Review: Resident Evil

11

Where to begin? Resident Evil. This extremely successful and beloved game series. It has been with me since childhood. I remember very well how I sat there breaking out in a cold sweat while exploring the police station in Resident Evil 2, or how I nearly scared the life out of myself every time Nemesis appeared and roared “STAAARRRS!” in the third game. But I actually became most attached to Resident Evil: Code Veronica, which I played on the Dreamcast (Rest in peace, one of the world’s best, most underrated consoles). I have also appreciated the more action-oriented entries in the series. I replayed the remake of the fourth game a couple of years ago. Requiem I played, and loved, this summer. Village, with the werewolves, was also cool. But. One of my strongest memories is still the enormous expectations when Resident Evil was going to be filmed. I was completely sold on the idea and hoped for intense, nervy, creeping horror. Paul W.S. Anderson was the director and he had, after all, delivered films like Event Horizon. I seem to recall the trailer oscillating between feeling promising and instilling a certain doubt. The first film in the series came out in 2002, the same year I turned fifteen. My name is Peter Westberg and this is my Sommar i P1. No, I’ll be serious. I recall that the hormone-fueled hard rock kid I had started to transform into liked parts of it even if it was silly, too action-oriented, and didn’t feel the least bit like the games. It’s probably no more than two or three years since I tried to rewatch it and you know what? It is actually almost painfully bad. The same goes for the sequels. And Welcome To Raccoon City and the Netflix series should not even be mentioned without an exorcist present.

But now it is 2026 and it hit like a bit of a bombshell when a reimagining was announced. Perhaps mainly when it turned out that the person who had taken on the project was none other than Barbarian– and Weapons-director Zach Gregger. I don’t remember a whole lot from Barbarian, but I will rewatch it sometime. Weapons had great potential that was partially realized even though I thought there was a fair amount that faltered. But seeing his own take on Resident Evil still felt so incredibly enticing. Right, somehow. He does have a sense for detail and offers films that stand out and take unexpected paths. The trailers that were released received a lot of criticism for one thing specifically: There wasn’t really any direct Resident Evil feel to them. I can agree with that, while also thinking it still looked damn promising.

So now it is finally here and the initial reviews have largely been very, very positive. That didn’t exactly make my expectations cool down. Something that did make me a bit worried, however, was an article revealing that Cregger had to re-cut the film after an early screening—because it was too funny. Because that was perhaps one of my problems with Weapons. There were scenes that could have been truly tense and unsettling if they hadn’t been joked away by throwing in some slapstick that made the tension wither faster than someone can say Dow Jones in the bedroom when things are starting to heat up.

But enough about past sins. Let’s move on to the plot, because Zack Cregger’s Resident Evil uses, unlike previous film adaptations, none of the game series’ characters. It takes place partly in Raccoon City and there is a virus, albeit not mentioned by name, but that’s about it in terms of plot-related recognition. Here we instead meet Bryan, a rather clumsy delivery guy who is tasked with delivering a bag with important but unknown contents to Raccoon City General. He ends up in the middle of an outbreak and must fight his way past mutated creatures to survive—and deliver the bag.

The plot is simple and I like that. Deliver the product from point A to point B. Get past all the obstacles. Those of you who play video games will get it immediately. Here, Cregger has adapted the simplest of game plots directly and turned it into a film. Does that sound like criticism? It isn’t. I’ve been waiting for a really good video game adaptation. Okay. Let’s start there. With both adaptations and dystopia. There are a number of games that have been turned into films. The majority have resulted in products that have fluctuated between mediocre and worse. One that stands out is The Last Of Us, which also happens to be my absolute favorite game. I was invited to a preview of the premiere episode and sat transfixed even though I knew what was going to happen. The first season was mostly phenomenal. The second season? Not so much. There were occasional glimmers, but enough about that. The point is that we aren’t spoiled with good game adaptations. Resident Evil is the exception that partially proves the rule.

Confusing? Let me explain. I love Cregger’s way of turning a simple game plot into a film. I have read reviews saying that Resident Evil feels like playing a video game, but in a good way. I can agree with that. Because the setup is exactly like being thrown straight into a new game. You feel uncertain as a character, haven’t quite learned the controls, are a bit clumsy—and then monsters appear and you have to fight to survive. We also get some very stylish first-person angles that effectively flirt with the game genre without feeling forced. It is also sprinkled with fun little Easter eggs for lovers of the game series—the car in the tunnel full of herb plants, the dark room upstairs in the house with an old-fashioned typewriter, the way Bryan finds new weapons. I smile to myself at these little things.

But. Because there is always a but. Or several, as in this case. In addition to the aforementioned homages and the fact that a large part takes place in Raccoon City, there is, as mentioned, very little that smacks of Resident Evil. We don’t meet any classic Resident Evil zombies; instead, the enemies consist mostly of mutated humans and animals, which is, in itself, also a part of the universe. So it’s not a proper zombie movie in that sense. I understand that some fans are bothered by this. It doesn’t really bother me a lot, though it occasionally gives the feeling that they are just using the title to bring in more money and get attention. Because the truth is that Cregger’s version could easily have stood on its own and been called something else. A bit like how Evil Dead Rise also mostly felt like they wanted to ride the name. But I won’t complain, even though I would have actually liked to see a few more classic zombies. It is far too stylish and entertaining, and honestly, I can’t say I miss Leon, Chris, Claire, Albert Wesker, or any of the classic characters. It feels quite done anyway.

Austin Abrams, from, among other things, Weapons, is really good as the film’s main character, Bryan. It’s a bit fun that they build an entire movie around an underdog, a guy who in any other film would have acted as comic relief and likely died very quickly due to clumsiness. And that is, I would think without having researched it, the whole point. He is such an unlikely hero that it works. But, because there are more buts, not without some friction. Why, we’ll get back to. We also encounter Paul Walter Hauser from Richard Jewell and Kali Reis from Mercy in two minor, and entertaining, roles. Towards the end, we also meet a group consisting of, among others, Zach Cherry from Severance and Fallout. In between, Bryan is running around almost entirely on his own. And that vulnerability is captured nicely. Cregger has always been good at building atmosphere and Resident Evil is no exception. But …

Now let’s take a closer look at what doesn’t quite work. And this is where opinions are likely to differ a lot from person to person. We circle back to what I wrote about Bryan as an unlikely character. He is, of course, completely unprepared for what is happening. Caught off guard. But he is also a rather hopeless human being who seems to take most things in his stride and doesn’t always think past the end of his nose. He is, in short, quite stupid and often survives on what is called dumb luck. Here I find it grates a little. He is simply a bit too stupid. There are a few too many bad decisions and you think he should have been equipped with a few more units on the IQ scale. It doesn’t necessarily ruin things, but I think too many of the film’s turns are based on stupid decisions. It becomes a bit too easy. And then to the other real point of friction: the humor. I have read many other reviews and this seems to divide the camps. Some appreciate the film for its disarming and surprising humor, others think it becomes too much. I like it in parts and Cregger is good at creating humor that is both subtle and in your face. My problem is that there is too much of it. As I mentioned, Bryan is essentially a comic relief character who has been given the lead role, and it’s not always to the film’s advantage. I am a fan of humor, but the problem here is that several sequences that could have been really tense and unsettling instead lose weight and seriousness. In fact, almost to the point where it’s tempting to call Resident Evil a horror comedy.

Now I sound very critical, but the fact is that in the end, despite the above flaws, I like the result. Very much so, even. There are some unsettling scenes. The homage and Easter eggs are fine. The love for video games in general is enormous. Music, acting, environments, effects—everything works. And the final scenes, though they too are infected by the humor virus, are really, really good and open, to no one’s surprise, for a sequel. Which is naturally already being discussed extensively. In summary, Resident Evil is a very pleasant surprise. Cregger exceeds my expectations by far and offers what may actually be the absolute best film adaptation of a game so far. In the gaming world, there’s often talk of replay value, and so one might wonder if this is a movie worth rewatching? And the answer is yes, I actually think so. Maybe I’ll see it with different eyes when I’m prepared for the dose of humor, and maybe I’ll find even more fine tributes to the game series. This is a movie you don’t want to miss. And it should be seen in the cinema.

How we rate products at Senses

Review Highlights: Q&A

Do classic characters from the games appear in the movie?

Resident Evil does not feature classic characters like Leon, Chris, Claire, or Albert Wesker. The story focuses entirely on a new protagonist named Bryan, an unlikely delivery guy caught in an outbreak.

What types of enemies are in the film?

The film does not feature classic zombies. Instead, the enemies Bryan encounters are mostly mutated humans and animals.

How scary is the film?

While there are unsettling scenes and solid atmosphere, frequent humor and slapstick elements repeatedly defuse the tension, giving parts of the film a horror-comedy feel.

Does the story follow the plot of the video games?

The film uses a simple, game-like fetch quest plot set partly in Raccoon City, filled with subtle Easter eggs, rather than adapting the storyline of a specific game.