FILM REVIEW: Resident Evil - Once, Twice, Three Times A Reboot

24 years. Three separate cinematic franchises (not counting the animated films and the short lived live action series).  

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As someone old enough to have played some (if not all) of the games in the Resident Evil franchise, I remember the optimistic excitement of what a Resident Evil film franchise could become as I watched in theaters that crane shot pulling away from Alice’s determined face to reveal a destroyed Raccoon City in the first film’s final moments; however, in the decade plus that followed, I also recall watching in theaters the diminishing returns provided by the five sequels that followed.  The second attempt to adapt the game franchise, Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, would come years later (see 2021, during the pandemic) in an effort to produce a more period accurate adaptation; however, it once again fell short thanks to its limited resources and puzzling character choices written for the game’s iconic protagonists and antagonists. Shortly after that, fans would get burned yet again as the Netflix streaming series, aptly titled Resident Evil, fell short of capturing the game, despite its promise to truly flesh out (pun intended) plot points from the game.

Fast forward to January of last year, when news first broke that filmmaker Zach Cregger would be taking on Resident Evil to adapt for the big screen, I remember being cautiously optimistic as I had previously seen the writer/director’s last two films, Barbarian as well as Weapons, both of which supremely impressed me with their respective ability to weave an intriguing mystery all while being imbued with equal amounts of atmosphere, tension, and gore.  All of which, by the way, check off elements that one would find in any Resident Evil game.  However, given the baggage mentioned prior due to prior adaptation attempts, I also had a healthy amount of pessimism coming in at the prospect of this latest reboot of the videogame franchise. So, is the third time a charm for this adaptation of the wildly successful survival horror videogame franchise of the same name? 

Well, read on if you dare…

First, the AWESOME!

Atmosphere 

Well versed in establishing tension & dread in his films, Cregger, through the use of light & shadow as well as the use of sound, effectively recaptures the experience one may have when playing the game as each environment that our protagonist inhabits always feels as though it is housing some unknown 

danger that is lurking and ready to pounce.  This feeling is further highlighted thanks to Cregger’s use of the camera which takes inspiration from the videogame’s 1st & 3rd person viewpoints. 

Game Mechanics

Similar to the experience of playing the game, Cregger demonstrates his love for the game franchise by recapturing facets of the game with his use of enemies and weapons.  For instance, in the games, oftentimes the weapons that your character is afforded with start off relatively basic at the beginning and steadily progress to better weapons as your character progresses.  Similarly, the threat level of your enemies escalates as well which warrants the need for the more devastating weapons that one receives later on.  In that same way, Bryan starts off with a pistol, moves on a shot gun, then on to a submachine gun later on.  This change in weapons happens in tandem with the steady escalation of enemy types (and their respective threat levels): a single infected, an infected dog, a group of infected, mini bosses (in the form of creature types), and a big gargantuan boss.

Easter Eggs

Kudos again to co-writer and director, Zach Cregger, in this regard, as there are nice winks to the game that eagle eyed viewers will find, such as the typewriter, which represents the save points in the game, or the green herbs, which represent the items used to heal yourself in the game.  Typically, these components in the game signal particularly troublesome or difficult portions of the game (i.e. when s&%t is about to hit the fan), which Cregger again masterfully replicates in the film without distracting from what’s happening in the film.       

Humor

Though this film can be quite tense throughout, there are unexpected moments of humor that work in 

the film, much of which can be credited to the film’s star, Austin Abrams, who carries much of the film on his shoulders.  He has the uncanny ability to not only sell the horrific things that his character encounters but also is able to sell the unexpected humorous moments that naturally develop from these said moments.    

And now, the GRIPES…

Humor

For the most part, the humor that features in the film works very well, minus a few parts - one which involves a character who gets tasked with the unfortunate duty of providing exposition and the other being the closing sequence involving our protagonist.  In both instances, the sequences feel out of place tonally from the film that you’re watching.

Writing/Dialogue

Similar to the humor mentioned just moments ago, the writing as well as the dialogue work fine (for the most part); however, there are instances in which our character’s decision making is very stereotypical of the horror genre and can be frustrating when considering how one might actually respond.  For example, one would not ask the infamous line, “Hello?” or “Is anyone there?” when you’re trying to remain hidden from possible dangers.  They also would not wander to areas that have suspicious noises emanating from them (a decision, by the way, which costs our protagonist dearly over the course of the film).  Additionally, the dialogue, in brief moments of the film, comes across somewhat stilted when spoken by our protagonist.         

Those things aside, all in all, Resident Evil is for sure a fun ride that captures much of what it feels like to play the game.  While it may briefly fall prey to some horror tropes, tonal inconsistencies and stilted dialogue, there is still an incredible amount care and detail paid to what makes the game great: effective atmosphere with its use of set pieces and sound, homages to the game mechanics, the diverse types of unsettling creatures, as well as loads of gore.  Watch this one with an audience! You won’t regret it!

Final Verdict: B+