Resident Evil Review: Zach Cregger Delivers a Scary, Funny Ride That Plays More Like His Film Than a Resident Evil Movie

We both came out of Resident Evil having enjoyed it. Paul scores it around an eight out of 10, though he does not think it is the quintessential Resident Evil film. Matt summed it up as a Zach Cregger film rather than a true Resident Evil film. Paul has loved the games since he was a kid, with Resident Evil 2 a particular favourite, so hearing that Cregger was making an adaptation running alongside that game was exciting news.

Zach Cregger's Resident Evil ranks below Weapons and Barbarian for both of us

Matt's first reaction was simple: "I absolutely loved it." He felt it was a Cregger film through and through, though he thought the last five minutes or so were a bit too much like the early 2000s Resident Evil films, and that this stretch was probably the most Resident Evil part of the movie. Even so, he would rank it below Weapons and Barbarian, and Paul agrees with that ranking.

Paul also admits he quite likes the first Resident Evil film with Milla Jovovich and might even prefer it over this one, though he acknowledges a lot of nostalgia is involved. For him, that older film succeeds because it feels more like Resident Evil. When the trailer for this new version first dropped, plenty of people, Paul included, said it did not feel like Resident Evil. What kept him hopeful was Cregger, who had made two five out of five films for him.

Having seen it, Paul does not think a hardcore Resident Evil fan will walk out saying they finally did it. That does not mean it was done wrong. He compares it to Silent Hill, a film that has the feel of the games without using their characters, leaning instead on location. Here that location is Raccoon City, with recognisable elements brought in here and there.

The courier Brian carries the film from start to finish

The story opens with Brian, a courier we have never met before, hired to deliver a mysterious package to Raccoon City General Hospital for double pay. Paul jokes that, knowing the severity of it in hindsight, perhaps the job should have gone to the National Guard. Matt liked the setup of Brian thinking he is carrying something like a liver, and he thinks it works because it is later implied that Carl dropped the original base of the vaccine, so the replacement was not treated as an emergency.

Matt found Brian hilarious, with Austin Abrams channelling Marty McFly, and felt the opening set the tone for the whole film. He suspects people who play the games but do not watch many films will not like that tone, but because it is a Cregger film, he loved it. Paul noted a report in the run-up to release saying Cregger had cut a lot of the jokes, and Matt has seen people complaining about the comedy in reactions to our ending explained piece. He sees it as situational comedy more than anything.

Brian is pretty much a one man show, carrying the film on his back, and the film never seems to leave his perspective. The point was also made that Cregger is very good at following characters for long stretches, as he did with the chapters in Weapons, and that he does that well with Brian, even if Brian is not necessarily the person who would come to mind as a Resident Evil protagonist.

Classic zombie movie openings and a nod to the Resident Evil 2 remake

Paul appreciated that, like The Walking Dead, 28 Days Later and the Dawn of the Dead remake, the story starts around a hospital. He also notes that zombie films often give little explanation and simply throw you in at the deep end, as Dawn of the Dead does with Fran waking from a nightmare and Night of the Living Dead does too. Brian is similarly unaware of events and thrust into the story.

The woman who walks out into the road mirrors the trucker opening of the Resident Evil 2 remake, something Paul had forgotten because the original game is burned into his head. Matt only played the remake. Paul also thinks Cregger has borrowed heavily from Resident Evil 4 while using the setting of 2, since the creatures lean towards the Las Plagas style, with lots of tentacles and mutations and few standard zombies.

Paul reads the mutations as reflections of Brian's fear of fatherhood

Because Cregger does a lot of thematically deep things, Paul found himself asking whether each creature linked to something Brian was feeling. Brian's girlfriend is pregnant, and he is avoiding a conversation about having kids. The first infected he meets is a woman married to a farmer, and Paul wondered whether the husband and wife zombies mutating together into one reflected Brian's fears. Then there is the maternity ward, where a mutated baby emerges.

Matt called the merging a good point and added that the kid in the RV felt like part of that same thread. Paul said there were lots of little things that made him wonder if there was a deeper layer to why these zombies were chosen.

We disagree on the pacing of the opening stretch

Paul felt the early section slightly dragged, though he thinks that may be because he watched the trailer so much, and it plays like a highlight reel of this opening. He stresses he understands films need setup and was simply eager for it to get going. For him it picks up around the farmhouse, and once the woman is sprinting across the snow, things get really tense.

Matt thought it went quite fast. What struck him as odd was how little time is spent in Raccoon City itself, with no gun shop or RPD as you might see in the Resident Evil 3 remake. He had expected a quick drive into a burning city.

Matt calls it possibly the scariest film he has seen

For Matt, this may be the scariest film he has ever seen. "I'm a wuss when it comes to jump scares," he admits, joking that during the car jump scare he worried his Apple Watch would report heart failure. He would have liked a few more normal zombies but loved the mutations, noting Cregger's skill with body horror, close to Cronenberg style monsters, as with the mother in Barbarian. He also loved the tension of the farmer's wife always getting close to Brian's neck.

Paul felt every encounter is memorable, with standalone creatures that have personalities rather than a big horde, though his own sensibilities lean towards large groups of zombies like the games. Matt likened it to a boss rush. Paul liked the stalker creature, the horde we called the rat king, constantly popping up, and the way the film breaks into sections like video game levels: the woods, the farmhouse, the tunnel. Brian is easy to relate to, making a fool of himself a lot of the time, like trying to ram through a gate and it not working, and constantly missing with his guns.

In the tunnel he meets a little girl with tentacles in her foot, and she bites him. It brings in the familiar trope of the bitten survivor and makes reaching the cure far more important.

The Umbrella duo and Cregger's natural comedy

Brian is rescued by two Umbrella employees, Paul and Maxine, who are not from the games but are archetypes: one a scientist, Maxine an escort who looks able to handle herself. When she goes out to help a woman being chased, there is a long, tense wait over whether she will return. Brian accidentally firing an MP5 inside the car is part of the comedy too.

Paul believes Cregger rides the line between horror and comedy well, switching tone without it feeling jarring; the jokes feel like how characters would actually react. Matt contrasted it with the quippiness people criticise in Marvel. Paul liked callbacks such as the nurse saying the job is not like delivering a pizza, which Brian later uses himself.

The rat man, the missing lore and an Umbrella we barely meet

Both of us expected the large man from the trailer to play a bigger part. He is full of rats that burst from his stomach, a great effect, though Paul hates swarms of little targets in games and Matt compared them to the Flood in Halo. Paul notes rats matter in the franchise, having carried William Birkin's G virus and caused the Raccoon City outbreak, yet the film barely touches the wider story. There are no files or voice notes to piece together; just a lab accident and the Umbrella name.

Matt expected more lore but does not mind, since he approached it as a Cregger film and never expected Leon, Jill, Claire and Chris, though he understands why people might be annoyed. Paul pointed out that critic reactions seemed positive but online discourse can shift fast. He is also surprised Cregger attached this to Resident Evil at all, since it could have been another original Cregger film. He wonders whether, after previous live action versions were not handled well, the rights holders simply let him do what he wanted.

The hospital voice note is sort of the film's first real character moment

In the parking garage, Brian's bite worsens and, spotting a family sticker on a car, he leaves his girlfriend a voice note. Paul related to the shock, recalling his own reaction when his wife told him she was pregnant: "Your reaction wasn't exactly what I was expecting, Paul." During the scene he looked over at his wife and apologised. Matt shared a similar story.

Matt thought the scene was hilarious and emotional, adding needed depth. He enjoyed Brian staring at the stairs like a gamer stuck on a key puzzle, the 28th floor gag, and the relaxed scientists who just buzz him up. Another point raised in the discussion was that the scientists are inept yet evil in their indifference to the apocalypse they caused.

The elevator and maternity ward set pieces shine before the finale falters

Paul praised the acid creature in the elevator, which felt like Alien, and the Resident Evil adjacent survival horror feel of Dead Space and The Last of Us, saying the constant curve balls keep you on your toes. The elevator shaft climb and the explosive maternity ward were highlights, as was Brian shooting a broom handle to send zombies crashing onto the stalker.

But Paul felt the lab section is where things finished before giving us an extra scene. Matt said the lab felt like The Boys or Gen V, and something about the last 10 to 15 minutes felt off. Brian never gets the vaccine and ends as a mutation on the bridge as the National Guard arrives. As was said in the discussion: "It doesn't feel like an ending. It just feels like it abruptly cuts off and then goes to credits."

Matt understands the artistic choice, likening it to King Kong or the end of Jurassic Park, but feels a stinger was needed. Paul imagined cutting to Brian's girlfriend Michelle watching the news, ending on Chris Redfield.

Solid, but not the film to resurrect Resident Evil

Paul does not think this will resurrect Resident Evil in cinemas. He would like any sequel to follow The Raid 2's lead with more characters and story, and admits his expectations were higher because of his love for the IP.

Paul calls Cregger three for three and places this in the upper echelon of video game films, but wanted more character development, the kind Josh Brolin's role gave Weapons. Matt agreed: "This one is very much like a theme park ride," and he expects it to be divisive. Paul thinks that if you do not know anything about Resident Evil, it will probably be great for you. Overall, we both had a good time, and it is a nice start to spooky season.

Did the abrupt ending work for you, or did the film need one more scene?