Resident Evil (2026)
This is 100% a Resident Evil movie. You can really tell that Cregger had a blast like an idiot bringing this incredible universe to life and amplifying it. As a glazer fanatic of the games, I found this film incredibly fun and a much-needed breath of fresh air for this franchise. By saying this, I don't want to take anything away from the chapters made by Paul W. S. Anderson with Milla Jovovich, which mostly remain great monster movies with a vibe that is still unique today. Cregger sticks to a simpler, more linear plot, just like the games, but no less well-structured and staged for it. What seems simple on the surface hides excellent filmmaking and really smart narrative choices behind it, so much so that it makes the whole thing feel like an actual video game with levels. You start in the countryside, and as in any self-respecting Resident Evil, you end up in an Umbrella Corporation lab.
Even the way our protagonist recovers his gear is structured like in the games, something I found not only brilliant but also well-contextualized. Following Bryan's journey felt just like watching a video game at the cinema, both because of the actor's excellent performance (in my opinion, very underrated) and his character traits, typical of a Resident Evil protagonist: a bit stupid, but always managing to overcome the worst dangers. Another aspect I really appreciated about Bryan is that he makes rational choices; maybe pretty stupid at times, but still rational in a catastrophic scenario like this. The absurd takes over, and fear leaves room for the irony of fate. I appreciated the climax, but let's say it opened my eyes to some of the weakest points of the film, particularly the pacing and the excessive humor. The pacing, because it's a rushed movie of barely an hour and a half where things do happen, but you’d want way, way more. This rush is particularly evident in the ending, which arrives extremely fast, just as it happened in the director's previous film, Weapons. I'm starting to think it's a weakness of Cregger's to understand how and when to conclude his stories. An ending that I liked, even though, as I said, fast and quite controversial. Besides the rush, as I mentioned earlier, too much humor gets tiring in the long run. There are never purely serious moments, or if there are, they last so little that they don't let you get deep into our characters' conflict. That's a bit of a shame, because on certain occasions, this Resident Evil felt like nothing more than a comedic parody of the video games. Reinforcing this are the countless questionable or superficial narrative choices (as opposed to the good and brilliant ones): caricature characters, not fleshed out at all, scenes that make no sense or that go against the very logic of the film or of a specific scene are just some of the examples that took me out of the movie at various points. This, however, is minor compared to one of the most noticeable shortcomings on my part while watching this 2026 horror film, which was the zombies. There are generally few zombies. Few zombies, and the ones shown are certainly interesting, but still limited compared to what the Resident Evil saga has accustomed me to over the years. But oh well, that's more of a personal criticism than an objective flaw. Resident Evil remains a highly solid title, to be seen in the theater and enjoyed to the fullest until the very last minute. Again, it's not perfect (except for the first act, which in my opinion is Oscar-worthy), but the spirit of Resident Evil is all there, and reaches incredible heights.
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