When the first trailer for the new Resident Evil movie dropped earlier this month, it looked like a cheesy, expensive horror flick with an…interesting soundtrack choice. Lest you think that was a mistake on the marketing team’s front for what’s meant to be the start of a six-movie series, it’s apparently not, because the film’s version of a “Jill Sandwich” joke — calling back to the original Resident Evil game after she’s almost crushed by a ceiling trap — is corny as hell.
Yesterday, Sony put out a character trailer spotlighting Welcome to Raccoon City’s new cinematic version of the STARS agent, played by Hannah John-Kamen. At one point, Jill snatches a sandwich from future series baddie Albert Wesker (Tom Hopper) and declares, “It’s Jill’s sandwich now.” It’s a groan worthy line to be sure, and yet it weirdly fits? After all, Resident Evil is a franchise that’s no stranger to cheese, especially when it comes to Jill as of late.
Outside of that, the vignette has a fairly similar tone to the ones focused on Claire Redfield (Kaya Scodelario) and her brother Chris (Robbie Amell): weirdly edited and more than a little goofy. At one point, Hopper points out that Jill’s a little off, which the vignette simply gets across by showing her pulling a gun on someone just face down on a table and then asking what the worst way to die would be. (The answer to that question may just be the entire movie?)
Should the film follow the arc of the games and be successful enough to warrant sequels, Jill will eventually grow to be one of the most important players in the Resident Evil universe. What’s interesting about Raccoon City is how it’s a mashup of the first two games, and Jill wasn’t featured at all in Resident Evil 2 because Capcom’s Shinji Mikami believed at the time that she and fellow RE1-protagonist Chris would be too experienced to be afraid of zombies not long after escaping the Spencer mansion. Blending the two games together has the potential to change their characters in some fascinating ways going forward.
Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City releases in Australian theatres on December 9.