Zach Cregger’s Resident Evil Movie Review

Wednesday 16th September 2026 – Auckland, New Zealand

REP’s Rombie was invited to join the press screening for Zach Cregger’s take on the Resident Evil movie franchise. What once began under the guise of Paul W. S Anderson, there was certainly excitement that Zach Cregger was now at the helm. A director who has praised the game series and approached Constantin Films directly with a script that was hungrily green-lit.

Below is Rombie’s review of the new movie – just out of the cinema and before the film drops worldwide. The full views of the REP Team will be in Episode 115 but for now, grab your popcorn and digest Rombie’s thoughts on this new film!

NB: A huge thanks to the REP patrons who were able to make this screening possible for Rombie to attend.

Zach Cregger’s take on Resident Evil is the latest in the line of attempts to take the IP into cinemas. So how does this new approach stack up? And especially in comparison to the previous versions by Paul WS Anderson in his 6 film series, and Johannes Roberts’ single 2021 title?

The history of the IP being turned into film itself is somehow inescapable. For those fans of the games many have found the films lacking in connection to the games they know and love. Those fans going into Cregger’s film – especially those following the news stories already – are likely to continue to find the approach of making another original film not much to their liking on that front. That certainly doesn’t mean they won’t find enjoyment from the film itself on its own merits or indeed not recognise occasional elements and easter eggs buried into the runtime. But as a part of the existing universe this film is certainly not.

On the one hand critical comment can be drawn on just how much this needed to be a Resident Evil film – as aside from Raccoon City and mention of Umbrella, not much would stop this from being an original film project of its own. However compared to something like Anderson’s work there does at least feel like the directors intent of a “survival horror” film has more substance, and this would be considered the make or break of it. Personally I can at least see some of that for sure.

What helps is that the world this film is in, is well realised visually. A mixture of good cinematography, design, and intent. And while the above is true in regards to how directly connected to the games it isn’t, many of the core elements of enemy designs tap into the sorts of things you may see in Resident Evil 4 and 5 for example. And there feels like occasional pulls from other games in the series including Resident Evil 2. And the discussion around finding supplies, weapons, locked doors, and battling your way through various encounters – this certainly hold very true as a core element to the situation the main character finds himself going through.

Indeed when compared to Cregger’s previous two films also, Resident Evil is a much more straight forward affair. There are no time or character jumps, the movie works forward at a pace in near real time – following the main character, Bryan, as if there is a player off screen controlling his moves. The camera plays off on this following over and around Bryan, occasionally changing to his point of view, and adding to the journey is on… through mountains, city streets, sewers, or hospitals.

Austin Abrams is a solid choice for the “Everyman” that Bryan is, as was intended by the director. He constantly seems to make bad choices early on which then reflect on his situation later but they never feel like they were done with dumb intent. Occasionally though the horror cliches will set in where no doubt – maybe in some audiences – you’ll get someone yelling “don’t do that” or “don’t go in there” but Bryan also makes some wise choices from time to time too.

And he makes it clear he’s not a smart gun nut who knows his way around weapons, even if the comments about just playing video games might be a little on the nose for a video game inspired flick. The sub story of what is going on with Bryan’s personal life falls a bit flat for me, and where the impact feels a bit forced, particularly in the final act and resolution. And indeed the ending of the movie itself I’ll be personally interested to see how most react to.

A selection of beverages to enjoy whilst admiring the gore!

Visuals in crafted creatures are decent throughout. I noticed that Shane Mahan and Legacy Effects were credited and it was nice to see a decent blend of practical and CG work in their designs. As the movie ramps up into its final act the CG begins to take over more and more but never fully overplays its hand I feel given what it’s trying to achieve. The movie doesn’t hold back from its gore either. As someone who’s well aware of Constantin Film’s former CEO’s take on this, I wonder if this movie would have been so easily green lit under his choices. Thankfully the current management have realised that maybe a gory monster movie is a solid choice in this day and age and have let them get in some fairly crazy things.

And so really it comes down to two important factors, and maybe one more so especially for those who follow the podcast. If you’re again expecting something that fits into the world of Resident Evil as you know it in the games, you are certainly not going to get that from this. From the expectations of a horror film outside of that – Cregger and co have crafted a fun horror film – but perhaps one with a little less lasting substance than his previous works.

It isn’t a dumb popcorn flick by any means, and certainly has its moments – but only being slightly beyond the other previous films made with the branding may not be enough for many. If you take that element away then you certainly may feel like you got your moneys worth. But if that’s the case I still question why this film really needed the IP brand in the first place.

It becomes this hard to recommend piece for Resident Evil fans without an open mind particularly, and for horror fans – it’s not at all bad, but just don’t go in expecting Cregger is trying to do the same as he has with something like Weapons – this intent here is clear. A gory monster picture with some fun ideas and otherwise not too much to have to think about to entertain the masses for 90 minutes and change. And on that front at least they succeeded greatly.

Early screening access provided to The Resident Evil Podcast by Sony Pictures.

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