Open Channel: What’d You Think of ‘Resident Evil’?

Years pass and seasons change, but one thing is true in the world: Resident Evil will never go away. After a series of financially successful films headlined by Milla Jovovich, the movies rebooted in 2021 with a film everyone bounced off of. Now, it’s Zach Cregger’s turn to make cinematic gold out of the property, and he…actually managed to make cinematic gold? From the first trailer, there’s been a back-and-forth amongst the community and other internet circles about how faithful this new movie actually is, and in what context. Amidst those debates, Cregger’s hoped fans meet him halfway and see why he wanted his film to provide the sensation of the games more than port the characters to a different medium—one they regularly inhabit, often with mixed results, up to and including 2021’s Welcome to Raccoon City. With Cregger choosing to let the work speak for itself, it turns out critics and audiences seem to dig his take on Resident Evil, moreso than his previous two films. At time of writing, the box office helps back up that praise, but until numbers come in for the whole weekend, tell us your thoughts on the film and whether it succeeds at feeling like the games, in the comments below. Want more io9 news? Check out the best movies and TV shows to stream this month and all the upcoming sci-fi, fantasy, and horror books that should be on your radar.