As a longtime Resident Evil fan, the prospect of yet another live-action film adaptation had me groaning like one of its titular zombies. This is not to say that all the movies we've gotten thus far have been mediocre, because they've certainly had their share of thrills. Except they'd also veered so far away from their source material that they wound up feeling more like Matrix knockoffs than anything else. But then I heard the new film was to be directed by Zach Cregger himself, and well, the rest is history. So is his take on the franchise the green herb fans desperately need, or is it the final boss waiting to bring them to their knees?
The movie follows Bryan, a medical courier whose nightly run takes an unexpected turn when he gets sent to deliver a package to Raccoon City. Because unbeknowst to him, the city and its outskirts are already in the midst of the throws of a viral outbreak, turning its residents into zombies and other raging mutations. All that should be familiar territory to any that has played the games or seen the other movies, of course. But for Bryan, he must face waves of evil residents, as he deftly navigates the many horrors its streets throw at him, all while racing against time to get his consignment to its designated destination before it is too late.
Fresh off the success of Barbarian and Weapons, Zach Cregger is quickly becoming one of the more bankable horror film directors out there. And nowhere is that bankability more evident than in Resident Evil. Because from the very first frames of the movie, as the tension slowly builds along with the effectively spooky soundtrack, I knew I was in for a treat and the IP was indeed in good hands. But rather than try to adapt the convoluted mess of a story from the games themselves, he's instead opted to craft a wholly original one that does its best to capture their spirit and essence.
Put plainly, the film is basically structured like a video game, leaning into their inherent gameyness as we watch our main lead deal with progressively harder obstacles ranging from locked doors to all forms of monstrosities. Speaking of which, this is where I believe the movie really shines, in its truly horrific creature design. We get a healthy variety of mutations on display throughout, not just your run-of-the-mill zombies as one might expect. I even caught hints and echoes of other video game monsters, like one particular one that immediately calls to mind the Huddle from Playdead's Inside.
It should also go without saying that the film is quite gory and bloody to boot, at least moreso than I remember any of the previous films being. But it's all over-the-top CGI blood and limbs, plus most of the monster encounters are played for laughs. In fact, I was surprised by how much the movie felt like a full-blown horror comedy, with the tension often diluted by a near-constant barrage of jokes. Most of this is due to our protagonist being quite the yapper, and I even read that they had to take out a lot of the jokes from an earlier cut of the film. So a part of me shudders to think what that version of the film must have played like.
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with a horror film being infused with some comedy, especially one based on a video game series that itself has no shortage of comedic moments and stilted line deliveries. But the key is to strike the right balance between horror and comedy, and more often than not, I found the constant quips in Resident Evil too overbearing. I mean, even Weapons and Barbarian had their laugh out loud moments, but you never forgot that you were watching a horror movie, first and foremost. It is hard to take the movie seriously when the characters themselves seem so unnaturally chill and nihilistic half the time.
All that said, I would still rather we get all the quips and comedy in the world than another second of those over-the-top stunts and slow-mo pyrotechnics the Paul W.S. Anderson films were known for. And thankfully, this one respects its audience (not to mention the laws of physics) well enough, to not subject us to any of that. The setpieces we got here felt more grounded and inventive, like something that wouldn't feel out of play in the video games. This was doubly so for the climax, which was wild and reminded me of the one in The Substance. And in my books, that is great company to keep or be associated with.
Resident Evil is a blood-soaked, body horror extravaganza that plays like a theme park ride. And what it lacks in narrative depth or overall plausibility it more than makes up for with moment-to-moment thrills. But even more than that, it honors the games that paved the way for its existence, much like those games had themselves been homages to the schlocky B-grade horror movies they so clearly drew inspiration from. And it is that self-aware and reverential approach that makes the movie one of the easier to recommend video game adaptations to grace cinemas in recent memory.
