The Resident Evil movies that came out from 2002 to 2016 are usually not considered masterpieces of cinema. This doesn’t mean they’re not good movies. They may not be winning an Oscar anytime soon, but for entertaining horror/action movies they’re largely a good time. Of course, they also have very little to do with the video games they’re based on which for some fans is a mark against them.
Unfortunately, fans hoping for that with the upcoming Resident Evil: Welcome To Racoon City are likely not going to be getting that. The official trailer for the upcoming movie dropped on Thursday and let’s just say that the plot of the video games appears to be more like a loose interpretation than a guideline for it. Also, it plays “What’s Up?” by 4 Non Blondes in the latter half of the trailer and it doesn’t fit at all. This is disappointing because when you remove that from the trailer the movie actually looks kinda fun.
Resident Evil is at its best when it is either so horrifying that it becomes difficult to sleep at night, or so ridiculous that you are laughing along with it. This feels like it’s going to fall into the latter half and walk more in line with the original movies starring Milla Jovovich. This may sound like a complaint, but it’s not because those movies are a genuinely fun time.
Will we ever get a movie that accurately follows the plot of the games? Probably not and that’s okay because anyone that wants that can still experience the games. The originals are readily available and there are multiple modern-day remakes. There are plenty of ways to experience the series the way it was originally designed and it’s fun to see the movies go off in a different direction with that universe. Resident Evil doesn’t need to be serious. It just needs to be fun and the trailer makes the movie look fun.