Movie Review: Resident Evil (2026)
My relationship to Resident Evil is purely cinematic. I am not a player of the iconic video game series that has been scaring its players since 1996, and all I know of the franchise is everything that has been in the Milla Jovovich-led action-horror films that kicked off in 2002. All I really remember from those films, besides Jovovich kicking ass, is that there is a chemical outbreak in the fictional city of Raccoon City that turns people into ravenous beings, and that eventually leads to some kind of apocalypse.
The genius of Zach Cregger’s adaptation of Resident Evil is that you don’t need to know the game or the previous franchise to understand or enjoy what is going on. It isn’t concerned with Easter eggs from the game. It doesn’t give us an end credit stinger that introduces us to an iconic character from the game. It doesn’t tie into the previous franchise at all. Cregger didn’t base his film on one single game or storyline. This is a clean slate, and with crafty filmmaking and writing, watching the movie is like playing the video game for the first time.
Austin Abrams is our main character, Bryan. We meet Bryan, a medical courier, as he is dropping off his latest delivery at a local hospital on a cold, snowy night. Cregger makes the scene feel like a level objective in a video game, utilizing long tracking shots as Bryan makes his way around the hospital. Bryan tries to deliver his package to a specific doctor, but everyone in the hospital seems to ignore him, like trying to talk to an NPC (non-playable character) in a video game. They move about their business until Bryan finds the doctor he is looking for. As he’s about to leave the hospital, a nurse asks him to take a priority shipment to Raccoon City Hospital. Realizing how much it pays, Bryan takes the gig.
On the snowy, icy roads to Raccoon City, Bryan accidentally hits a woman with his car. The woman, wearing only a dress in a blizzard, doesn’t seem fazed by her injuries and soon starts attacking Bryan and the cop on the scene. This is the jumping-off point for Resident Evil. Cregger puts his foot on the pedal and floors it until the credits roll.
Bryan’s journey to Raccoon City Hospital is heart-racing. Cregger balances thrills, action, and humor perfectly. Cregger lands outstanding jumpscares, crafts exciting action sequences, especially when Bryan has to make it to the top floor of the hospital, which is a mix of a video game level and Die Hard, and adds plenty of humor that makes Bryan more relatable. The humor never takes away from the fear or intensity. It makes us let our guard down slightly, which ultimately makes the scares and intensity more effective. The score by Hays Holladay and Ryan Holladay pulsates, and the cinematography from Dariusz Wolski brilliantly adds to the tension in the film, utilizing space to give us a feeling that something might pop out of a corner at any time. There are also a few first-person POV shots that make it look and feel like we are in a video game. I’ve never seen a video game movie capture the feeling of playing a video game this effectively.
There are a lot of supporting characters in Resident Evil, but the star is Abrams, and he carries the movie. Abrams is our player one, bringing Bryan to life. What’s great about this performance is that Bryan doesn’t have much of a backstory, but Abrams’ portrayal tells you everything about the character. Bryan is nice, has a good heart, and wants to do the right thing, but finds some way to screw up. Whether it’s his reaction to his girlfriend telling him he’s pregnant, not properly equipping his car for snow, or how he handles some of the attacks, nothing ever seems to go right for Bryan. Abrams owns the screen, and there are moments where his actions are like those of a person playing as this character for the first time. He barely knows how to shoot a gun, and when he gets a shot off, he usually misses. His interactions with other people feel random and robotic, like talking to a game character. Bryan doesn’t know what’s going on in Raccoon City or why, and neither do we. All he knows, and all we know, is that he has a package that needs to get to the hospital, and he goes through the bloody ringer to get it there. Abrams makes the best out of a character with little depth, and is a great screen presence.
Resident Evil is a lean, mean, bloody good time. Cregger never bogs us down with heavy exposition or plot details. What is going on in Raccoon City is mostly a mystery throughout the film. Cregger isn’t concerned with what could happen in the next film or with building a universe; he’s telling a story about a good-hearted man journeying through evil. Resident Evil is another excellent film by Cregger, and one of the best video game movies ever made.
TL;DR Review of Resident Evil
- One of the best video game adaptations ever made.
- Scary and intense, with perfect splashes of humor.
- Austin Abrams gives a great performance and is a star-in-the-making.
- Excellent filmmaking, with a pulsating score and stellar cinematography.
- Makes it feel like you’re playing a Resident Evil video game for the first time.
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