Image: Sony Pictures
A New Dawn For The Franchise?
Resident Evil has a long and controversial history with big motion pictures. The 2000s brought us the divisive Paul W.S. Anderson films, with many fans disgruntled at the prioritisation of action, a decision that would set the path of future game entries such as Resident Evil 5 and Resident Evil 6 (and we all know how they turned out).
On the other hand there have been many entirely CGI movies taking the characters and designs from the games and adapting them. These were met with a more positive reception overall, yet still not the grand magnum opus many fans felt they deserved following the fixed-camera nature of the original PS1 titles.
Now the age old question has once again resurfaced… will Resident Evil get a true motion picture masterpiece? The director at the helm this time with Resident Evil (2026) is none other than Zach Cregger; responsible for Barbarian and the smash horror hit Weapons. So without wasting anymore time, how does his adaptation stack up? P.S., there will be SPOILERS in this review!
Zach Cregger Delivers Some Fantastic Modern Horror
Off the bat, Cregger’s Resident Evil has some fantastic modern horror sequences. Those familiar with his work will remember the bedroom dream sequence from Weapons which was certainly a fright in cinemas, and here it’s no different. A large aspect as to why these scares work so well belongs to the cinematography and lighting Cregger implements during tense scenes, and the way he builds said tension up.
Resident Evil contains some truly beautiful and dynamic colours through a striking, and perhaps deceiving, vibrancy maintained throughout the runtime. This lighting emphasises shadows, can create unsettling atmospheres when colours such as red are thrown into the mix, and overall just makes the movie look fantastic.
Polish cinematographer Dariusz Wolski was the DP (director of photography) on Resident Evil, and despite his previous work being largely rooted in sci-fi and horror-adjacent work such as Prometheus or The Martian, he and his team did a fantastic job. During the aforementioned horror sequences, a number of differing shots are used to create the dreaded suspense and tension crucial for building up to a jump-scare. Close-ups are utilised to give the viewer a lack of space and emphasise the cramped feeling, tracking shots are implemented when viewers aren’t meant to see what the character can’t, and depth of field is used to great success when highlighting horrors.
The third and final technical success belongs in the sound design. Each squelching zombie, unsettling movement, or the loud bang responsible for jump-scares feels deliberately engineered for maximum psychological terror. As highlighted through one disturbing scene where zombies launch themselves off Raccoon City roofs in an attempt to get the protagonist, and promptly explode upon impact, the sound design truly makes the viewer unsettled and all the same immersed in the terrifying universe.
All in all, when factoring in sound design, lighting, and cinematography, Zach Cregger manages to live up to all his previous work with horror that is elevated through technical greatness.
Bryan’s Personal Struggles Give The Horror Real Stakes
A large reason why this horror works so well is thanks to the characters. In an action movie, of course the spectacle can be entertaining, but viewers are only truly gripped when there are stakes, when something so drastically evil or impacting will result from failure on the behalf of our protagonist. This idea extends beyond genres, and Resident Evil (2026) implements it flawlessly to give horror meaning.
Take our protagonist, Bryan. He works a delivery job driving hearts, livers, kidneys and the like for children in desperate need of them… but he doesn’t want to keep the child his partner is pregnant with. As things begin to get out of hand, Bryan is desperately trying to deliver what he believes is an organ such as these to save a child’s life, and the entire crux of the plot relies on his determination to deliver this item. This complex contrast between Bryan’s professional duty to save children, and his internal dread of fatherhood, becomes a true focus point for the horror, as he is presented with zombie children, an infected foetus, and the prospect of losing his partner and potential child in the outbreak.
Without these stakes, the horror wouldn’t hold anywhere near as much weight, as if Bryan dies then he’s leaving behind something he is learning to love. As a character overall, Bryan works extremely well, thanks to not falling victim to the prodigy trope. Bryan is not good at much, as viewers will soon find out upon a watch, and one of those things happens to be firearms. It becomes a running gag that he wastes bullets, can’t control the weapons, and even misses the dastardly padlocks always blocking the route in Resident Evil games. It’s refreshing to see someone terrible at something try to survive, and Bryan steals the show with his humour, authenticity, and likeable nature.
Speaking of gags, Resident Evil stays true to the B-movie nature of the original and maintains a horror-humour blend the series is known for. As mentioned earlier, Bryan is hilarious, yet his relationship with Paul steals the show with my screening getting plenty of laughs from the pair. This focus on comedy could potentially be an issue which affects the scares, yet Resident Evil knows when to cut the comedy short and move over for the terrifying scenes.
How Faithful Is This Resident Evil Film To The Games?
There seems to be one aspect left to cover, and it’s what will likely make or break one’s experience with Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil adaptation… faithfulness. Among the Resident Evil community, there seems to be a section of fans who want a 1:1 replica of the various game stories adapted over time with the characters and plot beats we know and love all there and in order. These fans will be severely disappointed with this new movie.
Not to say Cregger’s adaptation is void of any resemblance to the source material, in fact there are plenty of First Aid Sprays, Herbs, Typewriters and many other easter eggs which eagle-eyed fans will spot, yet the story and characters are all his own. Areas such as Raccoon City, the mountains from RE1, and a sewer system all show up in the movie, yet are slightly differing from their game counterpart and of course an interpretation of the source material.
Where Cregger’s adaptation does flourish in faithfulness is the pacing and structure of the story. Just like how the games usually consist of three distinct areas players explore, Resident Evil contains three distinct settings Bryan traverses with, each usually taking up around one act’s worth of screen time. This also extends to Bryan’s weapon arsenal too, mimicking the ever-growing nature in which players collect powerful machinery in the gaming counterpart. In this sense, Resident Evil certainly slots into the formula synonymous with the games, and feels like one playing out in front of your eyes.
A Resident Evil fan’s enjoyment of Zach Cregger’s silver-screen adaptation rests entirely on expectations of a gaming movie. Those going in expecting a 1:1 replica of the stories fans have so long loved and experienced, are likely to have their expectations unfulfilled. Those approaching expecting an entertaining, if somewhat generic horror, with some great scares, Cregger’s distinct style, and a fantastic use of the pacing and mechanics of Resident Evil in a movie-like fashion, are in for a treat.
Cregger’s third, fantastic addition to his adventure into horror sets the foundations for a flourishing franchise of Resident Evil inspired flicks.
