After a whopping seven live action “Resident Evil” movies based on the Capcom video game series, “Resident Evil” (2026) is a complete reboot that doesn’t do much to reinvent the franchise, but serves as an excellent movie to shut your brain off and enjoy. Minor spoilers ahead.
The film follows a new protagonist, Bryan Hodukovich, a medical courier and someone who wasn’t present in the video games. He is tasked with delivering a highly important package to Racoon City, a town ravaged by a recent virus outbreak that is hell-bent on destroying him. Throughout the movie, Bryan is pushed to his limit as he battles through snowy forests, sewers, hospitals and himself.
The main question that horror movies face is whether they are actually scary. “Resident Evil” (2026) answers that question with confidence. The horror elements are top-notch, and the film doesn’t hold back on the jump scares and unnerving imagery. Lately, jump scares have been seen as a lazy way to scare viewers, but this movie does them with much more finesse than most. Unlike “Five Nights at Freddy’s 2”, a movie that relied on sudden loud noises from the animatronics with no buildup, every single camera shot and sound — or lack thereof — during a tense moment in “Resident Evil” prepares viewers for the worst.
It might have been due to sitting in the front row, but I jumped at every single scare. The only reason I felt a bit less frightened was because of two people in the audience who were screaming their hearts out at every fright.
Another pro is the special effects and monster designs. All of them are beautifully inspired by the source material, using a mixture of infected humans, infected dogs and entirely corrupted figures. The practical makeup and puppets with visual effects added on after made every encounter feel that much more real. This, served with the amazingly atmospheric and blood-pumping soundtrack, makes all of the horror scenes memorable and adrenaline-inducing.
The standout monster is the grotesque mob of human body parts that follows Bryan throughout the movie by flipping and rolling toward him. Crazily enough, the effect was created by four gymnasts flipping over one another while strapped together.
Surprisingly, this movie has a lot of comedy, mostly through Bryan’s hilarious lines and antics. He’s a relatively uninteresting character with not much established for him, but his reactions to everything make him endearing. For instance, when he has to ditch his Air Jordan shoes after a monster encounter, he whines, “Aw man my fucking J’s”. The joke that made my theater laugh the most was the running gag where he repeatedly misses his gunshots on padlocks.
Although fans of “Resident Evil” might be put off by how much of an emphasis there is on comedy, it definitely still fits the franchise. The film pulls a lot of inspiration from its video game counterpart, “Resident Evil 4”; both tie in goofy dialogue with horror scenes.
Despite the entertainment value of monsters flying across the screen, the story fails to have any emotional depth. While this isn’t the primary focus, when it tries to have a sentimental scene to complete Bryan’s character arc, it falls flat.
In this emotional scene, Bryan breaks down and leaves a message for his girlfriend, but it’s such a fast scene that it doesn’t necessarily feel earned. The only build-up to him leaving this message was at the beginning of the movie, where he doesn’t know how to answer whether his girlfriend should have an abortion or not. While this is a good starting point, there’s no other point in the movie where this is acknowledged or Bryan is shown thinking about it.
My other main gripe is the abrupt and controversial ending. The abruptness is deliberate and makes sense for a no-hope story, but it still felt like there was no room for any type of closure. I was just confused when the credits rolled, because it felt like there was still at least 10 more minutes of the movie left. After such an intense ride, a breath of resolution could have helped tie the movie all together rather than feeling like the writers were too lazy to continue that they resorted to cutting to black.
With all of this in mind, outside of core locations, organizations and the monsters Bryan faces, it doesn’t feel like a “Resident Evil” movie. It felt more like a horror movie with the name slapped on.
However, what it lacks in recognition, it makes up for in spirit. Bryan’s character acts just like how a first time “Resident Evil” player would.. He runs in circles around cars to get away from infected creatures, struggles to reload his guns and frequently wanders around lost.
Overall, “Resident Evil” (2026) provides the classic horror movie experience that almost anyone can enjoy. Even with slight missteps, it’s still an enjoyable watch that is worth seeing for anyone looking for a fun yet horrifying movie experience.
