In 2026 Resident Evil turned 30 years old. The first video game came out in 1996, and the first film came out in 2002. If you’ve been around since the beginning, you are sure to have favourite characters and plot lines that have been around from the start. That being said, if you go into this new film looking for those things, you are sure to be disappointed. After all director Zach Cregger decided to take the franchise in a different direction by telling a new story based in the world.

Bryan (Austin Abrams) is an organ delivery driver, who is unexpectedly sent to Raccoon City General Hospital with an important package. The drive is hazardous thanks to the snow storm. And on his way he strikes a woman who seemingly jumps out from the forest in front of his car. Unfortunately for Bryan the accident is just the start of the horrors he will face on his way to the hospital. The journey becomes a fight for survival against seemingly endless hoards of monsters.

Resident Evil is a blast. It’s got just the right mix of humor, action and jump scares to keeps fans entranced throughout. If you are looking for a logical movie however, you best look elsewhere, because there is very little of that in the film. Even though he comments on what is going on around him several times, Bryan never seems to be too scared of anything. He just mumbles, swears, and moves along to the next challenge. It’s definitely an interesting way of making a movie, but really, when the movie’s source material is a video game, logic goes out the window anyway. So why not run with it?

Perhaps one of the best things about the film is the unexpected direction everything goes. These types of films usually run with certain beats, but this one tosses those beats right out the window. Just when you think something is about to happen, it does something different. This even goes for the ending, which without ruining anything, is definitely not the way you expected it to end.

Resident Evil plays like one of the video games it’s based on. It keeps going, without hardly taking a breath. From the farmhouse, to the city, the sewers and the hospital, it can even be said that the film flows from one video game level to the next. Even casual players of the Resident Evil franchise will notice several Easter Eggs throughout the film as spot, which are fun to spot. Just don’t go looking for any characters from the franchise because none of them appear.

While Resident Evil is fun, you have to go into it not expecting anything. This includes a story that makes a lot of sense, or characters that act the way they really should. If you like horror movies and can shut off your mind for an hour and half you will enjoy it. If you can’t, you will probably come out of it thinking it’s utter nonsense.