this case, they crammed the first two Resident Evil games into the same movie. So we have the local special cop team with Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine investigating the creepy mansion out in the woods, while at the same time, rookie cop Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield are trapped inside the police station, trying to find a way out of town. There's some stuff in the RE2 parts I don't recognize, mostly about an orphanage, but maybe it got added when they did those remastered versions of the games a few years back.
The two plots don't really coexist so much as awkwardly run parallel to each other. In theory, the connective tissue would be Claire and Chris. Claire ran away some time ago while Chris stayed and became a cop. They haven't seen each other in years, so things are awkward, but I guess they still care. But the movie splits them up so quickly after their reunion, and Claire spends most of the time insisting she's found proof Umbrella was up to something, that the connection isn't really forged. Claire ends up spending a lot more time with Leon (who gets portrayed as not just a rookie, but a complete chickenshit dumbass), while Chris is running around a spooky mansion with Jill.
Chris was partially raised by the lead scientist, and so he trusts the guy, but again, we see so little of their interactions that (none when they're both adults) Birkin's taunts about Chris thinking he was really part of the family come out of left field. He did?
The movie does that bit where it lingers on things that are meant to be Easter eggs, but in a way that feels especially pointless. Claire is handed a set of keys, each with an end shaped like one of the suits of a deck of cards. The camera makes sure we have time to note that. But she only uses one of the keys and then they never come up again. At least pretend there's a purpose!
They do a lot with flickering lights. You'd think the infected produced some sort of field that messes with electrical systems. The police chief gets attacked by an infected dog in the station garage. Chris has a whole fight against a bunch of infected where we see it through the flashes of his gunfire or his lighter. It at least plays into a sense of frenzied chaos during the fight.
Also, the infected are very polite. They will lean right over your shoulder and wait until you notice them to try and eat you. Doesn't really make sense, considering how insistent they are about getting to people, but what the hell.
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