By Jamie Miller
“Resident Evil” has been a staple of pop culture since the late ‘90s. From games to movies and beyond, the franchise has no shortage of entries, and now there is another.
“Resident Evil” which was released on Friday, Sept. 18, tells the tale of Bryan, a normal medical courier who spends his days delivering organs, blood bags, and the like. That is, until he decides to deliver a package to Raccoon City during a snowstorm. This seemingly innocuous job will pull Bryan into an all-out fight, with both his life and the potential life of civilization itself hanging in the balance.
The film stars Austin Abrams of “Weapons” and “Paper Towns” fame as Bryan. Kali Reis, known for roles in “True Detective: Night Country” and “Mercy,” plays the part of Maxine, an enforcer for the Umbrella Corporation, who is responsible for the film’s events. Zach Cherry, who has appeared in shows like “Fallout” and “You,” appears as Carl, an Umbrella Corporation scientist.
So what did I think of this movie? Well, it was a perfectly functional movie. It wasn’t bad or anything…That being said, the movie has its issues. The tone is all over the place, going from bleak to MCU-like at the drop of a hat. It just overall doesn’t really feel like a “Resident Evil” movie. Other than Umbrella Corporation and Raccoon City, the movie doesn’t have much to do with the franchise’s lore. None of the beloved characters, such as Jill Valentine or Chris Redfield, appear, and the Umbrella Corporation is far away from its usual glory. That being said, the film wasn’t horrible, not at all.
As a result, I give it six torches out of 10. I would recommend it if you’re looking for a good popcorn horror movie. But if you go in expecting something like the previous “Resident Evil” films or games, you’re going to be disappointed.
Ella Ware’s review
I agree with Jamie about the film not feeling like “Resident Evil”. There was no emphasis on how evil the Umbrella Corporation is known to be, and not much was said about Raccoon City’s lore, even though that’s where the climax of the movie took place.
I found Bryan, our main character, pretty likeable and relatable. I think he reacted to a lot of the situations like a lot of average young people would. There’s a scene where he needs to travel from the ground floor of Raccoon City’s hospital all the way to the 28th floor, where the Umbrella Corporation laboratory is located.
He’s warned by the lead researcher, Carl, that the elevators were unstable and dangerous because of structural damage, so he would need to take the stairs all the way up. He makes it to the fourth floor before becoming too winded and opting for the dangerous elevator, to face disastrous consequences. I liked that they didn’t make our protagonist a perfect, unrealistically strong human who could make it up 28 flights of stairs with no sweat, and it was a funny moment.
The reality is, a lot of us wouldn’t make it up those stairs either. It was interesting to see our protagonist as just an average, regular guy.
I found the jump scares excessive, and it did seem like the majority of the scariness was relying on them.
I give the movie a strong five and a half out of 10. I enjoyed some of the humor, but the tone was inconsistent enough to bother me multiple times. It was still a decent horror movie, but it didn’t feel like the previous games and films in the franchise, which left me feeling bummed out at the end.
