MOVIE NEWS – Despite Avan Jogia’s tear-jerking performance in Resident Evil 2, unfortunately, enthusiasm is not enough – at least the critics are not convinced by the new Hive movie.

As we recently reported, star Avan Jogia is a big fan of the Resident Evil games, having spent hours directing Leon S. Kennedy – the character he played in The Hive: Raccoon City Strikes Back – and still loves the original game. That’s all well and good, but the film, which will not debut in Hungary until 6 January 2022 and was released in the US two days ago, has so far received very negative reviews in the press.

With over 30 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, Johannes Roberts’ film received a rating of only 28%. The complaints from film professionals are varied: in particular, the quality of the script. The Spanish Espinof, for example, says that the film is “a return to the starting point, apparently respecting the spirit of the brand, but only half-heartedly”.

“If you want to see something that plays just like the video game, play the video game,” says Michael Gingold of Rue Morgue.

This agrees with Nick Schager of Variety, who adds: “Writer-director Johannes Roberts supplies plenty of fan service but scarce coherent plotting and even fewer scares.” Mike McGranaghan of Aisle Seat comments, “If you have to play a video game to fully understand a movie, it is not a good movie.”. Midwest Film Journal reviewer Evan Dossey calls the film a “migraine-inducing vortex of bad horror, incoherency, and annoying franchise references.”

Of course, it would be unfair to silence the positive(ish) reviews. As CNET’s Sean Keane puts it, this film will “delight fans looking for a fun, Easter egg-filled ride through the first two games in the 25-year-old survival horror series.” And Johnny Oleksinski of the New York Post said, “It’s the first watchable entry in the series. For once, you don’t envy the lucky people who get killed by zombies.”

Now it’s just a matter of waiting for the public’s verdict, both in terms of ratings and revenue. The Rotten Tomatoes “Audience Score” is slightly better than the critics’: the film currently stands at 61%. However, Boxoffice Pro estimates that it has grossed $11.5 million in the US in its first five days, far behind the other premiere of the week, Encanto ($56.4 million) and other films that have been in theatres for weeks, such as Ghostbusters: Afterlife, The Gucci House and The Eternals.

It remains to be seen whether The Hive: Raccoon City Returns will be a box office success – the director is already planning a sequel, and Avan Jogia’s enthusiasm remains undiminished.

Source: 3DJuegos