Honestly, the moment Avan Jogia stepped onto the screen as Leon S. Kennedy, you could practically hear the collective gasp from a million Resident Evil purists. It wasn’t just the hair. It wasn't just the lack of a perfectly chiseled jawline that matched the Capcom renders. People were genuinely confused.
Resident Evil Welcome to Raccoon City Leon is arguably the most controversial adaptation of a gaming icon we’ve seen in the last decade. Director Johannes Roberts made a choice. He didn't want the "super-cop" from the later games. He didn't even really want the wide-eyed, idealistic rookie from the 1998 original or the 2019 remake. He wanted a guy who was, frankly, a bit of a mess.
This version of Leon is a rookie who’s only in Raccoon City because his father pulled strings to keep him out of bigger trouble. He’s hungover. He’s slow on the draw. He spends a good chunk of the movie looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. For some, this was a refreshing take on "grounded" realism. For others? It felt like a betrayal of a character they've spent twenty-five years controlling.
The Backstory Shift: Why Leon Changed
If you grew up playing the games, you know the drill. Leon Scott Kennedy arrives in Raccoon City on his first day, finds a corpse, meets Claire Redfield, and immediately becomes a tactical genius capable of backflipping over lasers. Okay, maybe the lasers came later, but he was always competent.
In Welcome to Raccoon City, Leon’s incompetence is a plot point.
Roberts wanted to lean into the "John Carpenter" vibe. Think Assault on Precinct 13. In that world, the protagonist isn't a superhero; they're just a guy caught in a nightmare. This Leon accidentally shoots out the tires of his own squad car (well, technically he just fails to be useful while the chaos unfolds). He's the butt of the jokes from his senior officers. Chief Irons treats him like a nuisance, not a promising recruit.
This creates a massive friction point. When you search for Resident Evil Welcome to Raccoon City Leon, the results are often flooded with Reddit threads and YouTube essays titled "How they ruined Leon." But if you step back from the "accuracy" argument, you see what the film was trying to do. It tried to give him an arc. He starts as a joke and ends as a survivor. Is it satisfying? That depends on how much you value the source material's specific "cool factor."
Fact-Checking the "Rookie" Narrative
Let's look at the actual lore vs. the movie's reality.
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- The Game: Leon graduated from the police academy at 21. He requested the Raccoon City assignment because of the "unsolved murders" occurring in the Arklay Mountains. He was proactive.
- The Movie: Leon is portrayed as a bit of a "nepo baby" of the police world. He’s there as a punishment or a favor. He’s sleepy. He’s wearing headphones while a zombie truck driver crashes into the station.
The discrepancy isn't an accident. Roberts mentioned in several press junkets during the 2021 release that he wanted the characters to feel like "slacker" archetypes from 90s cinema. This Leon feels more like a character out of Clerks than Black Hawk Down.
Avan Jogia's performance is actually quite nuanced if you ignore the "Leon" label. He plays a guy who is utterly overwhelmed by the supernatural. When he encounters the Licker in the RPD, his reaction is genuine terror, not tactical positioning. It’s a human reaction. But is "human" what we want from Resident Evil? Usually, we want the guy who can suplex a cultist.
The Aesthetics and the Backlash
We have to talk about the look. Visuals matter in gaming adaptations.
Leon’s signature look—the tactical vest, the side-parted blonde hair—is iconic. Jogia, who is of Indian and European descent, doesn't look like the game character. This sparked a wave of "anti-woke" criticism that, quite frankly, ignored the bigger writing issues. The problem wasn't the actor's ethnicity; it was the script's insistence on making him the comic relief.
When you look at the costume design, they actually nailed the R.P.D. uniform. The patches are correct. The gear is era-appropriate for 1998. But the character inside the gear felt alien to the fans.
Why the "Hate" Might Be Overblown
Is it actually a bad performance? No. Jogia is a talented actor. He brings a certain "I'm too old for this, but I'm only 21" energy that fits the gritty, rain-soaked aesthetic of the film.
If this were a generic horror movie called Zombies at the Station, people would probably praise the realistic portrayal of a terrified new guy. But it's not a generic movie. It's Resident Evil. When you carry that name, you carry the weight of millions of players who have been Leon. We didn't feel like bumbling rookies when we played the game; we felt like survivors. The movie stripped away that agency.
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The Licker Scene: A Turning Point
There is one moment where the Resident Evil Welcome to Raccoon City Leon character starts to click. It’s the scene in the hallway with the Licker.
This is arguably the best-shot sequence in the film. It captures the claustrophobia of the RPD. Leon is terrified. He's trapped. The tension is thick. When he finally has to step up, it doesn't feel like a scripted "cool" moment; it feels like a desperate act of survival.
This is where the movie succeeds in its "Survival Horror" roots even if it fails its "Action Hero" roots. The movie prioritizes the atmosphere of the first two games—the dread, the shadows, the feeling that a single bullet is precious. In this context, a Leon who isn't a crack shot makes the monsters feel scarier. If Leon is a god, the zombies are just fodder. If Leon is a screw-up, a single zombie is a boss fight.
What Most People Get Wrong About the Adaptation
People often claim the movie "hates" the games. That’s just not true. The film is packed with frame-by-frame recreations of game moments. The "itchy tasty" note is there. The first zombie turn is almost identical to the 1996 original.
The issue is the tonal clash. You have a director who clearly loves the world of Resident Evil, but wanted to deconstruct the heroes of Resident Evil.
- Claire is the lead: In this version, Claire Redfield is the competent one. She has the conspiracy theories. She has the survival skills.
- Leon is the sidekick: This reversal bothered people who expected the 50/50 split of the Resident Evil 2 game.
- The Timeline: Cramming the stories of RE1 and RE2 into 107 minutes meant character development for Leon was sacrificed for plot speed.
By the time the train sequence happens at the end, Leon finally picks up the rocket launcher. It's the "moment." But for many, it was too little, too late. The transformation from "guy who can't see a zombie right in front of him" to "action hero" happened in about four minutes of screen time.
The Legacy of the 2021 Leon
Years later, how does he hold up?
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With the Netflix Resident Evil series being a certified disaster and the Paul W.S. Anderson movies being... well, their own thing... Welcome to Raccoon City has aged into a weird "cult" spot. It’s the most "game-accurate" movie in terms of vibes, even if it’s the most "inaccurate" in terms of character personalities.
If you're going back to watch it, you have to treat this Leon as an alternate-universe version. He’s Leon Kennedy if he had a normal, slightly unmotivated upbringing instead of being a protagonist in a Japanese action-horror franchise.
Real World Impact
The backlash was loud enough that it seemingly stalled any immediate sequels. While the movie made a modest profit ($42 million on a $25 million budget), it didn't ignite the box office. Fans' reaction to Leon was a major part of that "mixed" word-of-mouth.
When you compare this to the reception of Leon in the RE4 Remake (2023), the difference is staggering. People want the sassy, confident, slightly tortured Leon. They don't want the Leon who gets yelled at by his boss for being late.
Actionable Takeaways for Fans and Viewers
If you're diving back into the Resident Evil cinematic world, keep these points in mind to actually enjoy the experience:
- Watch it as a "What If": Treat the movie as a standalone reimagining. If you go in expecting the game's exact beats, you'll be frustrated by the 15-minute mark.
- Focus on the Scenery: The sets are the real stars. The RPD lobby is a work of art. The orphanage is genuinely creepy.
- Appreciate the Gore: This movie doesn't shy away from the practical-looking effects. The transformation sequences are gnarly and stay true to the body-horror roots of the series.
- Separate Actor from Script: Avan Jogia is a great fit for a younger, more "grunge" Leon, even if the script didn't give him enough "win" moments.
To understand the full scope of the Raccoon City incident, you're better off playing the games. But as a Friday night horror flick? Welcome to Raccoon City offers a version of Leon that is at least human. He’s flawed, he’s scared, and he’s vastly out of his depth. Sometimes, that’s more interesting than a guy who never misses a shot.
The next step for any fan is to compare the "Licker" encounter in the film to the original 1998 cinematic. You'll see exactly where the director was pulling his inspiration from and where he decided to take a hard left turn into his own creative vision. Whether that turn was a shortcut or a cliff-edge is still up for debate.