Raccoon City has fallen apart again.
At this point, I don’t know why anybody still has property there.
Move.
Break the lease.
Leave the security deposit.
Something is always leaking out of a laboratory.
Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil doesn’t try to remake one of the games scene-for-scene. Instead, it drops a brand-new character into the same nightmare and basically asks:
What would happen if a regular person got caught in Resident Evil instead of somebody trained to shoot monsters for a living?
The answer?
A terrible evening.
And a pretty entertaining movie.
Meet Bryan, the Unluckiest Delivery Man Alive
Austin Abrams plays Bryan, a medical courier who takes a delivery into Raccoon City at exactly the wrong time.
Bryan isn’t Leon Kennedy.
He isn’t Chris Redfield.
He isn’t some elite tactical officer with 14 weapons hidden under his jacket.
He’s just a normal man trying to do his job.
Then the city starts turning into hell.
Honestly, I liked that choice.
Bryan reacting to zombies and mutated creatures like an actual human being gives the movie a completely different energy.
Sometimes he’s brave.
Sometimes he’s resourceful.
And sometimes his entire expression says:
I should’ve called in sick.
Relatable.
This Actually Feels Like Resident Evil
Here’s where I think Zach Cregger understood the assignment.
He didn’t just throw zombies on the screen and slap Resident Evil on the title.
The movie borrows the feeling of playing the games.
Bryan starts out poorly equipped.
Ammo matters.
Weapons improve as he goes.
Locations keep changing.
There are locked areas, dangerous hallways and that constant feeling that opening the next door may be the worst decision you’ve made all day.
Even little things like healing items, familiar objects and visual references are scattered throughout for people who know the games.
But you don’t need a master’s degree in Umbrella Corporation history to understand what’s happening.
The movie works perfectly fine if your Resident Evil knowledge begins and ends with:
Virus bad. Zombies worse.
Thank You for Bringing Back the Horror
This franchise has spent a LOT of time drifting toward giant action movies.
And listen, I enjoyed watching Milla Jovovich run up walls and fight monsters as much as anybody.
But somewhere along the way, Resident Evil movies became less:
Something is breathing behind that door.
And more:
Everybody grab a machine gun!
This movie pulls things back toward survival horror.
The quieter moments actually matter.
Bryan sometimes has limited resources, doesn’t know what’s around the corner and has to make decisions while clearly terrified.
That’s where the movie works best.
When it slows down and lets you anticipate what’s coming?
Very effective.
Because we all know eventually something is going to jump out.
We just don’t know WHICH disrespectful creature it will be.
The Monsters Came to Work
Naturally, we’ve got zombies.
We’ve got infected dogs.
We’ve got mutations.
And we’ve got creatures that clearly did not receive permission from God to exist.
The creature work is one of the strongest parts of the movie because the monsters don’t all feel interchangeable.
Every new location can bring a new problem.
Which keeps Bryan, and us, from getting too comfortable.
You can’t just learn:
Shoot zombie in head. Repeat.
No, baby.
New room.
New nightmare.
Adjust accordingly.
Austin Abrams Makes Bryan Work
Casting Austin Abrams as the lead was smart because Bryan isn’t supposed to feel like an action hero.
He’s vulnerable.
He’s awkward.
He’s scared.
And he’s funny without turning the movie into a full comedy.
That’s important.
There are definitely laughs here, but most of them come from how absurdly terrible Bryan’s situation keeps becoming.
The man will survive one disaster and barely get time to breathe before the universe says:
Great job. Here’s another.
Eventually I’d just sit down.
Zombie can have me.
I’m tired.
What About Leon, Jill and the Game Characters?
They’re not the focus.
And I know some fans will immediately dislike that.
Cregger chose to tell an original story happening around the Raccoon City disaster, rather than simply retelling Leon or Claire’s story from Resident Evil 2.
Personally?
I think that was probably the smarter move.
We’ve already played those stories.
Trying to recreate them exactly means fans spend the whole movie comparing every scene to the game.
Instead, Bryan gets to exist alongside that world.
The movie can reference the games without being handcuffed to them.
It Isn’t Perfect
The movie moves FAST.
That’s mostly a strength, but it also means some characters don’t get as much development as I would’ve liked.
There were moments when I wanted another few minutes to breathe and actually get to know somebody before the next mutant showed up ready to ruin their evening.
The later part also leans harder into chaos than the earlier survival-horror sections.
I personally preferred the creeping-through-dark-buildings-with-three-bullets energy.
That is where Resident Evil is at its best.
But the movie never became boring.
Not once.
And Yes, There Are Easter Eggs
Resident Evil fans are going to have plenty to notice.
Weapons.
Healing items.
Umbrella references.
Creature designs.
Camera angles that mimic the games.
Even the way Bryan gradually becomes better equipped feels like watching somebody progress through a campaign.
Cregger clearly loves these games.
And that affection comes through without the movie constantly stopping to wink at you.
Thank goodness.
I don’t need somebody saying:
Wow, what an EVIL RESIDENCE.
We understand.
My Take
This is the closest a Resident Evil movie has come in a long time to capturing what makes the games fun.
Not because it copies them.
Because it understands the experience.
You’re underprepared.
You’re trapped somewhere terrible.
You’re counting bullets.
Something nasty is nearby.
And every time you think you’ve finally reached safety?
Absolutely not.
Austin Abrams gives us a protagonist who feels like an actual person instead of a superhero, and Zach Cregger balances horror, action and humor without completely losing the dread.
I also appreciate that this feels like its own movie instead of another attempt to recreate something we’ve already seen.
Raccoon City remains a municipal disaster.
Umbrella remains the worst corporation in fictional history.
And once again I must ask:
Why does anybody still live there?
Horror Tea Rating: ☕☕☕☕½
4½ out of 5 Tea Cups.
Scary, funny, fast and finally willing to let Resident Evil feel like survival horror again.
Just please stop accepting deliveries to Raccoon City.
That extra mileage pay is not worth it.