8/10
This isn’t the first time Resident Evil has been on the big screen. There have been seven previous attempts at adapting the game. But this time, it’s different. Horror auteur Zach Cregger, (of Weapons and Barbarian fame), is at the helm. It’s time for redemption. Starring Austin Abrams, this film finally does an excellent job of incorporating easter eggs for die-hard fans of the games while also entertaining casual horror moviegoers.
Most importantly, Resident Evil does the world-famous video game series justice. Cregger’s balance of tension and body horror, along with his use of intermittent comedic moments keep the audience on their toes throughout the film. The first few jump scares are genuinely shocking, and the rest of the movie keeps that suspense. Your heart will beat above resting for the full 90 minutes—a good way to get your cardio in.
Resident Evil follows Bryan (Abrams), an organ delivery driver who is tasked with taking a mysterious priority delivery up into the snowy mountains of Raccoon City. His journey is derailed, however, when he hits a woman with his car. As it turns out, she’s been infected with a hypermutating parasite that escaped from a top-secret government laboratory. As he explores the local area, he learns that the parasite has already infected her husband and their dog. After narrowly escaping their house, the movie turns into a race against time when Bryan is infected by a young girl (who should’ve had her head blown off the second Bryan saw her foot, but I digress), forcing him to frantically traverse the dangers of the apocalypse to deliver his package: what turns out to be the world-saving cure.
Abrams plays an accurate representation of what a normal person would be like during an apocalypse. Bryan doesn’t turn into a five-tour Marine the moment he gets his hand on a weapon. He is a terrible shot, an awkward mess, and a foul-mouthed downer. He’s a normal guy in a less-than-favorable situation.
Abrams is also the source of most of the movie’s charm, which is important given he’s the only actor on screen for most of it. Even when he’s either face to face with a monster trying to eat his face or a civilian getting their face eaten in every scene, Bryan’s still able to fit in a profane but humorous remark, breaking some of the ever building tension.
Resident Evil is well-paced, sitting at just over an hour and a half long. The progression of the story feels natural, and none of the scenes feel out of place. Breaks in tension allow for the audience to briefly decompress, but just when you relax, Cregger brings out another monster, waiting just around the corner.
In addition, the opening shots of Bryan driving through the mountains are absolutely stunning. Filmed in the Czech Republic, these scenes seem to bring another of Cregger’s points to light. Nature is beautiful when it is untouched; humans shouldn’t mess with it.
The character development that Bryan experiences throughout this movie is refreshing to see in a horror film. In the film’s opening, as Bryan is driving in the dark towards Raccoon City, we learn that Michelle, his girlfriend, is pregnant. Bryan, immature as he is, makes an ignorant remark about fatherhood, which upsets Michelle. However, as he grapples with his own mortality in the form of a seven-headed ball of zombies, he comes to accept his role as a father. For a horror movie, some greater purpose is an unexpected delight.
Resident Evil also benefits from actually embracing the fact that it’s a movie based on a video game. When Bryan gets trapped on a crumbling skybridge surrounded by zombies, he enacts a clever video-game-like solution to get out of it, subsequently proclaiming “video games! Wohoo!” This moment encapsulates another key essence of the movie. Instead of trying to make such an absurd and horrifying situation seem like it could happen in real life, Cregger leans into the video game absurdity to continue Bryan on his quest, something that a lot of other directors making movies based on video games don’t do.
But Resident Evil isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. It has its issues. Firstly, pretty much every character in this movie has zero common sense. In the film’s second sequence, Bryan chooses to investigate bloody footprints leading into a dark forest rather than driving away in his fully functioning car. When a cop takes the zombie woman in his car, he puts her in the seat next to her instead of arresting her and putting her in the back, where he would be much safer (hindsight is always 20/20). You can guess what happens to the cop soon after. Another moment of shocking naivety. Maybe there are no horror movies in the Resident Evil cinematic universe.
The movie’s other main weakness is its ending. After Bryan successfully delivers the cure to the laboratory in Raccoon City, he soon succumbs to his infection and becomes one of the monsters. However, instead of these so-called “genius” scientists using some of that cure to stop Bryan from killing them all, they are more focused on getting that cure to the National Guard (again, no common sense). While in theory this may be the better choice for all of humanity, it ultimately ends with all of them getting killed. And to put the cherry on top, the movie ends with a King Kong-esque scene focusing on the now mutated Bryan wreaking havoc. There’s no real closure to the story, and it’s clear everyone is more focused on setting up a sequel than finishing this movie properly.
Resident Evil does a fantastic job of distinguishing itself from most other horror slop films. With other acclaimed horror releases throughout this year, such as Curry Barker’s Obsession or Kane Parsons Backrooms, it’s the right time for another thought-provoking horror film like Resident Evil to release. The successes of these more intelligent horror movies emphasize that younger generations are moving away from the traditional slasher, and more towards movies that have emotional depth and require a higher level of media literacy.
Resident Evil has the comedy, pacing, and acting necessary to become another horror success, but it doesn’t quite stick the landing. Not bad for a glorified Postmates delivery driver.
