Resident Evil review

This was like watching a live-action playthrough of one of the games, especially those early Resident Evil games. I don't think I've seen anything from this franchise capture what it actually felt like to play Resident Evil as well as this movie does.

That's the thing that worked for me more than anything else. You're basically following your protagonist through the classic Resident Evil setup. He gets sent out to do a relatively simple task, starts running into trouble, and then everything goes increasingly sideways as the Umbrella Corporation's machinations take over his life. One problem leads to another problem, which leads to another problem, and suddenly you're deep inside this whole Resident Evil nightmare.

I remember enjoying Resident Evil when I was younger because the games were fascinating and genuinely scary. You could have fun just sitting there watching somebody else play. You'd turn the lights off, watch your friend wander through some dark hallway, and wait for something to jump out and scare the shit out of everybody in the room. This movie captures a lot of that energy. It really does feel like you're watching somebody play through a very good Resident Evil game.

And I mean that as a compliment. This isn't just somebody taking the name Resident Evil, throwing zombies and the Umbrella Corporation into a movie and calling it a day. The structure, the atmosphere and the way the protagonist keeps getting pushed from one horrible situation into another actually feel like Resident Evil.

I know people are hesitant about resetting this franchise again. There have been a lot of Resident Evil movies at this point, and people have enjoyed different versions of them over the years. They've also been pretty hit or miss in terms of quality. I think this is a real step up from what we normally get from the Resident Evil movie franchise.

It also fits with what has just been a very good year for horror. There has been a noticeable step up across the industry in giving us horror that is beautifully made, thoughtful, funny when it needs to be, scary when it needs to be and actually interesting to watch. This feels like part of that same run.

I hope this does big box office because I would like to see them keep going in this direction. If you're a Resident Evil fan, especially if you remember those original games and what it felt like sitting in a dark room playing them or watching somebody else play, I think you're going to really enjoy this.

I highly recommend this. I think people are going to love this one.