When it was announced that Zach Cregger was going to direct a new Resident Evil movie, I was excited. The writer-director already gave us two horror classics: Barbarian, which gives the concept of motherhood a horrific twist, and Weapons, which takes a witch concept and turns it into a tense, compelling narrative that makes any parent uncomfortable. Handing him the keys to write and direct a new Resident Evil adaptation felt like a no-brainer.
Resident Evil is a video game franchise that has been around for 30 years. Since the original game launched in 1996, we have had thirteen core games, a large collection of print media, and a whole slew of popcorn action movies and TV shows. Ask any gamer about Resident Evil and they will instantly list core characters like Leon S. Kennedy, Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, or Claire Redfield, along with the backdrop of Raccoon City. Yet the previous theatrical adaptations leaned so heavily into chaotic, visual-effects-heavy blockbuster approach that they felt separate from the games, offering only minimal paths connecting the movies to the source material.
