Resident Evil Review: The Best RE Movie Yet

By Justin D Williams

I have always felt like Resident Evil has had a rough history when it comes to live-action adaptations. There have been several attempts to bring the games to the big screen, but most of them either moved so far away from the source material that they barely resembled Resident Evil anymore, or they leaned so heavily into action that the horror got pushed to the side. Going into this movie, I was not asking for a perfect recreation of any one game. I just wanted something that understood what makes Resident Evil work: the atmosphere, the tension, the isolation, and that constant feeling that something terrible could be waiting around the next corner. This was the first time in a while where I genuinely felt like a Resident Evil movie understood that. The atmosphere was probably the first thing that really grabbed me. I loved how grimy and uncomfortable the environments felt. The locations were not just there to give the characters somewhere to run around and shoot things. They actually added to the tension. There were moments where I found myself just looking around the environment because it had that same uncomfortable feeling the games can create, where nothing has to happen immediately for you to feel like something is wrong. That is one of the things I have always loved about Resident Evil. Sometimes just walking into a room and not knowing what is waiting for you is more effective than throwing a monster directly in your face.

I also thought the direction was really strong. The movie knew when to slow down and let a location breathe, but it also knew when to pick up the pace once things started going bad. I especially liked that the action never completely took over the movie. There are definitely bigger sequences, but I never felt like I was suddenly watching a completely different film. Even during the action, I still felt that survival-horror atmosphere underneath everything. That was important to me because some of the previous movies became so action-heavy that the characters stopped feeling vulnerable. Here, I still felt like these people could be overwhelmed at any moment. Even when someone had a weapon, I never got the sense that they were completely in control. That made the action more exciting for me because there was still a feeling of danger behind it. It felt less like watching unstoppable action heroes and more like watching people trying to survive a situation that is getting worse by the minute.

I also appreciated the way the movie handled its connections to the games. There are references and little touches for longtime fans, but I never felt like the movie was constantly stopping and saying, “Hey, remember this?” The Umbrella nod was probably one of my favorite examples. It worked because it felt natural within the world instead of being shoved into the movie just for fan service. I like references when they actually support the world, and I thought this movie understood that pretty well. Where the movie started losing me was with the tone. I thought the main character was a little too quippy, especially considering how serious some of the situations were supposed to be. I do not have a problem with humor in Resident Evil. The games themselves have always had campy dialogue, strange moments, and some ridiculous situations. That has always been part of the franchise. My issue here was more about when the jokes were happening.

There were several scenes where I felt the movie had built up a really tense or dramatic moment, and then somebody would immediately make a joke. For me, that took some of the air out of the scene. I wanted certain moments to just sit there for a little while. The direction would create the tension, the music and atmosphere would have me locked in, and then a one-liner would come along and weaken some of that impact. A joke can absolutely work in a horror movie, but I felt like this movie sometimes reached for humor when it should have trusted the scene. That became even more noticeable for me during the ending. I thought the final portion of the movie should have felt much more dramatic than it did. By that point, the stakes had already been established and the characters had been through enough that I expected the climax to carry more emotional weight. Instead, there were moments where people around me were laughing during scenes that I thought should have been tense or serious. That told me the tonal balance was not completely working.

I did not dislike the ending overall, because there were still things about it that worked for me. The action remained entertaining, the direction was still strong, and visually the movie continued to deliver the kind of atmosphere I wanted. I just kept thinking that the ending could have hit a lot harder if the movie had trusted the drama more. Sometimes you do not need another joke. Sometimes the best thing you can do is let the audience sit with what just happened. That tonal problem frustrated me because I thought so much of the rest of the movie worked. The atmosphere worked for me. The action worked for me. The direction worked for me. More importantly, the world finally felt like Resident Evil. There were several moments where I caught myself thinking, “This is what I have been wanting from these movies.” It actually felt like the filmmakers understood that Resident Evil is not just about zombies, monsters, and guns. It is about tension, survival, mystery, and putting characters into situations where they feel completely outmatched.

I also liked that the movie did not seem embarrassed by its connection to the games. That is something I have always found frustrating with certain video game adaptations. Sometimes it feels like filmmakers want the name and the audience that comes with it, but they do not really want to embrace what made the original thing popular. I never got that feeling here. This movie seemed willing to embrace the weirdness, the horror, and the mythology without constantly trying to distance itself from the source material. By the time the credits rolled, I still came away thinking this was the best Resident Evil movie we have gotten. That does not mean I think it is perfect. I definitely do not. The humor needed more restraint, and I thought the ending should have carried more weight than it did. But this was the first time in a long time where I could actually see the foundation for the Resident Evil movie series I have wanted.

If they continue in this direction, I hope they keep the atmosphere, the strong direction, the action, and the respect for the games while dialing back some of the comedy. Let the horror be scary. Let the dramatic moments hurt. Let the characters stay uncomfortable without immediately breaking the tension with another joke. Because despite those issues, I really did enjoy this movie. For me, it finally captured the atmosphere of the games in a way the previous films never completely managed to do. It is not the perfect Resident Evil adaptation, but it is the closest the movies have come, and that alone made this feel like a major step forward.