Series Review: Resident Evil (2022)
by Emily Nagle
Yesterday marked the premiere of Netflix’s “Resident Evil”, a show based on the eponymous horror video game series. It’s the franchise’s second go at a TV series, having been preceded by CGI anime series “Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness” last summer, and the eighth live-action adaptation of the games, with the previous installment, “Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City”, being released last fall.
While the games are renowned for helping create the most profitable horror franchise in the world, the live-action adaptations of “Resident Evil” are notorious for being terribly received by critics. So of course, when “Resident Evil” got announced at Netflix two years ago, people weren’t exactly sure how this project would fare for the franchise. And so far, this series is not looking too good.
For context, the “Resident Evil” video games are all about surviving in a zombie-infested world. The show builds off of this by basing its episodes around two timelines: the main story is set in 2036, when most of the world’s population has been turned to zombies after contracting a nasty virus that has ravaged the globe, and Jade Wesker (Ella Balinska) is on the run from the powerful Umbrella Corporation. Think of it as if Breakdown meets zombies. The B-plot is told through flashbacks to 2022, three months before the pandemic started, and follows 14-year-old Jade (Tamara Smart) and her twin sister Billie (Siena Agudong) as they uncover nefarious activity behind a struggling Umbrella Corporation, where their father, Dr. Albert Wesker (Lance Reddick) has recently been hired as an executive.
With that being said, the story is a mess. Now, the problem isn’t that it’s apparently unfaithful to the games (although I may be a little biased, because I’ve never played a Resident Evil game in my life); while Dr. Wesker is prominently featured in the games, his daughters did not exist before, having been created for this show. As mentioned before, each episode switches between a present Jade and teenage Jade. The A-plot and B-plot situation wouldn’t be a problem if the two timelines were related in some way, but they both have such different energy. In 2036, Jade is running for her life from zombies, while in 2022 she and Billie are uncovering dark secrets about their father’s company and adjusting to life in New Raccoon City. They would’ve worked better if they were just made into separate shows. Instead, we’re left bouncing between a horror series and a coming-of-age thriller, and you just sit there like, “Wait…what’s going on?”
Episode one opens on Jade in 2036, when she is away conducting research on the zombies, and video chatting her husband and daughter back home, wishing her daughter a happy birthday. It starts off super sweet, and it’s clear what’s going on in this universe. There’s some pretty good dialog and character development until it flashes back to 2022. In the past, Jade and Billie are moving to New Raccoon City following their father’s promotion, and it’s filled with pop culture references that try way too hard to be relevant. I’m talking Elon Musk and “Zootopia” porn (yes, really). It’s as if the writers are trying to shove in our faces how historically accurate this fictionalized version of 2022 is, instead of actually being funny.
The CGI is unimpressive, particularly for the animals. A scene that stood out to me was when a dog broke into the Umbrella facility where Jade and her sister were hiding, and it moved super swiftly in a way that was more reminiscent of a video game creature than something from a Netflix show. Although the show is based on a video game, but considering everything else takes place in the real world, and isn’t particularly cartoonish, it’s unclear if this was intentional.
While the visuals and story were weak for “Resident Evil”, the show boasts a catchy soundtrack. Each episode features pop tracks from artists like Billie Eilish, Halsey, and Dua Lipa, as well as artists from a variety of other genres, including the Sex Pistols.
My final verdict for this show? “Resident Evil” has poor writing, and it’s like a disjointed version of The Walking Dead. The acting and soundtrack are good, but the two separate plotlines and awkward dialog completely undermine these.