11 hours ago
13
The latest adaptation of the Resident Evil video games arrives in theaters this weekend, and the first reviews are now online. The horror reboot is co-written and directed by Zach Cregger, the filmmaker behind last year’s award-winning hit Weapons, and apparently his caliber of talent is what this franchise has needed. Not only are some calling this easily the best Resident Evil movie, but also one of the best films based on a video game ever.
Here’s what critics are saying about Resident Evil:
Is it everything you could want in a Resident Evil movie?
Whatever your idea of what a good Resident Evil movie should be, I have to recommend to the skeptical to put that to one side and lock in for what Zach Cregger delivers.
– Tom Jorgensen, IGN Movies
It’s tough to dismiss how damn fun the whole thing is… Resident Evil should be a lesson to other filmmakers that adapting a video game can’t simply be a series of references.
– Matt Goldberg, Decoding Everything
How does it compare to past adaptations?
Resident Evil is different, and much better, than the other Resident Evil movies.
– Owen Gleiberman, Variety
The talented filmmaker has completely rejuvenated the series, leaving the six original films and the misbegotten reboot attempt Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City in the dust.
– Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
Is it one of the best video game movies of all time?
Cregger’s Resident Evil is one of the best video game movies ever made.
– Matt Goldberg, Decoding Everything
Resident Evil is automatically up there with Exit 8 and Sonic the Hedgehog 3 as the best live-action video game movie ever made.
– Lisa Laman, Land of the Nerds
How well does it honor the source material?
Cregger ably adapts the spirit, if not the letter, of the Resident Evil games.
– Tom Jorgensen, IGN Movies
[It’s] the right kind of adaptation, largely discarding the game’s ongoing mythology beyond the broad outlines, and instead leaning into the perspective of the unseen player: us.
– Matt Goldberg, Decoding Everything
Is it a good movie on its own?
Cregger very much makes the film his own while displaying his obvious affinity for the source material.
– Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
Cregger 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.
– Tom Jorgensen, IGN Movies
Is it a good movie? Let’s call it a sweetly executed piece of escapist trivia.
– Owen Gleiberman, Variety
How does it compare to other horror movies?
As a horror film, it makes Weapons look like War and Peace, but it escalates over 90 minutes into a kind of symphonic loopiness.
– Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Nothing breathing can be trusted not to erupt in a mess of whipping appendages and eyeballs, and more movies could use that kind of uncertainty as a ticking time bomb to take advantage of.
– Tom Jorgensen, IGN Movies
How are the creature effects?
Letting the Resident Evil foes ramp up in visual outlandishness ensures the artists behind these characters fly their freak flag high. The movie is all the better for such remarkable makeup and design work.
– Lisa Laman, Land of the Nerds
These creatures, which feel right at home with Resident Evil’s Lovecraftian design language, are all lovingly rendered by Cregger and his team, who luxuriate in their oozing, thrashing, slithering glory.
– Tom Jorgensen, IGN Movies
Is the movie funny?
Yes, Resident Evil is often very funny, but never in a way that feels at the franchise’s expense.
– Tom Jorgensen, IGN Movies
The movie’s comic side isn’t quite Sam Raimi broad (or bold), but Cregger’s sketch-comedy roots are just as delightfully visible here as they were in Barbarian, without the aid of that movie’s clever shifts in timeline or perspective.
– Jesse Hassenger, Guardian
How does it look?
Filled with baroque gore and wildly imaginative set pieces.
– Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
Dariusz Wolski’s cinematography…emphasizes Bryan’s perspective throughout and frequently emulates the third-person approach of the games in a way that heightens the terror of what we may find around the next corner. Wolski also plays with different light sources really well.
– Tom Jorgensen, IGN Movies
The heavy presence of digital foes automatically ensures Resident Evil is a step down from the more tangibly realized Barbarian and Weapons.
– Lisa Laman, Land of the Nerds
What about the pacing?
The film, which feels refreshingly fat-free at a breathless 90 minutes, features one compelling sequence after another.
– Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
As it barrels through its gamified plot, the tension and entertainment value never flag.
– Jesse Hassenger, Guardian
How is Austin Abrams in the lead?
After his scene-stealing turn in Weapons, Abrams easily shoulders his promotion to leading man here in a performance that’s a lot more skillful than the simplicity of the character first suggests.
– Tom Jorgensen, IGN Movies
Austin Abrams, who played the homeless drug addict in Weapons, here seems a different actor. (That’s how good he is.)
– Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Abrams is in possession of a [Bruce] Campbell-ish charm.
– Jesse Hassenger, Guardian
Abrams practically delivers a one-man show.
– Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter
What about the supporting cast?
Hauser is amusingly overwrought — until the tentacles come for him.
– Owen Gleiberman, Variety
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.
– Tom Jorgensen, IGN Movies
Are there any major issues with the movie?
If there’s one major flaw in the movie, it’s that the story has trouble finding a resolution… The conclusion feels somewhat abrupt and unfulfilling.
– Matt Goldberg, Decoding Everything
After doing a great job making us care about [Bryan] for more than 90 minutes, Cregger seems to abandon him a few steps shy of completing any real journey.
– Jesse Hassenger, Guardian
Resident Evil opens in theaters on September 18, 2026. Buy tickets on Fandango.
English (US) ·