Resident Evil is back again. After the Milla Jovovich-led action flicks, a forgettable trip to Raccoon City in 2021, and the disastrous Netflix series, the video game adaptation returns for a more somber and straight-laced outing.
The franchise, which spawned over 30 games, follows survivors of a zombie outbreak triggered by a corporate bioweapon as they traverse dangerous surroundings, solve puzzles, and evade enemies.
Directed by Weapons and Barbarian filmmaker Zach Cregger, Resident Evil doesn’t weigh itself down with the franchise’s lore and instead scrapes the story down to its survival horror foundations.
The film centers on Bryan (Austin Abrams), a medical courier who must deliver a package to Raccoon City. On his way through the snowy rural landscape between cities, he accidentally hits a woman with his car. When she starts coughing up blood and survives multiple car accidents, Bryan starts to realize something sinister is going on.
Resident Evil Focuses On The Everyman
Unusually for the genre, Bryan is an ordinary man with no useful skills to help him survive the outbreak. In fact, Bryan isn’t just ordinary, he is entirely useless. Over 90 minutes, he fails to use ladders, open doors, and shoot weapons.
Initially, it’s frustrating to watch someone make so many poor decisions in a crisis. And then you realize these are probably the actions you’d take during a zombie outbreak. We all talk a big game, but how many of us would know how to load a rifle in reality and outside of a video game?
Resident Evil works better as a movie when you put expectations aside and realize it’s not about a hero but all those NPC’s existing alongside the hero in video games. While the police officers, corporate spies, and engineers do the hard work in Raccoon City, people like Bryan are in the background just trying to survive. And the film becomes even more enjoyable when you realize this is just a bad first-time run through the game.
A Good Balance Of Fan Service and Standalone
Zach Cregger has managed to create a Resident Evil movie that can be enjoyed by fans and the uninitiated. The characters are totally original, and the story goes back to the very start of the franchise, but fans of the game will still enjoy finding easter eggs hidden in the background.
While you might notice a recognizable name in the background and, of course, Umbrella Corporation is named, the Easter Eggs here are more connected to gameplay. A typewriter in the background, an ignored herb, a specific camera setup all make it feel like you’re watching deconstructed gameplay.
Numerous scenes are even shot like it’s a video game, using video POV through head-mounted cameras. This gameplay feel may be off-putting to watchers who aren’t gamers. Cregger has made a movie that recreates the experience of playing Resident Evil rather than adapting the story. Sadly, game fans will have to sit through another adaptation without Leon, Jill, and co.
Resident Evil But As An Allegory About Fatherhood
But it’s not just the outbreak unfolding in front of him that Bryan is worried about. His girlfriend is pregnant, and his response to the situation was not ideal. Through phone calls and voice messages, we learn more about our protagonist. There are hints that he’s a troubled man, perhaps an addict (something confirmed by Cregger off-screen), but someone who wants to be a better person. Austin Abrams is brilliant in these moments, adding pathos to a character with minimal backstory.
You could argue that the whole film is an allegory for fatherhood. Cregger peppers the movie with messages and symbolism, using Bryan’s trip to Raccoon City to mirror his slow realization that he wants to become a dad. Some of it is a bit on the nose, like Bryan visiting a maternity wing, while some of it is a little smarter in its subtext.
Resident Evil takes a brave swing by essentially making Scorsese’s After Hours in horror form. The whole first act and much of the second is Bryan running around snowy roads, doing dumb things and contemplating his personal life. A few moments aside, the first act reads more like a character study of a troubled man wrestling with becoming a father than your standard survival fare. Assisted by Abrams’ charming everyman performance, filling in the gaps with his natural likability.
But don’t get it wrong, Resident Evil is really gory, and the monsters are terrifying. Bryan is up against some genuinely terrifying sights, some new to the lore and some replicating the game. Cregger certainly hasn’t turned away from show gore, even if he’s more focused on body horror than he is on traditional zombie outbreak imagery.
But, The Script Is A Little Thin
Going into the film, you hope Cregger will do more than one man vs. a zombie outbreak. Based on his previous work, he makes layered, complicated horror films. Resident Evil isn’t one of them.
While you can read into metaphors and allegories, Resident Evil is a very basic movie that follows one man from A to B. Mid-film, Paul Walter Hauser arrives as an Umbrella Corporation suit to give about two minutes of backstory and lore. The film may have benefited from spending a little more time on the lore. Yes, millions of players know about the Umbrella Corporation and the virus, but millions more don’t.
While the lack of dimension and background information doesn’t detract from the story, it does make it feel a little one-note. What is on show here is good, but adding another layer would have made this movie truly great. It’s not that audiences have
One thing that does work is the humor. Resident Evil is surprisingly funny, encouraging audiences to laugh at Bryan. Earlier cuts of this film were allegedly funnier but were cut down to create a more serious tone. Perhaps those laughs were the missing dimension this almost soulless film needed.
Does Zach Cregger Finally Stick The Landing?
Some may argue that Cregger’s films are characterized by disappointing endings. Sadly, Resident Evil falls under the category. The dark, cruel tone of the final act certainly polarized fans, but the bigger issue was how abruptly it all ends.
You’ll leave the cinema feeling shocked, not because of how it ended but because of when. Just one scene for closure, whether that’s still continuing its more somber tone, would have helped audiences feel a little less frustrated.
Resident Evil is now in theaters.
Learn more about the film at the IMDB site for the title.
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