Last weekend, my daughter Barb and I headed to our very own Cinema 4 movie theater in excited anticipation to see Resident Evil, a movie we were looking forward to after we saw the initial trailer when we went to go see Backrooms, another great film.
This Zach Cregger Resident Evil movie is a throwback to the popular games of the same name, but not at all related to the previous Wes Anderson Resident Evil movies made in the early 2000s. I’ll admit, I saw the first Resident Evil in 2002 and quickly realized that action/horror just wasn’t my forte, and never had any interest in seeing any of the other six installments. But the trailer for the 2026 rendition was entirely different, and the movie itself was a treat for us lovers of the games.
But first about the games. Resident Evil is a Japanese survival-horror game series created by Capcom released in 1996, and was credited in defining the survival-horror genre and returning zombies back into popular culture. It garnered enormous critical and commercial success and has since released 30 games and several live action and animated films.
The main story focuses on the Umbrella Corporation, an international pharmaceutical company that secretly develops mutagenic viruses to further their “bio-organic weapons” research, and it’s the fictional location of Raccoon City where the Umbrella Corporation unleashes the hell it created.
The games and movies all revolve around the incidents and consequences of this corrupt institution, with different characters and their stories told through different installments. The most popular, recurring characters from the games include Leon S. Kennedy, a rookie police officer for the Raccoon City Police Department, Chris Redfield, an officer of the Special Tactics and Rescue Service for RPD, Jill Valentine, Chris’s S.T.A.R.S. partner in the earlier games, Claire Redfield, Chris’s sister, and Ethan Winters, an ordinary, yet special citizen, husband, and father searching for his wife, Mia, and his daughter, Rosemary. The games include also many memorable enemies such as the relentless Nemesis and Tyrant, as well as villainous members of the Umbrella Corporation and the Connections, and of course, hoards of zombies, human and animal alike.
As a kid growing up in the 90s, I had my fair share of video games, but I admit I never played a single Resident Evil game until Resident Evil: Biohazard in 2017, with Ethan Winters as the main protagonist and playable character. I had no real idea of just how enormous the Resident Evil world actually was, and Ethan was the only character I knew. Biohazard helped put the franchise back on the map after the negative reviews Resident Evil 6 had, bringing the series back to its roots in survival horror. I enjoyed the game, but it was the next installment, Village, that sparked my love for the series. From there, I became enamored with the story and found myself finally playing the older games, my love only growing stronger.
Now back to the movie. When we saw the trailer, we understood that it wasn’t going to be an action-packed, guns blazing film. It was a horror film first and foremost, and our main character wasn’t going to be some seasoned police officer with extensive military training like Leon or Chris.
Brian Hodukavich, played by the talented Austin Abrams, is just a regular guy who gets caught up in the chaos that Raccoon City has already fell into. He is an organ courier who is tasked with taking a package to Raccoon City General Hospital in the snowy Colorado mountains, not knowing what awaits him once he reaches the city and how far the virus has spread. It is simply another point of view of the events caused by the Umbrella Corporation.
Brian is an immediate likable character who gets thrown into a world he is obviously not ready for, whether he likes it or not. His mannerisms and dialogue had all of us in that theater in laughs throughout the movie, but his comedic relief was only slight shimmers of light in an otherwise dark and gloomy atmosphere with abominations lurking in the shadows.
The film’s writer and director, Zach Cregger, is clearly a fan of the games, because many times it felt like a first-person survivial horror. Not to mention, there were ‘easter eggs’ scattered throughout the film, recognized only by those of us who have played the games. Barb and I both felt smiles creep across our faces each time we recognized something from the games in a scene. What’s even better is Zach somehow addressed the frustration that comes from the gameplay through our main character, whether it be from needing a ridiculously special key to open a simple lock, or the instability of shooting a gun and missing the mark entirely.
There were times when we were reminded that this was based in the Resident Evil universe, but most of the time, it felt like watching and experiencing something entirely brand new. Because it is brand new. Despite the huge success the film made during its theatrical release, there were dissenting opinions even before the movie hit theaters, from critics and fans of the game alike. They questioned what Zach Cregger was actually trying to do, and if the film even deserved to have the Resident Evil name. Yes, it did. This was a horror movie inspired by a classic game made by a fan. It captured the other side of what made the games such a success over the last 30 years: survival horror. The games, while packed with plenty of action, were about fearing what’s in the dark and what horrors lie on the other side of the door or just around the corner. In fact, the heavier the games relied on action, the more the story got lost, and not to mention, the worse the ratings were.
As much as I love Leon Kennedy as a hero, it was Ethan Winters who stole my heart, and it was him being thrown into a world he wasn’t prepared for and trying to survive by learning along the way that made him such an incredible, memorable character. And that’s exactly the kind of character Brian is. But instead of aiding him and guiding him through a game, fully under our control, we had to sit back and watch his horrifying journey unfold. A little fun fact though, his character was so loved in the movie, that he now has a mod for the previous games where you can play as him instead of Leon. Don’t ask me how that works, I have no idea, but somehow, they can do that sort of thing.
I absolutely loved this movie. In fact, Cinemark theaters had released a special edition green organ bag as seen in the movie prior to the movie’s theatrical release, and they were sold out within a couple of days. I know because I tried to order one. I even called Cinemark/Hollywood 16 in Amarillo to see if they had one, and the guy said they were sold out the day they got them.
Good news is though our theater here will be showing Resident Evil again this weekend, and I couldn’t recommend enough to go see it on the big screen, in the dark. Is it bloody? Yes, it is. Is it gory? Yes, it is. Is the main character worth rooting for? Yes, he is. Will I have a good time? Yes, you will. It’s Resident Evil, why wouldn’t you?
