For the past week I’ve been mulling over the latest Resident Evil film. The eighth RE film produced by Constantin Film, which baffles me to be honest. The first one was alright. It’s sequels were barely coherent. From the wildly inaccurate and trashy Alice based sextet, to the more accurate but thoroughly frustrating Welcome to Raccoon City, it seemed no one could get a handle on what could make a good Resident Evil film.
But with Zach Cregger we have ourselves a director that is both current and capable. I may have mixed feelings on Weapons, but there’s no doubt he knows what he doing and has a point of view.
The more I’ve been thinking about it, his point of view for this film feels like someone playing Resident Evil for the first time. Which leads to this being the best of the eight films by some margin.
Bryan is a normal guy. He hasn’t held a real gun, isn’t particularly athletic, and squeals like a bitch. Which means his approach to the Resident Evils he encounters is panicked, mistake-ridden, and wasteful. Just like my first time playing! Watching him mess up seemingly easy tasks is so frustrating. I cursed him more than once. How could he miss from there! What’s he doing with that lock! But it’s completely relatable. He also kites enemies, has to juggle his inventory, and is genuinely pleased with himself when he gets something right.
It doesn’t hang about, with Bryan meeting people in each new area as he gains new bits and pieces. The conclusion may confuse some, but when given some thought ties into this being a Resident Evil story in a clever way. I’m looking forward to watching it again. It might even be the first RE film I buy on disc. I could go on about spoiler details for ages. But know this; this is the most Resident Evil a film has ever felt. Is it exactly what some people want? No. But it’s exactly what the series should be.
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