Welcome to Raccoon City may not completely break the dreaded “video game movie curse,” but it is full of Easter eggs and references that will undoubtedly please devoted Resident Evil fans who believe that some of the franchise’s earlier big-screen adaptations veered too far from the original material.
Although Johannes Roberts, the director of Welcome to Raccoon City, had expressed his wish to be authentic to the games, it’s actually astonishing to watch all of the significant and minute ways in which the film directly appropriates characters, and scenes, words, and ideas from the games. Even though Resident Evil and Resident Evil 2 are significantly altered in the movie, it’s obvious that far more care was taken to preserve their most recognizable features.
Here are some of Resident Evil’s most notable Easter eggs and references: Please let us know in the comments below which ones we missed as you settle into Raccoon City.
Resident Evil
Welcome to Raccoon City places a lot more emphasis on the town of Raccoon City than the previous live-action Resident Evil movies (and even some of the games) did, in case the title didn’t make it plain. The film nevertheless makes an effort to accurately depict some of the town’s most notable monuments and basic layout.
The Raccoon City Orphanage is one fascinating Raccoon City monument that the film recreates. While the Resident Evil 2 remake makes certain alterations to the orphanage’s setting and appearance, it does not alter the orphanage’s enigmatic past as a clandestine Umbrella experimentation center.
Christopher Redfield Chris Redfield from Welcome to Raccoon City was an orphan who developed into a gifted member of the prestigious S.T.A.R.S team, just like in the games. Unlike in the video games, Chris Redfield in the movie was raised in Raccoon City and knows William Birkin personally.
Hello there, Raccoon City makes the implication that Chris is a highly proficient marksman, which was undoubtedly true of the character in the video game as well.
Claire Redfield
Claire Redfield travels into town in Welcome to Raccoon City with a truck driver. Claire doesn’t take a ride into town in the video games, but a truck driver in Resident Evil 2 runs over a zombie as they enter the city and later causes a huge explosion. The movie recreates a chain of events that is strikingly comparable.
– Claire’s appearance in Welcome to Raccoon City plainly takes inspiration from her Resident Evil 2 remake look rather than her Resident Evil 2 original appearance (which is to say that the hot pants are gone and the red leather jacket and jeans are in).
– Claire finally commandeers Chris’ motorcycle, unlike in the Resident Evil 2 remake when she rides into town on a motorcycle.
Valentine, Jill
In Welcome to Raccoon City, Jill Valentine continues to be the capable S.T.A.R.S. member that she is in the Resident Evil video games, but the character is spared from some of the more humiliating statements from the original game. Nevertheless, Jill Valentine makes a nod to one of Valentine’s best/worst video game lines in Welcome to Raccoon City by ordering a “Jill Sandwich” in a diner.
Kenny Leon
There is a young police officer named Leon Kennedy in both Welcome to Raccoon City and the Resident Evil video games, but that is about where the similarities between the two characters end. Although there are many changes to Leon in the film, he still ends up spending the majority of the time with Claire on screen, which is a clear nod to their leading roles in Resident Evil 2.
Albert Wesker
While the character of Albert Wesker in Welcome to Raccoon City is essentially an Umbrella agent working within S.T.A.R.S. (just as he was in the games), the genetically enhanced soldier who was essentially raised by Umbrella that he was in the games is not the Albert Wesker of the film. He actually appears to be a fairly regular police officer who is eventually hired by Umbrella and who appears to be ignorant of many of their strategies and tactics.
Wesker asks the S.T.A.R.S. squad to decide whether to break up within Spencer Mansion, much like in the games. Wesker believes that breaking one of the most important horror movie survival principles will help him achieve the covert mission that Umbrella has assigned him.
Ada Wong Appearing in the post-credits scene in Welcome to Raccoon City, the beloved Resident Evil character Ada Wong leaves a strong impression that she is the one who saved (and possibly once recruited) Albert Wesker. The events of the sequel, which we may or may not get, appear to be being set up in this sequence.
