#RAUGH. banging my head on the wall

[residentfurry]

Death Island: Jill's Character Arc

So I've now watched all the official resident evil movies (the animated ones) in order, so I just finished Death Island. I have a few thoughts on it!

(Disclaimer: DEATH ISLAND SPOILERS! this is not a hate post made to diss anyone who likes the movie! I just like media analysis and I want to open a discussion about this movie!)

For having such a big cast of characters that we know and love, I have to say that Death Island is my least favorite movie out of the bunch...I feel like the pacing is a bit weird and I don't really feel immersed or engaged with the story. A lot of that has to do with how they handle the character arcs.

A downside of the big cast is that they don't focus on individual characters as much, and I really felt that this should've been Jill's movie. As much as like Chris, Leon, Rebecca and Claire, I think that if the movie had a focus on Jill (her trauma, her feelings, etc) it would've made a much more solid movie. We get little tastes of it in the movie but I would love if it was expanded upon; with Jill realizing that actions in trying not to feel helpless/guilty/in control is only going to put others in danger.

A good scene to reflect that would've been the scene where everyone was infected by the drones. I think it would've been really interesting to see Jill shut down in a way, or maybe have her actions be the cause of the others being infected (instead of those drones) because that would solidify the message that her actions she took to make herself feel better and more in control ultimately ended up in her friends getting hurt. (Which I feel like was kinda the message they were trying to go for in the movie.)

This would also reflect better with Dylan Blake, the villain, as a foil. He feels helpless in the face of "good and evil" and he felt helpless when his team got turned in Raccoon City. Everything he does after that is to "atone" for what he did and make everyone else feel as helpless as he did as a pawn of Umbrella. You know who also feels like she has to atone for being a pawn of someone else? Jill! They both feel guilty for doing something that was ultimately out of their control and deal with it in unorthodox manners.

(I think even Jill sees how ridiculous this thought process is by the end of the movie, where she says something like: "You're gonna kill the whole world because you feel sorry for killing your friend?" Which, funnily enough, reflects exactly what Jill was doing athe the beginning of the movie; possibly getting herself and others killed just because she felt bad that she tried to kill Chris when mind controlled.)

But the difference between Jill and Dylan would be that Jill would be able to realize her risky behavior is only making herself MORE at risk and helpless, even if it means having a bit of control. That she has to rely on her friends and move past the guilt in order to do what is right. Relinquish a bit of control and put some trust in her friends hands. Forgive herself. Dylan is unable to do that, which separates him from Jill and ultimately leads him to be a villain (and his demise).

I think it would be a wonderful message for Jill to forgive herself and decide that she WANTS to heal. Healing from trauma is one of my favorite things to explore in a story (especially if it's messy) and I think it would fit within the story of Resident Evil so well... And their characters definitely deserve it LOL

But what do you guys think? Do you like the movie or do you think it would've been better if it was more Jill-centric?

[carbonateddelusion]

evil thought: "omg I should redo Mari's reference"