Filmmaker Zach Cregger Unleashes Goofy, Gory Carnage with his Original Take on Resident Evil
I love that director and co-writer Zach Cregger used his clout from making last year’s surprise, Academy Award-winning hit Weapons to get the keys to the Resident Evil franchise. Why not have some fun? Why not make something that hits hard, moves fast, isn’t afraid to get dirty, and plays in a hilariously pitch-black world of monsters and mayhem akin to Sam Raimi’s original Evil Dead trilogy or George A. Romero’s Dawn of the Dead? Social commentary with a gleeful helping of anarchic, cartoonishly over-the-top mayhem? Yes, please. Sign me up to watch that immediately.
Cregger and co-writer Shay Hatten (Ballerina) craft a wholly original scenario that feels like a side-story from one of the more recent installments of the video game. In the middle of a hellish blizzard, medical courier Bryan (Austin Abrams) is tasked with delivering an urgent, mysterious life-or-death item to the main general hospital located in the center of downtown Raccoon City. After a car accident involving a wandering pedestrian, it becomes increasingly clear to the young man that something is seriously wrong. When he begins being hunted by zombies, mutating creatures, and giant vomit-spewing blobs, Bryan knows for certain he’s in way over his head.
While it owes more to John Carpenter’s The Thing than it does previous incarnations of the Capcom video game series, that does not mean Cregger doesn’t have deep, abiding reverence for the franchise that first made its console debut a full 30 years ago. There are references to several PlayStation installments, including locations, monsters, and even a few of the kills themselves. Cregger and ace cinematographer Dariusz Wolski (News of the World) create a visual aesthetic that effortlessly moves from being a first-person visualization of events to an observational whirlwind of a terrified everyman doing whatever is necessary to try and survive. It all looks terrific, and don’t get me started on the crackerjack sound design.
What’s wonderful is how, for the first two-thirds of the film, Cregger utilizes humor and horror in exquisitely unsettling tandem. Bryan cracks a joke at the most unforeseen moments. But that’s almost always because what he’s witnessing and experiencing is so beyond the pale that he feels like he needs to if he’s going to retain any semblance of sanity. When a family’s darling pet sprouts tentacles like an ungodly squid trying to grab you and pull you into its awaiting carnivorous jaws, what’s there to say other than that’s the most unbelievably disgusting thing you’ve ever witnessed? Comedy becomes Bryan’s primary defense mechanism.
This is very reminiscent of how Raimi handles moments of extremity in his early films, or the way characters in Carpenter’s The Thing react when stuff so disgustingly unexplainable occurs that the only rational reaction is a wide-eyed humorous comment of excessive disbelief. Cregger utilizes these shaken exclamations from Abrams with astute care. This helps make Bryan a far more believable and emotionally authentic protagonist; it also amplifies considerably the inherent tension of the situation the courier finds himself in.
Another aspect of the unrelenting thriller I happily responded favorably to was its ticking clock efficiency. Once Bryan gets on the road, events build one upon the other with zero time jumps. He moves from one location to the next the same way a player would if they were manipulating the character via a PlayStation controller. Additionally, when Bryan gets information, the exposition dumps come like organically placed cutscenes, giving just as much insight as to what he needs to do next to satisfy, but never revealing too much about whatever revulsion is going to transpire next. It’s incredibly well done, and the resulting scares are genuine.
Unfortunately, unlike either Barbarian or Weapons, I did feel Cregger began to lose his firm grip on the material as Bryan’s journey progressed to its climax. The comedy becomes too forced, too manufactured; the quips and jokes do not ring with the same truthfulness that they had earlier on. More importantly, these outbursts of outlandish buffoonery inadvertently undercut the insidiously terrifying jolts of body horror reminiscent of David Cronenberg’s The Fly or Brian Yuzna’s Society. I found Bryan’s final demonic face-off to be far less satisfying than his other creepy encounters were, and it all builds to a goofy last scene that I did not find nearly as clever as I am certain Cregger hoped I would.
Not that this makes Resident Evil a misfire. Far from it. This is a gory, silly, and imaginative rollercoaster ride, one that from the first second Bryan hits the road to Raccoon City refuses to let up or relax. Abrams is outstanding, and the majority of the filmmaking is so top-notch I’m not sure any other video game adaptation turned motion picture, even the ones I like the most like Werewolves Within or Tomb Raider, can come close to equaling it.
I just wish I liked the ending more, which I admit is no small matter. But it isn’t as significant as it by all accounts should be, and the stuff I like about Cregger’s little B-grade sojourn into undead creature-feature carnage, I adore unconditionally.
– Review reprinted courtesy of the SGN in Seattle
Film Rating: 3 (out of 4)
