When Zach Cregger, the mastermind behind Barbarian and Weapons, announced he was working on the new Resident Evil film, I was genuinely intrigued.
Then he came out in interviews claiming he was a massive fan of the games growing up and that he wanted to replicate the feel of the games as closely as possible. Again, genuinely excited. Then he stated how his film will have little to no zombies and will NOT follow the games or any of their characters. An interesting situation, to say the least. I had to pause and think for a second.
Upon watching the original Paul W.S. Anderson Resident Evil films and then Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, it went from having little to no real connection to the games’ lore to failing to truly adapt the games’ narrative. I had to ask myself: Can Resident Evil be successfully adapted into film?
In my humble opinion, no.
It has taken more than 10 mainline titles to tell THAT story. This isn’t counting any spinoffs. Hollywood won’t invest that time and money. Plus, let’s all be honest here. The story is so convoluted, it would be harder than Wesker wearing sunglasses indoors to make sense.
So, in that line of reasoning, there are only two ways to look at Cregger’s Resident Evil. Do I grade it based on the series I know? Because if I do, he won’t pass. The film has some fanfare for the hardcore RE fan, but not much else tying it to the name. Names of locations and companies are thrown around, but zero characters, and our protagonist doesn’t exist in any capacity outside this film. The virus doesn’t even act like anything from any of the games’ known viruses.
Let’s not be so eager to bash the film because it doesn’t follow the game. Cregger did say he wanted to go for feel and vibe. I’m very happy to say that, in the vibe check area, it passes with flying colors.
WHAT’S IT ABOUT?
The film follows a medical courier named Bryan, played by Austin Abrams, who decides to take a last-minute trip to the mountain town of Raccoon City to drop off a priority package at the hospital. While en route, he has an accident, and that’s when all hell breaks loose.
From this point on, Bryan is met with crazed people, mutating bodies and creatures that go beyond explanation. His goal is simple: Survive long enough to deliver his package and hopefully get to safety.
This film was fun, and it had a perfect sense of humor for the main character and his situation. The film even treats certain situations as we would as players in the game, leading to equally enjoyable outcomes.
You find yourself genuinely rooting for Bryan throughout the film, as he does a great job playing the “every person” character.
FINAL WORD
As a film technically rooted in the Resident Evil universe, this felt more closely related to The Outbreak series than a mainline entry. Those games introduced regular people in an impossible situation during the Raccoon City incident. Hell, Grace’s mother Alyssa Ashcroft was introduced in that series and ended up becoming rather important to Requiem’s story.
So, is this a 100% Resident Evil film? No. Is that perfectly OK, and did this film deliver a fun and gory experience that was equal parts scary and funny? Hell yes! This film understood the assignment.
I give Resident Evil 4 Giant Eyeballs Out of 5
Watch the Trailer
Resident Evil is in theaters now!