{"link":"/movies/resident-evil-2026/","rating":3,"review":"Resident Evil gets yet another reboot, its third run at the big screen after the Paul W.S. Anderson series and Welcome to Raccoon City. This time it comes from Zach Cregger, the director of Barbarian and Weapons. Those films earned their reputations by pulling the rug out from under the audience. That makes this one an odd fit for him. Cregger drops the game's familiar heroes for a new set of characters caught in an outbreak. Then he walks them through every beat a zombie movie is expected to hit, in the order you expect them.\n\nThe cast does solid work with what it has. Austin Abrams carries the film as Bryan, and he makes a believable everyman who is in way over his head. Paul Walter Hauser is the standout. He brings his usual mix of comedy and quiet desperation, and he makes a stock role feel like a real person. Kali Reis has a hard physical presence as Maxine, and Zach Cherry adds dry relief as Carl. Nobody gets much of an arc, but nobody wastes the screen time either.\n\nThe execution is the best thing here. Cregger stages the horror with patience and precision, and the visuals are strong throughout. The creature work is grotesque and tactile, and the corridors and labs have the claustrophobic dread of the early games. The pacing is lean. There are a few writing moments that land hard, mostly quick character beats and dark jokes that show what Cregger does best. Those moments are rare enough that you notice them.\n\nThis is a competent, well-made horror movie that plays it safe. It is easily better than most of what this franchise has put on screen. It just never does anything dramatically unexpected, which is a strange thing to say about a Zach Cregger film. Fans of the games will find enough here to enjoy. Fans of Cregger will wish he had broken the formula instead of polishing it.","slug":"resident-evil-2026","tagline":"Zach Cregger brings real craft to the franchise and then follows the formula anyway. It looks great, it moves fast, and it never surprises you.","title":"Resident Evil","year":2026}