James Cameron’s Guilty Pleasure? This ‘Cheesy’ Video Game Flick from 2002
One of the most celebrated directors of our time doesn’t shy away from his guilty pleasure — even if it’s blatantly “not fit” for the creator of Titanic and Avatar.
James Cameron ’s Hollywood career has been nothing but outstanding throughout his many decades as a movie director. In the list of the highest-grossing movies of all time, Cameron confidently holds several top spots; he’s famous and celebrated across different genres from romantic drama to sci-fi; and he’s unapologetic when it comes to work, being a perfectionist to the bone.
But even James Cameron has his guilty cinematic pleasures — and he doesn’t shy away from them.
What Is James Cameron’s Guilty Pleasure Movie?
Generally speaking, you’d expect the director of Cameron’s scale to indulge in something huge, dramatic, and classic, but that’s not exactly the case. While talking to Empire in 2020, the Avatar director admitted that his favorite flick is… A “cheesy and formulaic” live-action video game adaptation from 2002, over two decades ago.
“One of my guilty-pleasure films that I actually think is quite beautifully made is Resident Evil. Watching Michelle Rodriguez in that film, moving like this feral creature, is joyful,” Cameron admitted during the interview.
What a surprise, huh?
Resident Evil Was a Pioneer in Game Adaptations
Why is this such a surprising revelation coming from James Cameron? For context, Paul W.S. Anderson’s 2002 Resident Evil has a measly 25% Top Critic Score on Rotten Tomatoes and is unanimously proclaimed a “loud, violent, formulaic, and cheesy” — and this here bit is important — “like other video game adaptations.”
But the thing is, that movie premiered over two decades ago, and back then, video game adaptations were only beginning their long and difficult journey. The Resident Evil movies weren’t half bad then and still hold up relatively well, despite us already having absolute masterpieces like The Last of Us, Fallout, and other adaptations.
What’s more important, despite the disastrous critical reception, the audience loved Milla Jovovich’s outing as a commando on the hunt for terrifying mutations. Was it a cheesy movie? It sure was. But it was also a banger, and Cameron is on the side of the viewers on this one.
Source: Empire