Zach Cregger can seemingly do no wrong after the release of Barbarian and Weapons. The director brought his style and substance to the Resident Evil franchise. One that he’s a huge fan of, but with a movie that doesn’t exactly 1 to 1 adapt those games. And that’s really for the best. I know, I know, there are going to be fans that will whine and complain about the plot of this movie and the actual substance of this movie. For the whiny internet baby, this movie is going to be a nightmare. It’s hilarious at points, it’s touching at others, and it is not strictly following the rules of the survival horror genre. Which is precisely why the film works so well.
Resident Evil follows a courier, Bryan, who is tasked with getting an unknown health package to Raccoon City General Hospital in a timely manner. The courier, played by Austin Abrams, is really tasked with carrying the entire film on his back. That which he does, insanely well. Abrams gives a performance that is among the most relatable and personable that I’ve seen in recent memory. The film makes you feel like you’re playing a video game for the first time, fumbling around, getting frustrated, and then finally celebrating those small wins. Shay Hatten and Zach Cregger’s script gives Abrams plenty of material to work with, but I’d be interested to see how many of the lines were thought of on the spot.
With the courier’s journey, we go from the mountains above Raccoon City to the actual downtown, and it’s a hell of a ride to get there.
The Ride Is The Best Part Of The Film
As we follow the courier, he ends up meeting people like an Umbrella Corporation employee, Carl (played by Paul Walter Hauser) and his badass companion, Maxine (played by Kali Reis). Hauser’s scenes are a real highlight of the film, but like any good “night from hell” movie, we have to move on with our main character. The trek to Raccoon City General is filled with monsters and set pieces that give off plenty of Resident Evil energy. There are easter eggs everywhere for fans to look for as well. Some of them were shown off in the trailer, and others are still waiting in the final cut.
As for the look and feel of the monsters in the film, they’re basically ripped straight out of the game. While they might not mention the T-virus by name, they do talk about its origin a bit here. If you’re wondering how this movie fits into the Resident Evil timeline or canon, I have no idea how or if it does officially, but I was treating this like it was the very first night of the outbreak with no cavalry called in yet. So Bryan is really on his own to deal with most of the movie’s challenges. Sounds like a survival horror game to me!
As each set piece goes on, they start upping and upping the stakes without losing any of the terror or tension that was present right at the start of the film. That’s one thing that Cregger and Co. do extraordinarily well. They allow the tension to build up just to the perfect moment before releasing it. Scares aren’t the only way that tension gets released; there’s plenty of humor in the film. I know that’s a bad word for some people to have funny moments of levity in their horror movie, but it can’t all be run-and-gun with monsters popping out at you.
The Score, Shocking Visuals, And An Ending From Hell
The score really reminds me of a more synth-heavy version of The Thing‘s score. While there’s a lot of that movie in here, the score is doing a lot of heavy lifting in Resident Evil since we really only have one main character and a lot of moments with him by himself. That score lets the moments on screen breathe and settle, but when it needs to, it picks up the pace and hits with some heavy thumping tracks as well.
I’m sure plenty are going to worry about the visuals in this film, and they shouldn’t. There’s a lot of blood and guts on screen with some gross-out moments, particularly with a vomiting monster, the fat, pasty one from the trailer, and when the various monsters start fusing together. There are some great practical effects, like when the monsters are jumping off rooftops to stop Bryan and hitting cars and exploding into red mist and whatever else. That scene is breathtaking and isn’t even the most breathtaking in the film. Resident Evil is a film that keeps one-upping itself in the best ways.
Bad Decisions Lead To Good Endings
Through all of the great decisions made in the film, one of the scenes that stuck with me the most was near the end when Bryan has a realization about his life and makes a decision. It’s a hard-hitting scene that could have gone off the rails, but with a great performance from Abrams, it works so damn well.
As the credits roll, there’s a sense of realization that dawns on me. The movie ends the way you would expect it to, but it’s the classic case of people making wrong decisions and those decisions having consequences. But through it all Resident Evil is an endlessly entertaining movie.
Resident Evil is equal parts The Thing, After Hours, a road movie, and whatever else with tons of tension. Zach Cregger has crafted an adaptation of the world of Resident Evil that fits alongside the games. It might not make superfans happy, but the whiny people can whine all they want.
Resident Evil releases in theaters on September 18th.
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