The first Resident Evil trailer is officially out, previewing Zach Cregger’s upcoming movie based on the iconic Capcom video game franchise. Despite not being a strict adaptation of any game, the movie still looks like it’s going to be the best Resident Evil movie we’ve ever seen, for many reasons.
The movie stars Euphoria star Austin Abrams as a courier who winds up stranded in a town where he must fight for his survival. Alongside Abrams, the movie will also star Paul Walter Hauser, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, and Johnno Wilson in the film. The new Resident Evil movie is directed by Cregger, who co-wrote the screenplay with Army of the Dead and John Wick: Chapter 4 scribe Shay Hatten.
“In an all-new story, Resident Evil follows Bryan, a medical courier who unwittingly finds himself in an action-packed, non-stop race for survival as one fateful, horrifying night collapses around him in chaos,” reads the official synopsis.
Resident Evil teaser trailer review
First things first, we have to address the obvious elephant in the room, and that’s that this movie will likely have nothing to do with previously established Resident Evil lore. We won’t be seeing Leon Kennedy or Chris Redfield show up, there will be no Nemesis, and Wesker won’t be popping up in a random cameo. Despite how cool that might be…that’s perfectly fine, and honestly, the right choice for this particular movie.
Despite these things missing, the Resident Evil teaser trailer shows us that Cregger knows exactly how to capture the vibe of Resident Evil without needing to show us any pre-established lore. The movie’s trailer features a litany of references and homages to the game, including rummaging for inventory in an abandoned house, trying to carefully loot keys and locks off of zombies, and even upgrading weapons throughout the movie (something Cregger said in a breakdown of the trailer would happen a lot in the movie, as it does in the game).
The trailer also teases possibly the biggest thing that the Resident Evil games do, which is give you the sense of fear as you explore different areas. In the trailer, Abrams’ Bryan visits a handful of different areas, all of which seem to house their own horrifying monsters. Cregger has said that his goal was to not make a zombie movie, but instead showcase what the T-Virus can do to people, and that seems apparent given some of the weird creatures set for this movie.
In the end, even though we’re not going to be seeing any iconic characters from RE pop up, my brief look at the trailer was more than enough to feel confident in Cregger’s vision, and it seems like he really understands not only what the world of Resident Evil is about, but how to convey that into a different medium.
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