The best of the series has the dumbest hero of the series.
When I did an article called “How to Survive a Virus Flick” during the COVID-19 pandemic, I’ve mentioned that the only “Resident Evil” entry with Mila Jovovich I did enjoy was the fourth entry subtitled “Afterlife.” Here’s what the section of that article states: “You know the gist: a virus breaks out of the labs, and turns humans into zombies, and now the infection begins to spread globally. So it’s up to Mila Jovovich to fight back. The only “Resident Evil” movie I did like was “Resident Evil: Afterlife,” because it had some goofy moments that I actually liked, but the rest of them are empty and incompetent video game nonsense. Granted they helped Jovovich become an action star, but the rest of the movies are so empty to me, and I even skipped the last entry from 2017.”
Now, I’m saying that I also skipped the 2021 reboot, and I was a bit curious about the 2026 reboot. Will it be the same or will it be different. Will we like or will we be indifferent by it? Some optimism for it regards the new director Zach Cregger, who has proven his worth in the horror genre with “Barbarian” and last year’s “Weapons.” And he continues to show his fresh taste in the genre with his take on the video game series.
For one thing, he has the dumbest hero of the series so far-a young medical courier named Bryan (Austin Abrams, who just collaborated with Cregger on “Weapons”), who is given the task to delivering a very important order to the hospital in Raccoon City. Gee, I haven’t reviewed an action movie about a medical courier since last week with one played by Owen Wilson in “Runner.”
He’s having relationship issues with his pregnant girlfriend, and as he’s calling her, a woman walking like she’s in a Sasquatch photo runs right in front of his car and he hits her. Checking on her in the snowy forrest, he brings her in his car, until he gets pulled over by the police. He then asks the cop to have the injured woman drive with him. Maybe that’s one of the few smartest things he can do, considering that he is the new lead, and he needs a little more time.
Long story short. The woman is infected, he’s bad with guns, and he runs into a nearby house for help. But more infected people come, but they’ll be combining like a gross tumbleweed of sorts.
I would say Bryan is dumb, because he’s the kind of movie character who would walk towards the danger. A lot of it involves infected people. And even though he struggles to figure out the guns he’s forced to carry, we know he has a job to do with the hospital’s package. Now that I think about how would any react to a situation like this? How would I?
I don’t know all the rules of the “Resident Evil” franchise, other than the Umbrella Corporation accidentally releasing the virus into the world, and those who get bitten would become one. Obviously, this kid hasn’t seen movies like “Dawn of the Dead,” “World War Z,” or “Zombieland.” But as I’m watching Cregger’s take, I’m admiring the special effects and creature designs of the infected-how they merge together, how they vomit acid, and how they’re born in a maternity ward.
There isn’t enough supporting characters to keep him in check, other than cameos from Paul Walter Hauser, Kali Reis, and Zach Cherry, and a lot of the people he crosses paths with gets killed off too early. But I guess the movie isn’t supposed to make Abrams into a Mila Jovovich hero, but a young man with potential who struggles to grasp with his new reality. Was he supposed to go to Raccoon City? And was Philip J. Fry supposed to get frozen and unfrozen in the future on “Futurama?” Yes and yes. I can’t make any guarantees, but it’s comical, thrilling, and weirdly effective, and so is the new lead.