I'm a BIG Resident Evil fan, and I’ve been one ever since the game series debuted back in 1996. I've also seen all of the movies. Given this admission, you'd think that I probably love the films that are based on the survival horror series, but nope. I mean, I like them, but even I’ll admit that there’s never been a legitimately “good” Resident Evil movie. That's why I'm genuinely looking forward to this new one from Zach Cregger, which hits the 2026 movie schedule this weekend.
However, just because I don't think any of the movies are great, that doesn’t mean that I don’t think they’re fun. Case in point: The 2002 original, which I once thought was mid but now really like. Here's why.
At The Time, I Was Turned Off By It Being So Action-Heavy
I've been playing Resident Evil for longer than some of you have been alive, and let me tell you: these games did NOT play like 2005's Resident Evil 4, which essentially changed the way the games were played entirely. Anybody who was there will tell you. We used to struggle with what was often referred to as “tank controls,” which made these games even scarier because we'd often find ourselves running into walls rather than escaping.
This was mostly because there were a lot of fixed camera angles, as the games were more cinematic than anything else. That said, when the first movie came out with the legendary Milla Jovovich, I didn't know what to make of it. Here was an action-packed movie that looked NOTHING like the games that I was familiar with.
This was something else entirely that was high-octane- and back then, I didn't want to see a character kick a zombie dog in the face. It just didn't feel like the Resident Evil that I knew at the time. That was then, and now…
The First Movie Almost Feels Like It Led The Way For The More Action-Heavy Games In The Series
The Resident Evil that I grew up with was more survival horror than anything else, but after 2005’s Resident Evil 4, everything changed, as now the whole series was action-focused (Until 7).
As somebody whose favorite Resident Evil is 4 (Join the club, right?) I think it’s no surprise that I’ve reevaluated my feelings on the first movie, which kind of feels like it walked so that Resident Evil 4 could leap through a window and fight a chainsaw man.
In fact, I don’t think it stops there, as the first Resident Evil movie, being what it was, with its Red Queen and hive storyline, felt just as out there and bombastic as later RE titles, all the way up to the latest game in the franchise, Resident Evil Requiem. That’s why I now appreciate this first movie, as I feel like it really allowed the video game franchise to let its freak flag fly.
Plus, It Set Up A String Of Sequels That I Enjoyed In The 2000s
Lastly, I genuinely had a good time with a lot of the sequels that came out after the first movie. Sure, some of them were better than others (Resident Evil: Extinction = fun! Resident Evil: Apocalypse = TERRIBLE), but none of it would have been possible without what this first movie set up.
The movie series grew on me after a while. I stopped thinking of them as being connected to the games, and they became their own thing entirely for me.
So, while I have high hopes for this upcoming Resident Evil, I now realize all of the good that this first movie did, which is why I now appreciate it.
