The Resident Evil movie is here, and fans are sharing their thoughts on the film.
The movie, which stars Austin Abrams as medical courier Bryan, takes place “on the periphery” of Resident Evil 2 and doesn’t include a lot of lore or any of the characters from the games.
Over on Reddit, Resident Evil fans are discussing the movie – and it’s a pretty even mix of appreciation and criticism, with the ending, the comedy, and the lack of game lore particularly hot topics. The following contains spoilers for the film, so turn back now if you’re not up to date!
“Feels like someone slapped a random dude in an RE game, absolutely loved it,” says one fan, while another says: “I think it’s perfectly good as a standalone horror movie, but it left me wanting a bit more in terms of Resident Evil stuff. Also felt that the humour was a bit excessive in a Marvel-esque way that weakens a few scenes for me but that might just be [Zach] Cregger’s style”
“It was highly enjoyable with plenty of Easter eggs and references to mechanics in the game. The monster designs were both grotesque and cool. The way the movie was structured felt very faithful to the game’s, it could easily be adapted into a video game with minimal changes and it would make a good side story game for RE,” is this fan’s thoughts. “I’m glad he stayed away from direct adaptations or shoehorning established RE characters.”
“Glad they toned down the comedy, it’s already a lot in the final release,” says another person. “Zach Cregger’s definition of less jokes is very different than mine,” says someone else – director Cregger previously revealed that he cut jokes from the final movie.
“I was so bought into this movie as a 8/10 until the final 10 minutes where every scientist does the dumbest thing possible and Brian transforms into a monster and it just cuts to credits. Also, I can’t get the ‘VIDEO GAMES, YEAH!’ line out of mind,” says another person.
“The YAY VIDEOGAMES!! line made me physically cringe, but movie wasn’t bad per say but way too much on the nose comedy was in the movie they could of toned it back a lot more than what they put out,” thinks another fan.
“Really really not a fan of the ending, the rest of the movie is a solid 8-9 out of 10 but that ending brings it down to a 6-7/10 for me, harsh maybe but I just really don’t like the ending,” thinks another fan.
“Loved the movie. Hated the ending. Brought it down from a 9/10 to 6/10. Really was rooting for him to cure himself which follows all the Resident Evil games with Leon,” agrees someone else.
“I’m pissed off by the ending bro it should have been him surviving,” echoes another fan. “The ending sucked. I also think there should’ve been more creatures that were true to the games. I’m fine with the director making his own story, however don’t smack the Resident Evil title on it if you’re not even going to include any of the iconic creatures,” says another person.
“I thought it was really great, felt bad about the ending though. I guess considering it’s a horror movie.. It makes sense for it to end that way… But I guess watching the dude bumble and survive through everything, just to bite it so close to the end, felt sad,” thinks someone else.
Resident Evil is in theaters now. For more, check out our guide to the Resident Evil movie ending explained, or our Resident Evil movie review.