This Isn’t Resident Evil…or Is It?!

Back in 2021, they rebooted the franchise with Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. It was definitely a little cheesy, but I actually appreciated how it pulled directly from the games — using familiar locations and characters. The action was solid, and overall it felt like a step in the right direction.

Now, we’ve got a trailer for a brand-new Resident Evil movie… and I’ve got some thoughts.

First off, I don’t even recognize the main character. He’s stranded somewhere, calls 911 — no response — and then leaves a message for someone, saying he’s in a seriously messed-up situation and might not make it out. From there, we get a series of flashes showing just how bad his night is going.

A few moments really stood out to me — and raised some questions. For example… what is that bloated thing at the end of the hallway? These don’t look like your typical Resident Evil zombies. Honestly, the whole vibe feels closer to 28 Days Later or Train to Busan — very intense and survival-driven.

That said, I will give it credit: this looks much darker than previous entries, and it really leans into survival horror. Visually, it looks great so far, and it seems like they’re going with a completely original story and a brand-new set of characters.

But I do have a couple of concerns. Right now, it doesn’t feel all that connected to the Resident Evil franchise. It comes across more like a generic horror movie with Resident Evil branding — especially if there aren’t any familiar characters or deeper ties to the lore.

Still, this is just the first trailer, and it honestly looks pretty solid. A lot of those concerns could easily be addressed in the next one.

So what do you guys think? Would you be okay with a completely new story that doesn’t connect to the established characters?

For the audio/video version of this and other reviews, please check out the links below!

www.youtube.com/@lowbudgetmoviereviews

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mostly-low-budget-movie-reviews-with-clarence/id1576804444

https://open.spotify.com/show/7xVJ2hT9tAle9fqz3iomCP?si=X14c_Hp4RbuPpXyqa4HFzw