The screenwriter and director Zach Cregger (Barbarian, Weapons) returns this year with a monstrous and intense adaptation of the popular video game franchise Resident Evildescribed as a reinvention.
The new version, based at Sony Pictures, stars Austin Abrams —who collaborated with Cregger on the aforementioned Weapons— as Bryan, a medical courier for Lightfoot Medical Transport who faces a fateful night filled with chaos all around him.
The opening sequence places us inside a hospital, where Bryan arrives to deliver an unspecified organ. About to return home with his girlfriend, a doctor stops him and offers him a very well-paying assignment: all he has to do is take the high-priority package to Raccoon City.
It won't be long before Bryan begins to explore a Raccoon City infested with zombies, action and terror, after the delivery of the package involves him in a fast-paced race for survival.
Cregger's vision for his Resident Evil It is different from what was portrayed in the seven previous films – the six starring Milla Jovovich and the 2021 reboot. From the beginning, the filmmaker announced his desire not to directly adapt the stories of video games. Instead, Cregger created a completely original story developed in the world of Resident Evilwith a script co-written with Shay Hatten (John Wick: Chapter 3, John Wick: Chapter 4).
However, the inspiration in the source material is clear and loyal “in spirit and tone”. This is particularly true with the atmosphere that will be familiar to video game fans, as well as sequences filmed from the protagonist's POV as a nod again to the video game.
Cregger too uses the logic of video games both to give rise to some of his funniest jokes and to keep the plot moving at a dizzying pace. There is a recurring gag that locks are practically indestructible in this world, since in the games the only way to get through a locked door is by solving a puzzle and finding the key. Added to that, when Bryan goes from one sequence to another, the monster that was chasing him instantly vanishes, just as it would happen in a game when changing levels.
It is curious how Cregger manages to capture the spirit of Resident Evil with characters that have not appeared in video games, and, in fact, more than one monster performs actions that players have never seen before. However, that constant feeling of inescapable doom and anxiety that provokes nervous laughter works much better than a million winks or Easter eggs, or simple fan service.
The plot, although it develops predictably, includes just the right amount of jump scares placed and used by Cregger in an effective and unexpected way, to keep the audience always entertained and without the possibility of getting very comfortable in their seats.
One of the Cregger's greatest successes is Abrams' choice to play an ordinary and somewhat clumsy manwhose first instinct is to panic. Bryan himself repeats a couple of times that he is not someone who knows how to handle a gun, something he has only done by playing video games. This makes the audience identify much more than with the typical tough and unflappable guy in military films, also resulting in fun moments. Abrams plays the role as someone who wishes he were playing this video game instead of experiencing it firsthand.
And in true video game fashion, the protagonist's story is also largely a solitary experience. Bryan crosses paths with a handful of characters along the way, but it generally falls on his shoulders to carry the weight of the plot.
The director channels his admiration for the franchise and the genre into something we've never really seen before in the film world of Resident Evilresulting in a fun, terrifying, visceral and visually beautiful experience. Above all, the filmmaker captures the experience of playing the video game with authority.
See you in the theaters.
QUALIFICATION:
TECHNICAL SHEET:
Original title: Resident Evil
Title in our region: Resident Evil: Ground Zero
Director: Zach Cregger
Screenwriter: Zach Cregger, Shay Hatten
List: Austin Abrams, Paul Walter Hauser, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Johnno Wilson
Producers: Robert Kulzer, Roy Lee, Miri Yoon, Asad Qizilbash, Cater Swan
Executive producers: Oliver Berben, Victor Hadida
Soundtrack: Hays Holladay, Ryan Holladay, Ryan Hays Holladay
Director of photography: Dariusz Wolski
Edition: Joe Murphy
Classification: B15
Duration: 1h 30min
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Cinema release: September 17 (Latin America), September 18 (United States)
Source: https://cine3.com/critica-resident-evil-acierto-zach-cregger/
