I still remember the feeling I got playing my first Resident Evil game. It was the first one, so the mechanics are dated by today’s video game standards. What stands out in my memory though is the atmosphere and mood the games create: the rendering open door, the growling sounds growing as monsters come closer and camera angles that add tension to an already stressful environment. Resident Evil captures this feeling perfectly.
The film’s plot is a simple one: Bryan has a medical delivery to bring to Raccoon City. His girlfriend, who has recently discovered she’s pregnant, wants Bryan to come home and talk about their future. His decision to courier one last run for the night is his avoidance manifest, and signals the growth he must reach by the movie’s end. It’s nothing particularly groundbreaking, but it’s effective. We have a character with stakes, all set to enter the gauntlet of the T-Virus outbreak.
Fans hoping for a “faithful adaptation” may find themselves disappointed, depending on what they were hoping for. The lore of the Resident Evil video games is as loose and ever-changing as the weather, and if we’re being honest, a shot-for-shot remake of Resident Evil 4 as a film would be a disaster. While easter eggs abound, they’re subtle blink-and-you’ll-miss-it set pieces. Still, long-time fan and director Zach Cregger captured what matters: the vibes, the action sequences, and the tone balance of terror and humor. In my opinion, it’s all a fan could ever want.
This movie is pretty much non-stop action once it gets going, and it has really effective pacing. It’s breakneck, but not exhausting. Cregger has done something brilliant in capturing the structure of the video games in a completely different medium. The movie follows the same framework: new environment, zombies, lore and storytelling on-the-go, repeat. We’re told a lot about the world just by being in it with Bryan, and it’s just a damn good way to tell an action-packed story.
I’ve seen some discourse about the film’s ending, and without spoiling, I do get it. I think some people (myself included) were hoping for an ending like Obsession: dark, but there’s a smidge of hope for the future. Still, thinking about the movie as a whole, I think it’s clear it was never going to end that way. Cregger detailed the film’s original ending with IGN, and I think his changes both make sense and feel tonally consistent. It may not feel good to watch, but this isn’t exactly a “feel-good” movie.
Overall, it’s a great film and definitely Cregger at his best. A shame that we’re not going to get sequels, but it’s a tight, well-balanced 90 minutes that will remain beloved. Worth seeing with a big crowd if you can.
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