Zach Cregger, the writer-director behind the Oscar-winning “Weapons” and his 2022 breakout “Barbarian,” has reinvented the long-running “Resident Evil” franchise with a new theatrical release, and critics are calling it both terrifying and unexpectedly funny.
The film departs sharply from the Milla Jovovich-led movies that dominated the franchise for years. Jovovich’s gun-toting heroine Alice does not appear at all. Instead, the story follows Bryan, a medical courier played by Austin Abrams, who is sent on what should be a routine drive to deliver what he believes is a vital organ to a hospital in Raccoon City.
That routine errand collapses into chaos after a lab leak of a virus developed by the Umbrella Corporation turns organisms into monstrous creatures. The premise leans on a scenario familiar to anyone who has followed real-world debates over how easily a pathogen can escape a research facility.
An Unlikely Hero
Unlike Jovovich’s battle-hardened Alice, who mowed down thousands of zombies across the earlier films, Abrams’ Bryan is portrayed as scrawny and inexperienced, at one point struggling simply to switch the safety off his weapon. Reviewers note that his mix of incompetence and sincerity makes for a character audiences can root for, even as he generates laughs while fighting for his life.
Abrams, known for roles in “Euphoria,” “This Is Us” and Cregger’s own “Weapons,” carries much of the film on his own, though Paul Walter Hauser (“Richard Jewell,” “I, Tonya”), Kali Reis (“True Detective”) and Zach Cherry (“Severance”) appear in brief but memorable supporting roles.
Craft Behind the Camera
Cregger, a self-described fan of the original video game series, incorporates first-person camera angles that mimic the game’s perspective, including shots that track where Bryan is aiming his weapon. He co-wrote the screenplay with Shay Hatten, who worked on recent installments of the “John Wick” series.
The production reunites several of Cregger’s regular collaborators, including cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, an Oscar nominee for “The Martian,” composers Hays and Ryan Holladay, and editor Joe Murphy — all of whom worked on “Weapons” and “Barbarian.”
The film is rated R for strong bloody violence, gore and language throughout, and runs 1 hour and 30 minutes. It is now playing in theaters.
Add comment