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I Rewatched All of Paul W.S. Anderson's Resident Evil Films | The Backdrop

This video is brought to you by Drova - Forsaken Kin, a pixel art action-RPG inspired by the grim dark classics of the genre and the mystical allure of Celtic mythology. – https://store.steampowered.com/app/1585180/Drova__Forsaken_Kin/ So, Darren rewatched all six of Paul W.S. Anderson's Resident Evil movies, and found them deeply fascinating to talk about. Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SecondWindGroup Second Wind Merch: https://shop.secondwindgroup.com/

Comments

Th3P4tM4n

I've always had a huge soft spot for these movies. I would never dare say they're GOOD, but I always enjoy them.

FleurC

I've always loved this franchise of movies, it was always interesting to me. I've rewatched some recently and unfortunately they're not as good as I remembered, but the first 2 still rock

DorvoG

Another banger! Thanks, Darren! :)

Darren Mooney

Interesting, as I think the second one is comfortably the weakest of the six.

Darren Mooney

Yep. I think they know what they are and commit to it in a way that is dizzying.

StrongBrush

Why would you do that to yourself

Riley Lemon

Each Paul WS Andersons Resident Evil feel to me like British made for tv movies trying to be an American action blockbuster based on a game which itself is a Japanese impression of America and interpretation of Hollywood horror. What I find odd is apparently all that combines to make the asthetic of a slightly gothic Eurovision entry.

Dachor

My wife loves these movies and recently we all watched them as a family since the kids are old enough. We all thoroughly enjoyed them! It's incredible how much they feel like a late 90s/ early 2000s action even with the last film. We actually got to meet Paul at a Con earlier this month and he was the nicest guy!

Davsau

Criterion has opened a brick and mortar store in Toronto called Cinema Cellar, and they had a great big Wes Anderson collection box set. And I kinda want a box set for THIS Anderson too. 😜

Darren Mooney

... and who doesn't love Eurovision?

Darren Mooney

Aw! I will say that I've never heard a bit thing about Anderson. Everybody who has encountered him says he seems like the loveliest guy.

Dying Breed

I do not know if you intended this, but this video also makes the case that value is not some universal constant but changes from person to person. Much like this comment section, there are people who enjoy these "slop movies" as the kids would say (I think), just like there are people who refuse to watch them for being so rotted in the brain. Get it? Because they're zombie movies and "brain rot" is a term-- Anyway, my point being that the 90's and 2000's may be viewed as a zombie shuffling along with no real reason, others can instead see it as the ruins of an era during a time so devoid of substance or purpose. I have two nieces who wish they lived in the 90's/2000's because myself and their mothers spoke highly of them. We show them genuine movies from those times to a point one of said nieces hopes Disney makes animated movies like they did in the 90's again, even though I know audiences these days have "spoken with their wallets" and turned away from them. We can talk at length about the merits of art, but at the end of the day, we share this planet with folks who see media as just coffee paper: something to be used once, then throw it away and not care if it is gone forever. The other niece is in love with music by the Gorillaz, Linkin Park, and Nirvana, to a point she started her own band inspired by them. While many kids go nuts over K-Pop like my sisters did over Boy Bands such as N*SYNC or the Backstreet Boys, she instead wants to learn grunge music of the past due to feeling like she never really fits in with those around her, much like music back then conveyed in their lyrics. She even learned to play guitar in just 4 months because she cares about the craft that much due to such an inspiration. That niece I mentioned before wants to learn drama and acting, because she loves those Disney musical numbers in movies such as "Hercules" and "Pocahontas". These two movies gave her a source of inspiration instead of the constant "content" that her age group refers to more and more as "slop". She also learned that movies such as "Beauty and the Beast" and "Mulan" were talking about subjects such as toxic men and women being looked down upon because of their gender 30 years before people made it "political". I hold these two up as examples of learning from what came before and making it their own. Both see the value of learning from the past, flaws and all, just like these Resident Evil movies have something of value to them if you just go and look, instead of just reading a wiki and/or listening to some YouTuber (no offense) because they think their insights have more worth than an average joe because they have a high subscriber count. We may live in a world that is hellbent on keeping the status quo alive to a point of technological necromancy, but I think the best way to combat these Cultural Necromancers is to support new projects like the movie "The Backrooms" and the new "Resident Evil" movie. Let younger audiences be allowed to take what we grew up with as a cobblestone in this cultural road we're all building. If you really hold old media in such high regard, maybe don't throw it away so quickly, you never know when it will come back as a zombie to bite you.

Matthew Henry

I'm guessing nobody at Second Wind ever went to Sunday school. I've never heard "Ecclesiastes" pronounced in such an...... interesting way.

Brendan

This was delightful. More Baudrillard-related content, please.

Surrog

If we keep this trend of video, Darren will have enough content to publish a book on applied philosophy in cinema by the end of next year. And I'm here for it.

Darren Mooney

We may be reaching peak Baudrillard! I think it also came up in the "Mandalorian" video earlier in the year, too.

buckysrevenge

I wish I could sit and watch every movie/TV show with you, Darren, I love your analyses

Darren Mooney

To be fair, I try to be quiet during the movies and shows. But I do have a terrible poker face.

Peter James

I’d be fascinated to know Paul W.S. Anderson’s thoughts on this essay. Hearing a great auteur respond to critical analysis of their films is kinda boring. But a largely dismissed schlockmeister’s thoughts on a thoughtful and well reasoned deep dive into their work?

Darren Mooney

Ah, to be fair, there are probably better essays to send him. To be honest to Anderson, he comes across quite well in various interviews about this stuff. Vulture did a retrospective on him a few years ago, and he came across very level-headed of, "I just make the movies. I try not to get in my head about them."

Pēteris Krišjānis

I low key enjoyed first movie, I did not know games much at that time. I haven't seen sequels. I have enjoyed B style smashes in the past, and I personally have big affinity with Mila because of The Messenger. Also this type of cinema now lives in Netflix at much lower quality :(