Resident Evil (2026) Review

Synopsis

Follows a hapless courier 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.

The Verdict

Thumbs Up: Highly Recommended

Horror fans who want a fast, scary theater experience, and anyone curious about Resident Evil who doesn’t know the games. Franchise fans can still catch a few Easter eggs, but this isn’t a lore-heavy entry.

Spoiler Warning!!! Full Review Below

Full Review (Spoilers)

Everything about the Resident Evil movie was refreshing. Watching the trailer you’re wondering how it would crossover with the video game and I’m glad it’s set in an alternate universe. I didn’t expect much, I went in ready to see where things would go and how things would pan out. The trailer gives you the gist without spoiling much. You’re following this courier along for the ride as he’s trying to get his package into Raccoon City. You’re not sold anything out of the blue, you don’t really need to know the lore of Resident Evil because none of the major characters are in it. If you know about the lore, you can see a couple of Easter eggs for the franchise but nothing ground-breaking.

Bryan is your working-class man and he’s very relatable as your protagonist. He’s trying to navigate life and also this last job for the night before going home. There are some funny jokes or one-liners that any normal person in his situation would say and react. He’s also not perfect, he does mess up and he’s naive at times. It’s a great balance for your main star. All of the supporting characters play their part and progress the story so there’s no issues with any one of them. You can tell they won’t last long because they give Bryan all of the information they have which makes them continuing in the story silly and wisely they are removed shortly afterwards. The only character that could have been removed would be Michelle, sad to say. She’s the girlfriend and mother of his soon-to-be child. Her inclusion via phone call only proved to be a drawback. She was there for a bit of tension but could have been removed since she had very little effect on the story. It wasn’t like he spent the movie trying to get back to her or she was a driving factor in the plot. His driving factor was delivering the package.

Funny enough Resident Evil didn’t really drag at all. It was a tight 95 minutes of runtime. They didn’t stay anywhere too long and gave enough shock value at each set piece. They gave you a moment to breathe then kick up your heart rate with something terrifying. Pacing was definitely a strong point.

The only real missed potential was the Michelle plot point mentioned earlier. His reactions were spot on 85% of the time, and the other 15% of the time had me shaking my head since only someone not thinking would react that way. I’m super surprised at how much I liked this movie. It had some marketing but it wasn’t really pushed out there as much. I think that was a great move since it let the movie speak for itself. Even the ending was amazing! I liked Bryan not getting the cure in time and turning into one of the monsters. There are too many movies that allow their hero to come out victorious. I felt like him going to Raccoon City was a one-way trip kind of movie and they delivered on it. You don’t need your protagonist to come out safe each time and I’m glad they went the route of Bryan turning fully.

Resident Evil delivers a decent amount of jump scares, great characters, some well-placed comedy, and a tight pace. I only glanced at my watch once, and that’s saying something. I would highly recommend seeing Resident Evil in theaters.

DC's Hypothetical Corner

Let’s say I change one thing. Maybe that one thing will make this movie better or more watchable.

If I were writing this movie I would completely remove the Michelle storyline. While it gives him some kind of tension throughout the movie, it’s the one thing that weighed it down. I didn’t believe he was making it back to her in the first place since the story felt like a one-way journey for the character. Every spot she was placed in with a phone call didn’t create anything more for the plot. So you’re thinking, what would I place in those spaces instead? Honestly, nothing at all. There’s enough chaos or tension in each scene she’s on the phone that could carry on without her interjection. Cutting her keeps the focus on his real driving factor, delivering the package.
I would also change some of Bryan’s reactions. The first — when he hit that infected lady and went searching for her. Even a “normal” person would have said “nope” and walked away. I know it sounds heartless, but if you hit someone and all of a sudden their body moves from the place you hit them seconds ago, that’s a flag.
The second — inside that house when he decided to go upstairs. Once I saw the kitchen looked like there was a struggle, I would have said let’s find their car keys and get out of here. I wouldn’t have gone exploring for ammunition for their firearm.
The third — the little girl. Bryan clearly sees she’s infected and still goes to pick her up because she asked, and she bites him. That bite is what infects him, and I was shaking my head like crazy. Run! Run! Run! There are plenty of other ways to get him infected that wouldn’t have made me shake my head. There could have been the infected owner of the house chasing him into the car that he’s about to take, and who eventually bites him while he’s defeated. This brings the infection piece without needing the little girl.
The fourth and final — going through the maternity ward without keeping his head on a swivel, especially when seeing those big pods. I would have been super alert going through that place.
Making these changes keeps the one-way ending I loved, but Bryan earns it through bad luck instead of bad decisions. It also keeps him relatable the whole way through.