The debut trailer for Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City dropped yesterday, and reactions have been mixed. There’s a ton of fun Easter eggs and references packed into it, but also some extremely questionable CGI and a general aura of B-movie cheapness. I’m still going to be checking it out: after all, Resident Evil has always taken its inspiration from B-movies, and I’m hopeful the more iffy monster FX shots are still being worked on.
One very promising sign that this movie is going to be faithful to the games is its reference to a half-forgotten title Capcom generally ignores. Resident Evil – CODE: Veronica was released on the Sega Dreamcast in 2000 and was later ported to the PlayStation 2 and GameCube (and got a remastered version on PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2011).
Fans have spotted a film reel in the trailer labeled the “Ashford Twins”. This is a nod to CODE Veronica villains Alexia and Alfred Ashford, who have deep familial connections with the Umbrella Corporation.
CODE Veronica is a direct sequel to Resident Evil 2, showing Claire Redfield continuing the search for her brother Chris. The story takes her through an island infested with zombies and a secret Umbrella base in Antarctica. Despite it being a fan-favorite title, it doesn’t seem to be getting a full remake, with Capcom apparently skipping straight from Resident Evil 3 to Resident Evil 4.
The movie is being billed as adapting the stories of the first two games, so it’s likely that CODE: Veronica is just an Easter egg for fans, but this may well provide a sequel hook for future installments in the movie franchise. Let’s hope the world is ready for Alfred Ashford’s… eccentricities.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City premieres on November 24th.
