"RES: Once he made
Mortal Kombat (1995), he became associated with video games, which was just considered trash.
DK: No more serious consideration necessary, the guy makes video game movies. And he’s still making cheesy video game movies…
RES: But excellent ones!
DK: Yeah. And he’s seen a lot of movies. Who he reminds me of is Fritz Lang. I’m pretty sure I asked him about that, and he said, “oh yeah, love him.”
RES: The connection with Lang is with his use of geometric figures?
DK: All the underground stuff, worlds within worlds, imagined conspiracies. In particular the space used in
Resident Evil: Retribution (2012), the geometry and symmetry.
RES: Also similar is the puppet-master, a Mabuse-like figure.
DK: Sure.
RES: Umbrella Corporation in
Resident Evil, Joan Allen in
Death Race (2008)…
DK: The sinister boss figure hovering over all these people, and making them move and jump around. In the
Resident Evil series, I guess it’s the computer, the Red Queen.
RES: It’s the corporation itself, a faceless entity.
DK: Yeah, it has its own life."
...
"RES: Any final thoughts?
DK: Well, it’s just such a pleasurable, kinetic experience to be moved through that. You don’t feel assaulted, irritated and beat up by a movie. It’s a movie that respects your intelligence, and has put some thought into how it’s going to work. It’s not one damn thing hitting you in the face after another. That’s just stimulation, lights flashing, sound going off, CGI crap falling on top of everything. If you get people hopped up and stimulated then maybe they’ll think it’s entertainment, but it’s not. I’m a grumpy old man.
RES: Justifiably so. What does that make me then?
DK: Well, I was a grumpy young man too."
Zombie Watch: A Conversation With Dave Kehr about Paul W.S. Anderson