By Ben Wright (@Iamzavagno | www.xgeeks.co.uk)
This review is spoiler-free.
I’ve really enjoyed Zach Cregger’s previous films, Barbarian and Weapons, so when it was announced that he would be taking on Resident Evil, I was fascinated to see what he would do with it. Even more so when it became clear that this wasn’t going to directly adapt any of the games or bring in the likes of Leon, Claire, Jill or Chris. That caused plenty of discussion among Resident Evil fans, but honestly, it didn’t really bother me.
When it comes to making movies based on Resident Evil, I’m not sure listening too closely to the fanbase is always the best way forward. The Mila Jovovich films were very much their own thing, only leaning further into the wider characters and lore as they went along, while Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City tried to be much closer to the games and cram in plenty of familiar faces. I actually enjoyed Welcome to Raccoon City, but even when a studio tries to give fans what they’re asking for, that doesn’t necessarily mean people are going to turn up for it. So when people were getting upset about this new film not having the established game characters, I found that reaction a little odd. You can’t always try to recreate exactly what people loved about a game and expect it to work in the same way.
For me, I like giving filmmakers a bit of room to tell their own stories within franchises I’m heavily invested in. If it works, brilliant. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t take away from the things that made me fall in love with that franchise in the first place. And when it comes to Resident Evil, I’m a huge fan. I’ve played every game and,enjoyed them all. Even the more action-heavy games like Revelations and Resident Evil 6 have their own vibe. I’ve watched all the live-action films, read the books and even consumed more than my fair share of fan fiction, so that’s where I was coming into this one.
Sitting down with my Umbrella Corporation shirt on, I went into Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil with a completely open mind, and it’s safe to say I absolutely loved it. In fact, this is easily my favourite live-action Resident Evil movie to date.
The pacing here is just fantastic. It’s an energetic 90-minute movie that wastes very little time, but somehow still manages to give the tension room to breathe when it needs to. You’re never sitting there wondering when something is going to happen because there’s always something going on, whether that’s a new threat, a new location or Bryan getting himself into another increasingly ridiculous situation. It’s also properly funny. The humour works from start to finish, the physical comedy is great, and anyone who thinks humour has no place in Resident Evil clearly hasn’t played enough of the games. This franchise has always had a bit of silliness running through it, and the film understands that. It manages to be tense, scary and funny without one side completely taking over.
Austin Abrams is sublime as Bryan, an everyman medical courier who is very much not prepared for what he’s walking into. He’s not some superhuman action hero who suddenly knows exactly what to do when things go wrong. He’s flawed, he panics, he makes mistakes and spends a lot of the film basically fumbling his way through everything with a huge amount of luck and not much actual skill. Abrams makes all of that work, and there’s a real believability to the performance, which makes the character so much fun to follow.
This is probably the most like playing a Resident Evil game that a live-action movie has ever felt. Not because it’s adapting a particular game, but because of the way it’s put together. You’ve got the objectives, the scavenging, the limited resources, the constant feeling that something else is waiting around the corner and that sense of moving from one area into another without ever really knowing what you’re going to find. The camera work adds to that as well, with some really clever shots and editing choices that make the whole thing feel like you’ve picked up a controller and started playing.
The practical effects are another big win for me. There’s a really nice blend of practical work and VFX, and the film doesn’t feel overly reliant on digital effects to create its creatures and gore. It gives the horror a nice physical quality, and there are some genuinely nasty moments in here.
And then there’s the Resident Evil stuff hiding underneath it all. The film doesn’t need to rely on established video game characters appearing to remind you what you’re watching. Instead, there are plenty of little Easter eggs and references scattered throughout, and I really liked how subtle a lot of them are. If you know the games, you’ll pick them up. If you don’t, they don’t get in the way of the story. That’s how Easter eggs should be handled, really. If you know, you know.
There is one thing I wasn’t completely sold on, and that’s the emotional subplot involving Bryan and his partner. It’s introduced early on but, because the film moves so quickly, I actually forgot about it for a while. When it comes back towards the end, I didn’t find the emotional payoff quite as effective as it could have been. A few more little reminders or breadcrumbs throughout the film might have made that moment hit harder. It’s a minor complaint though, and honestly, I’m probably being picky because almost everything else worked so well for me.
Cregger has already suggested that this could potentially be a one-and-done film for him, but I’d actually be quite happy to see this version of Resident Evil continue without suddenly bringing in all the established characters. Give us new characters, somewhere else in Raccoon City, or somewhere else in the same timeline. Something along the lines of a “Tales from Raccoon City” approach could be a really interesting way to continue things if another film ever gets made. And I’m saying that as someone who absolutely loves the games. This film works because it doesn’t need to rely on those characters.
Resident Evil is a sensational survival horror movie and, for me, the best live-action video game adaptation yet. Austin Abrams is sublime, and the tension, horror, and comedy are perfectly balanced; the relentless pacing makes this a seriously entertaining 90 minutes. It feels like Resident Evil without simply trying to recreate one of the games, and after all the different approaches we’ve had over the years, that’s exactly what I wanted from this movie.
Dog spoiler warning: Anyone who knows my reviews will know that I’m particularly sensitive to dogs dying in films. It’s Resident Evil, so you’d probably expect it at some point given how much mutated animal nastiness is part of the franchise. Yes, there is a dog death here, but it happens after the dog has mutated and is so heavily altered that it barely resembles a dog anymore. It’s also a very brief moment and, as someone who can be extremely sensitive to this sort of thing, I was completely fine with it. But I always warn my fellow dog-death-triggered moviegoers, so you’ve been briefed.
