Anderson Updates Resident Evil 4

Say what you will about the “Resident Evil” movies, but to me, they’re the perfect example of popcorn entertainment: fast-paced, substance-free, and pretty darn entertaining as long as you know what you’re getting. Sure, every single one of the three previous films could have been better, but you know what? You can pretty much say that about every movie with Paul W.S. Anderson’s name attached to it in some form or another. The guy has always been good, but never great. So yes, I am liking the news that we’ll be getting a “Resident Evil 4″ sometime soon, though Anderson declines to comment on the storyline or whether Claire Redfield (played by Ali Larter in the previous installment) will pick up the mantle from Milla Jovovich’s Alice, or if Alice will continue her zombie fighting ways.

Here is Anderson’s interview with IGN:

“I’m writing a script right now. The script side is happening,” Anderson explained.

“Once again we’re doing it completely with the blessing of [Capcom]. We got a lot of flack [on the sequels] for, ‘Why isn’t the movie set in the mansion just exactly like the very first videogame?’ That’s just not progression for me. As the Resident Evil videogames themselves have developed in leaps and bounds — it’s like when we did the last movie people were like, ‘Resident Evil doesn’t take place in the desert. What the (expletive) is this?’ Well, where does Resident Evil take place? Does it take place in Raccoon City exclusively? Well, I don’t think so because the game has been in Antarctica, in Raccoon City, now it’s in Africa.”

Anderson continued, “The game is constantly and so is the movie franchise. We’re doing it very much in conjunction with the developers of the videogame to give the audience something fresh but something that fits within the world of the videogame.”

The last time we saw Alice in “Resident Evil: Extinction”, she was heading off to do some more Umbrella Corporation smashing, while Claire Redfield was taking some survivors to Alaska. The movie sort of left it wide open as to who the franchise was going to follow next — Alice or Claire? I’m more inclined to go the Claire route, as haven’t we already seen Alice do pretty much everything by now after three movies? What are they going to do to her character next, give her Neo-like superpowers? Okay, so maybe they were already starting in on that road by the end of “Extinction”…

If Anderson is interested in starting fresh, he’ll go with Claire, but if he and Capcom wants to play it safe and ensure that their moneymaker continues to roll, they’ll go back to Alice. And considering Anderson’s history of playing it safe, I’m guessing Alice will be back.

Below: Sure, an ass-kicking hot chick is nice, but an ass-kicking hot chick with a B.F.G. is better.