Resident Evil Review

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1:01Red of PG-13. The best resident evil you've never played. This is your IGN review of Resident Evil by Tom Jorgensen. Whatever your idea of what a good resident evil movie should be, I have to recommend to the skeptical to put that one aside and lock in for what Zach Kregger delivers with this new adaptation of the Capcom games. With a clear appreciation for odds stacked against the protagonist and all manner of freaky foes to stand against them, Kregger ably adapts the spirit if not the letter of the resident evil games into a jet-fueled horror experience that has room for lots of tension, some great laughs, and a strong central performance from Austin Abrams. What's clear about Resident Evil from the first frame is that it's got some serious pep in its tab. At 95 minutes, Resident Evil is here for a good time, not a long time, and it hits the ground running as Brian, played by Abrams, a medical courier, accepts a last minute assignment to bring a high priority to delivery

2:05through the mountains of Raccoon City General Hospital. We encounter our first zombie less than 10 minutes past that point. And from there, Kregger doesn't ever let too long go by without putting Brian through some funhouse maze of grotesquery he's ill-equipped to contend with. And a frequently hilarious effect. Yes, Resident Evil is often very funny, but never in a way that feels that the franchise is expense. Kregger is broadly successful in judging how and when to lean into the campy nature of Resident Evil's pedigree for comedic effect, or to what degree Brian's ineptitude should detour the action into a less predictable direction. Kregger is adept at building tension in a way that makes it impossible to get a read on if that tension will pay off in a laugh or a scare, and that unpredictable energy permeates Resident Evil. This dark comedic streak is a signature of Kregger's at this point, and it's a surprising and effective counterbalance to the world-shaking ramifications of the Raccoon City incident currently underway.

3:08Ironically, it's only the handful of Resident Evil's meta jokes about its video game heritage that ring a little hollow and dated. Other than that, Kregger is largely very successful at understanding how to adapt a video game into a movie in a way that serves both mediums well, even when that means subverting expectations. It's a good thing that Abrams is as watchable as he is, because no member of Resident Evil's supporting cast gets much more to do than drop in for a scene or two's worth of exposition. No one's bad acting-wise, there's just very little room for anyone in the supporting cast to be really good. Paul Walter-Hauser's Umbrella Corporation Functionary has just enough time in the spotlight to illustrate how terrible the Umbrella Corporation is, but characters like these are the trees on the side of the road that Resident Evil is racing by as it moves from beat to beat. Of course, the real stars here are the poor unfortunate souls afflicted by the T-Virus,

4:08which has a habit of rapidly mutating any human tissue it comes into contact with. These creatures, which feel right at home with Resident Evil's love, crafty, and design language, are all lovingly rendered by Kregger and his team, who luxuriate in their oozing, thrashing, slithering glory. Abrams' big, shrieking reactions to these horrors feels more and more appropriate as the movie goes, because they get increasingly disturbing, and blissfully, most of the good stuff has been held back from the marketing. With an obvious tendency towards celebrating the feel of the games and not the specifics of the plot, Resident Evil consistently succeeds in amplifying classic gameplay moments from the franchise into horror movie beats, in a way that goes far beyond simple fan service, and I understood that reference references. Searching for ammo, spotting an oncoming enemy, reloading on a time crunch as they close distance, getting a perfectly timed shot off, being lured into the dark by something you may not be equipped to deal with,

5:10Kregger's Resident Evil is littered with touches like these that are actually used to ratchet up moment to moment dread, and not just pay lip service to gamers. With a laser focus on putting its hero through the worst night of his life, Resident Evil is a simple and exciting survival horror story that benefits greatly from that Kregger's sensibilities. Austin Abrams is exceedingly charming as the woefully outmatched medical courier Brian, as he's dragged through a hellish coterie of well-realized mutants and monsters by Kregger, whose good eye for creature effects, mounting dread, and signature humor all leave Resident Evil feeling very well represented. Resident Evil's IGN score? 8 out of 10. Thanks for listening to IGN. My name is Tony Jackson, and for the latest updates on all things Resident Evil, visit us at IGN.com.