Review: Resident Evil

-


Official synopsis: A medical courier, Bryan (Austin Abrams) is tasked with delivering a package to a remote hospital. He soon finds himself caught in the middle of an outbreak and must fight through hordes of mutated creatures to survive.

I've never been the biggest Resident Evil fan. I don't play the games, and I think I gave up on the movies after the 3rd or 4th one, but I'm also a simple woman. I see something directed by Zach Cregger, and I watch. 

Having a normie view is probably a good thing going into any adaptation because I had a great time with Resident Evil for the most part. Even though the screenplay isn't as strong as Weapons or Barbarian, you can see how he's growing as a filmmaker. He's very aware of the space he's filming in and some of the shots he sets up leave you so tense knowing something could be just over there and could come flying out at you any minute.

The film is at its strongest when Bryan is on his own, on the outskirts of Racoon City. There's some nice game play sequences and you really feel the tension as he's making his way through each set piece. It strikes the perfect balance of horror and humor. Bryan is constantly muttering to himself, which I feel like most of us would be doing in this scenario. I know one of the main complaints others have about this is the blend of humor and horror, and I think until we get to the last 20 minutes or so, it works really well.

But about those last 20 minutes....As soon as Bryan encounters other characters in Racoon City, the film takes a huge nosedive and suddenly becomes stupid for no reason. The film loses the balance it had previously and goes into a full comedy and it just doesn't work with everything we've seen. It ends up having a very unsatisfying conclusion, even though it has some great visuals.

Still, I think the film is a fun popcorn movie even with the issues in the 3rd act. Abrams is a great lead and this is the most engaged I've been with a Resident Evil movie in years. That has to count for something.

Grade: B-

Comments

  1. thevoid99September 22, 2026 at 12:45 AM

    I heard this is a WAY different film from the ones that Paul W.S. Anderson made with his wife Milla Jovovich. I still need to watch Barbarian and Weapons.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 25, 2026 at 11:27 AM

      It's been years since I've re-watched any of those, but it definitely felt more intimate. Especially since Bryan is alone for the majority of the movie. YES you need tow atch Barbarian and Weapons. There's a particular cut away in Barbarian that I know you will just love. I laughed my ass off at it.

      Delete
  2. ruthSeptember 29, 2026 at 8:37 PM

    I have not seen a single Resident Evil movie. I heard some MN film critics raved about this one, but I don't think I'm interested in seeing it, and Weapons sounds too disturbing for me as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brittani BurnhamSeptember 30, 2026 at 2:21 PM

      I get it. I never would've went to see this if it hadn't been Cregger directing it. I've never cared much about the franchise. I do highly recommend Weapons though! I don't think it's very disturbing.

      Delete

Post a Comment

TALK TO ME! No seriously, leave your thoughts! Comments are moderated because there is an unnecessary amount of spam on Blogger and I don't live that life.

Popular posts from this blog

Random Ramblings: The Radio Flyer Conundrum

-
Image
Recently, I was talking to someone about who I thought were the best child actors when I was also a child.  Two that really stood out to me were Elijah Wood and Joseph Mazello, and one film those two were in together was called Radio Flyer.  Then I was reminded about the uniqueness of this film. Instead of reviewing the film, I wanted to have an open discussion about the ending. It deals with a tough issue; child abuse. What I’ve noticed is the way that the film ends is interpreted many different ways, and the filmmakers never came forward to say what was right and wrong. I’m interested in hearing everyone’s opinions on it. How did you interpret the ending? Obviously spoiler alerts will follow.. For those of you who haven’t seen the film, the basic premise is this: Two young boys, Mikey (Wood) and Bobby (Mazello) move in with their single mother and her boyfriend, who refers to himself as ‘The King’. It doesn’t take long for The King to start physically abusing ...
Read more

Please join me in my Favorite Movie Titles Blogathon!

-
Image
Earlier this week I made a post where I ran through the letters of the alphabet with my favorite movie titles. There were a few people that suggested I turn it into a blogathon, and I've never done that before. So here goes nothing! Since this is my first attempt at a blogathon, it's all pretty simple, and it's hopefully a quick post that everyone can join in. Rules: 1) Going through the alphabet, list your favorite movie title beginning with each letter.  2) You don't have to necessarily  like the movie to use it's title.  3) Use the banner at the top of this post in yours. 4) Please have submissions in by Friday, May 30th*. (But I'll be honest, if you send them to me after that date, I'll still add them to my post.) You can either leave a link to your post in the comments here or tweet it to me, ( @ramblingfilm )  Thanks everyone! :)  *I had to move the date back a week due to Photobucket threatening me with bandwidth issues. But...
Read more

Review: Lilies Not For Me

-
Image
Official synopsis:  A gay novelist, Owen (Fionn O'Shea) and his psychiatric nurse (Erin Kellyman) bond over a series of "dates" prescribed to "cure" his homosexuality. He tells her how his previous relationship degenerated when his partner, Philip (Robert Aramayo) tried a risky procedure to become heterosexual. Robert Aramayo has been absolutely killing it on Amazon's The Rings of Power , a show that apparently only myself and my husband watch. Through him, this little film came on my radar as it slowly made its way around the festival circuit.  Lilies Not For Me is not a light viewing, and I didn't expect it to be. Any film about gay folks in the 1920's can't possibly be without pain. Though this did take it a few steps further than I expected. While not overly graphic, the things that happen are horrible and it makes you just want to wrap the men in this story in a warm blanket and tell them everything is going to be okay. It's quite horri...
Read more