"Resident Evil" (2026) is the best video game movie ever. Granted, the reigning titleholder might be one of the "Sonic" movies, so the bar was not a high one to clear. But this horror flick might also be the most fun I've had at the cinema this year.
- Rating: 4/5 stars
- Verdict: Leave your preconceptions at the door with "Resident Evil." If you go in expecting an ultra-faithful adaptation or a pure horror film, you might not have a good time. But if you set those aside, this movie, while not director Zach Cregger's best work, is a great time at the movies. It's perhaps too comedic, but the jump scares will be enough to satisfy even hardcore "Resident Evil" fans.
- Where to watch: See "Resident Evil" (2026) in theaters now
However, this is also a movie that challenges my cardinal rules about movie criticism. Whenever I review a movie, I try not to bring in my expectations of what I want from the movie. I want to see what the director is trying to deliver, and then judge the work accordingly. Similarly, I try to judge a movie as a movie, and not as an adaptation. I'm not trying to see how faithfully a director recreated page 317 of a novel or the 14th side quest in a video game. I want to see how well they make a film.
Finally, I try not to grade a director against their past work. If a Steven Spielberg movie, for example, is a mid-tier Spielberg movie but still a four-star movie, I don't want to knock it just because it's not his best work.
Yet after watching "Resident Evil," I couldn't help but do all these things. The movie was great, but I was expecting a pure horror/thriller, and this film is almost a horror-comedy. I didn't mind that it's not a pure adaptation of the beloved video game series, and I, an admitted "RE" casual, spotted some nods to the games. But it's also clear that some fans of the games will not like the seeming irreverence this movie has for the source material.
And, while this is undoubtedly the best video game movie to date, it's also undoubtedly the worst Zach Cregger movie to date. Again, this comes down to precedent; Cregger's past movies have been as good as previous video game movies have been bad. But it's tough to shake the feeling of being slightly underwhelmed by this movie that, to be clear, I thought was great and is still a must-see this weekend.
Malcolm has been with Tom's Guide since 2022. He watches dozens of new releases every year to make sure you don't have to watch any of the bad ones.
'Resident Evil' might be too fun for a horror movie
For those who are totally unfamiliar with the "Resident Evil" games, they're largely survival horror games. The earlier ones center around the Umbrella Corporation, a fictional pharmaceutical manufacturer that secretly runs experiments that turn anything living into zombies or monsters. They run these experiments in Raccoon City in the American Midwest, and eventually, there's an outbreak that devastates the city.
This latest addition to the greater video game and film franchise does borrow from that source material. Our protagonist, Bryan (Austin Abrams), is a medical courier who has to take a package into Raccoon City, only to find himself in the middle of a viral outbreak caused by the Umbrella Corporation.
But that's about as deep as things get in terms of exploring the world of "Resident Evil" established by the video games. This movie is focused on getting from point A to point B and not much else. It's only 90 minutes, and it's a brisk 90 minutes at that. I was surprised to look down at my watch when the credits rolled and find I still had a full evening available to me.
The biggest shock, though, wasn't how little Cregger seemingly cared about the source material, though I'd argue there are certain moments where he shows he cares. Whether it's an Easter Egg or switching between first- and third-person perspectives, it's clear he has a familiarity with the games. No, the biggest shock was how funny this movie was trying to be.
Unfortunately, it didn't always work, and I'd argue it's my biggest criticism of the movie.
Cregger is positioning Bryan as an audience avatar to represent what a normal person would do if thrust suddenly into a zombie outbreak. So when Bryan starts cursing about throwing away a ladder he needed, or being mad that a giant acid monster melted his Jordans, it's relatable.
The problem is he's doing these things constantly, and it at times chokes the movie's horror vibes. That's not to say there aren't scary moments. The first half of the movie in particular really plays as a jump-scare horror movie and got me on a few occasions. When Cregger nails the creepy elements of this movie, he really nails it.
But the second half of the movie feels like it's being played more for laughs, and by the time we're at the climactic scene, the schtick is a bit stale. It also doesn't help that Bryan is perhaps a bit too much of an idiot. If he's an audience avatar, then he shouldn't do things that literally everyone in the audience thinks is the dumbest idea in the world.
Verdict: Zach Cregger's worst movie is still a great time
It was always going to be tough for this movie to live up to expectations. "Barbarian" is considered one of the best horror movies of the 2020s. "Weapons" featured an Oscar-winning performance. The chances this movie was going to be better than either of those were always on the lower side of 50/50.
But that doesn't mean this movie isn't still a must-watch. I think that fans of the video games will need to leave their baggage at the door; a few Easter Eggs aside, this is not going to be the adaptation those fans are hoping for. But it nails its jump scares. It's genuinely creepy and terrifying at times. And while the comedy doesn't always work, when it does, the movie is fun as heck to watch. Especially in a theater with a packed audience.
So no, this won't be an Oscar contender next year. It's not "Weapons" 2.0. I wouldn't even expect Cregger to necessarily explore the "Resident Evil" universe again after this film, especially since he's working on a "Weapons" prequel slated for September 2028. But if you go into this movie with an open mind, only expecting to have a blast at the movies, I am confident this movie will meet, if not exceed, your expectations.
"Resident Evil" is in theaters starting September 17
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