FILM REVIEW: RESIDENT EVIL (15) ESP RATING: 4/5
A reboot that isn’t afraid to do its own thing!
It has been a while since I’ve seen a film get quite so much hate before people had even seen it.
For my fellow movie nerds, you’ll probably have seen the online uproar surrounding this latest Resident Evil. When writer-director Zach Cregger – the man already with tremendous pedigree after the well-received Barbarian and the even more highly-acclaimed Weapons – explained that he imagines this story taking place alongside the events of Resident Evil 2, a section of the fanbase seemingly lost its collective mind. One of the arguments doing the ‘rounds’ was that it wasn’t ‘snowing’ (yes, really!) during Resident Evil 2 – arguably the most-loved video game in the series – so how could the two stories possibly take place at the same time?
Give it a chance people.
Because, no, this is not a ‘beat-for-beat’ adaptation of the games. But instead, Cregger, who is himself a lifelong fan, truly captures the trepidatious ‘feeling’ of playing Resident Evil – and, for me, that’s where the film really works.
The story follows Bryan (Weapons and Wolfs star Austin Abrams), a medical courier who finds himself caught up in an outbreak and fighting for survival as night descends into increasingly bizarre and terrifying chaos.
You can tell there’s a genuine love for the source material here. There are little nods everywhere: the typewriter, searching through drawers for ammunition, the flashlight, and that wonderfully familiar feeling of entering a new area with absolutely no idea what you’re going to find. Even the cinematography and the way Bryan progresses through his surroundings often feels like you’ve picked up a controller and started playing.
What surprised me most, is just how funny it is.
The trailer makes this look like a fairly straightforward horror film, but there are plenty of moments that reminded me of those wonderfully goofy ‘turn of the century’ horror comedies such as The Faculty. It’s scary, it’s gory and there are some great monsters – but it doesn’t take itself so seriously that it forgets to have fun.
The jump scares are also bloody effective. I properly leapt out of my seat a good couple of times, which is always a nice reminder that sometimes the simplest horror tropes still work when they’re done properly.
At just over ninety minutes, it also gets the runtime absolutely right. There’s very little ‘padding’, the story moves quickly, and it gets in – gives you the horror – and gets out before it has a chance to overstay its welcome.
Overall, I can completely understand why this film has split people. And at the end of the day, if you want something completely faithful to the games, this may not be your cup-of-tea. But this is easily the best iteration of a horror with the Resident Evil name attached to it – even if that’s coming from a ‘low bar’.
And if you’re happy with some creative freedom – there’s plenty of evil to sink your teeth into here.
ESP Rating: 4/5
Mike Clarke
Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough & Odeon Luxe Peterborough, Out Now
Cast: Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Paul Walter Hauser, Johnno Wilson & Sara Paxton
Running Time: 1 Hr 37 Mins
Director: Zach Cregger
Film Review Venue: Showcase Cinema De Lux Peterborough
For all the latest film information & showtimes at Peterborough’s Showcase Cinema De Lux & Odeon Luxe Cinemas go to www.showcasecinemas.co.uk and www.odeon.co.uk
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