Resident Evil Review: The Game I Never Knew I Wanted to Play

A Different Kind of Resident Evil

One of the things I appreciate about Resident Evil is that Cregger was willing to create his own adventure. I love Leon, Claire, Jill, and the rest of the characters we've spent years playing, but there's an entire world of possibilities within this franchise. There's plenty of room for another story without dragging familiar faces into every scene.

And for longtime fans, there are a ton of Easter eggs scattered throughout the movie that tie directly into the games. Cregger may be telling his own story, but he certainly hasn't forgotten where Resident Evil came from. I loved spotting those little connections along the way, and I'm willing to bet there are a few I missed. That's another reason I'm looking forward to watching this one again. I want to see how many more I can catch the second time around.

The games have always been about more than their characters anyway. Think about how much time you spend exploring some enormous, miserable building, searching for a key that probably opens a door on the opposite side of the map. You finally find the damn thing, get halfway back to where you need to be, and discover something even worse has moved into the hallway.

That's the sort of experience I wanted from this movie. Cregger knows how to make a location feel like somewhere you'd actually have to survive. He's taken the familiar ingredients of Resident Evil and used them to create a new adventure that still feels like it belongs in the same world I've spent so many hours exploring.

A Resident Evil Movie That Looks Like a Movie

Cinematographer Dariusz Wolski deserves some serious recognition here. With films like Prometheus, The Martian, and the Pirates of the Caribbean series on his résumé, Wolski knows his way around an enormous production, and Resident Evil benefits from having someone with his experience behind the camera.

What I appreciate about the photography is that Cregger and Wolski haven't simply tried to reproduce the appearance of a video game. The film has a cinematic identity of its own, with carefully composed images and a sense of scale that gives its environments room to breathe. This is a Resident Evil movie shot like the movie it deserved to be.

There are some wonderful visual connections to the games, though. The camera occasionally settles behind Bryan's shoulder or moves into a first-person perspective, putting the audience in a position familiar to anyone who's spent time playing Resident Evil. I love that Cregger and Wolski incorporated those familiar viewpoints while still making a movie that looks terrific on the big screen.

The farmhouse and sewer are particularly interesting from a visual standpoint. They're very different environments, and the cinematography gives each its own character. Wolski knows how to use the space around Bryan to suggest danger, and the way the camera follows him makes the locations themselves an important part of the experience.

The Resident Evil games have given filmmakers decades of incredible imagery to draw upon, and I appreciate seeing that material treated with this level of cinematic ambition. This is the kind of movie I want to see in a theater, with the biggest screen available and a sound system capable of making me regret my choice of seat.

Austin Abrams and Some Familiar Faces

Austin Abrams carries the movie as Bryan, a medical courier who finds himself heading into Raccoon City on what turns out to be a spectacularly unfortunate delivery. Abrams previously worked with Cregger on Weapons, and this time he's front and center for an exhausting night of running, fighting, and trying to stay alive.

Bryan isn't a trained operative arriving in Raccoon City with a plan for dealing with everything that's about to happen. He's an ordinary guy whose night takes a disastrous turn, and Abrams has to carry us through that ordeal. It's a physically demanding role, and the character barely has an opportunity to recover from one predicament before finding himself in another.

Abrams also gets to play with the absurdity of what Bryan is experiencing. There's plenty of room for humor when someone who was simply trying to make a delivery suddenly finds himself dealing with the horrors of Raccoon City. His reactions give the movie some welcome personality amid all the chaos.

The supporting cast includes a few recognizable faces, with Zach Cherry from Severance playing Carl and Kali Reis, whom you may recognize from True Detective: Night Country, appearing as Maxine. Paul Walter Hauser, whose credits include I, Tonya and Black Bird, is also along for the ride as Paul. Johnno Wilson, familiar to fans of Twisted Metal, appears as Officer Wilson.

As with the games, the supporting characters tend to come and go pretty quickly. It is Resident Evil, after all, and getting attached to anyone probably isn't the smartest idea. I enjoyed seeing these familiar faces turn up throughout the movie, although I would have liked a little more time with some of them. With the story moving at such a brisk pace, certain characters are gone almost as quickly as they're introduced.

There's even a small appearance from Cregger himself, who provides a voice in the movie. I won't reveal where he turns up, but it's a fun little detail for anyone familiar with his work.

Zach Cregger Knows His Resident Evil

Cregger has said he cut a lot of the jokes from the movie, but there's still plenty to laugh at. Resident Evil has always had its share of ridiculous situations mixed in with the horror, and I appreciate that Cregger hasn't lost that part of the games. The movie has some genuinely funny moments, and the humor fits right in with the madness unfolding on screen. I can only imagine what the original cut must have been like if this is what we're left with!

It's another reason I enjoyed his approach so much. He's willing to have fun with the material, and he seems perfectly comfortable taking the franchise in unexpected directions. The movie doesn't have to stop every few minutes to remind us that we're watching Resident Evil. The familiar elements are there, the Easter eggs are scattered throughout, and the whole adventure has the kind of personality I've come to associate with the games.

I've played these games for years, and Resident Evil 2 remains my favorite. I'd certainly welcome a faithful adaptation of that story someday, but I don't need every movie to follow an existing game. There are plenty of other stories to tell within the Resident Evil universe, and Cregger has found one that I thoroughly enjoyed.

I would have liked a little more time to appreciate some of the locations and supporting characters, but those are relatively minor complaints when I consider how much fun I had watching the movie. Cregger has created an adventure that captures the spirit of the games while giving longtime fans something new to enjoy. I'd happily return for another trip through his version of Raccoon City.

Three Scenes I Want to Play

The elevator, farmhouse, and sewer sequences were the highlights for me. I don't want to reveal too much about what happens in them because they're worth experiencing without knowing what's coming. All three reminded me of the games, and I would have loved the opportunity to explore those locations myself.

The elevator sequence was a particular favorite. The farmhouse was another fantastic addition, and then there's the sewer, which I absolutely loved. These are exactly the kinds of places I'd want to investigate in a Resident Evil game. Give me a flashlight, a few questionable weapons, and the opportunity to make some very poor decisions about which door to open next.

If I have one criticism of the movie, it's that everything moves so quickly. There were several moments when I would have liked Cregger to slow things down and let a scene play out a little longer. The sewer is a perfect example. I loved that sequence, but we were practically in and out before I had a chance to fully appreciate it. I wanted to spend more time down there, and I felt the same way about a few other locations throughout the movie.

I understand that a movie can't give you the freedom to explore every location the way a game can, but a little more time in some of these places would have been welcome. There were moments when I was still enjoying a particular setting and the movie had already moved on to the next one. Even so, I had a great time with all three sequences, and the entire experience felt like Resident Evil. That's what mattered most to me.

Hey Capcom, Are You Listening?

I've enjoyed plenty of movies based on video games over the years, but I can't remember the last time one made me want to play the movie itself quite this badly. Usually, watching an adaptation makes me want to revisit the original game. This time, I wanted to experience the story I'd just watched, explore the same locations, and see how differently things might unfold if I were the one making the decisions.

Resident Evil gave me exactly the kind of experience I was hoping for, even though Cregger took the story somewhere entirely different from the games I've spent so many years enjoying. I loved the movie, I loved the approach, and I'd welcome another trip through his version of the Resident Evil universe.

I also loved how open the ending was. Cregger leaves plenty of room for another filmmaker to come along and take a shot at Resident Evil, bringing their own ideas and approach to the franchise. I'd be interested to see where the next director takes it, especially if they have the same appreciation for the games that Cregger clearly does. There's a lot more to explore in this world, and I hope we get the chance to see it.

In the meantime, somebody needs to get Capcom on the phone. I've already watched this adventure. Now I need to play it!